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Isolated Rowhouses
In Belgium surrealism is never far. One will find in any part of the country houses isolated in the countryside. This would not be so special if it weren’t for the houses themselves. They look like if they are picked out of a citystreet and at random been planted anywhere. They all date from the beginning of the twentieth century and have the same structure and look. The sides have no windows. If there are, they have been put in later on. At that time, early nineteen hundreds, families with little resources, could get a subvention to acquire and build their future property, if they would comply with some limitations and regulations: not wider than 5 meters, two storeys high and a saddle-roof. It looks to us as the start of a town or city development but this is not the case. People wanted nothing but a cityhouse even if they had to built these houses in the middle of the fields.
Now they still stand and are in use, just like before, as familyhouses. Some are isolated and far (belgian proportions though) and others have been finally integrated in a 'normal' street where they still look out of place.
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Isolated Rowhouses / 321 - 120x174 cm / 2001
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