The flying KIT-chenette

The equipment inserts itself in a situation of precarious living, responding to basic needs – warmth, hygiene, food, water and space for personal belongings. Instances of prolonged living crysis remain mostly undocumented and unaccounted for by local administration and are rarely addressed by social and political policies. Such spaces of continuous survival endure a situation that seems unredeemable while decline remains hidden and ignored.

The addition relates itself to a given context, offering a primary aid while maintaining the daily routines and the network of help and conviviality necessary for survival in such uncertain circumstances.

Meant for a homeless couple that has been living for the past 5 years in a niche beside the dumpster of a housing block, the yellow metallic structure acts as shower, stove, cooking and eating table, storage unit, and clothes dryer. Once given, the kitchenette was used for a few days and exchanged for 18 euro to a small shelter nearby, where it is used by six other homeless people. The new owners made radical adjustments to fit the structure in its new location. Heating and cooking remained its primary uses.

Phase: Completed

Funding: Chamber of Romanian Architects

Location: Vânatori Street, Bucharest, Romania

* “Visions and Research Award” at the Bucharest Architecture Annual