Housing. Now. Then.

The exhibition Housing. Now. Then – 99 Years of the Housing Question provides a comprehensive perspective on one of the most important issues of modern day: The housing crisis.

The issue of housing is one of the most debated issues of modern day. Housing. Now. Then – 99 Years of the Housing Question portray problems and solutions to the housing crisis from 1917 to present day and into the future. The exhibition also looks to the future and collects the most recent contemporary attempts to find solutions. The exhibition opened on 16 April 2016.

In 1964, 150,000 people were without housing in Stockholm. Today, the figure has risen to 500,000. During the 20th century, a number of solutions have been tested to create quality homes for everyone in Sweden. Some of the questions asked are: What did the politicians do in 1931 when Sweden had the lowest living standard in Europe? How did the debate proceed – and what were the arguments? Who decided then, and who makes the decisions today?

“This exhibition has been designed to promote a feeling that we can change, we can innovate, we can get things done,” claims Dan Hallemar, Project Manager for the exhibition.

The exhibition shows examples of architectonic and design-related answers to housing crises throughout the ages, mainly based on material from ArkDes’ comprehensive collections. Examples include houses designed as stars in Gröndal in 1946, villas stacked on top of each other in Gothenburg in 1960, provisional emergency housing in Stockholm in 1917. There are also examples of the most recent, contemporary suggestions for housing solutions, for example the Quick Homes (Snabba hus) in Högdalen.