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The colours of a concrete block

One building, hundreds of balconies, each one painted to tell you where you live.

A concrete housing block with balconies painted in bright colours
Photo by Fernando Lavin / Unsplash

Large housing blocks have a reputation for sameness. This one answers it with paint: every loggia has a coloured wall, and no two neighbours share a colour.

Orientation, not decoration

From the street the colours look playful. From inside they are practical. Residents give directions by colour, children find their balcony from the playground, and the grid of concrete becomes a map.

Cheap and lasting

Paint is the least expensive material on the site, and it is the one people remember.

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Lena Hartmann

Writes about rooms, objects, type and the cities that hold them. One piece a week, every Sunday.

One letter, every Sunday.

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