ROOF
Mário Cruz
2024

ROOF portrays the lives of those left out of the statistics and those who live the hidden side of the housing crisis in Lisbon, Europe's number one tourist destination. The people portrayed in this work often have to choose between putting food on the table or having money to pay rent.

Developed over a decade (2013-2014, 2019-2020 and 2023), in the year that marks the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, which established democracy and enshrined the right to housing in the Portuguese Constitution, ROOF materializes in a book that is a difficult-to-digest proof of the housing crisis that is overwhelmingly affecting Portugal.

The city now hides the faces of those who live in inhumane conditions and those who fight a lonely battle for access to housing. These people survive on the scraps of what others discard and occupy abandoned buildings, boarded-up factories, vacant schools or rusting shipping containers in an effort to transform them into something resembling a home.

NARRATIVA is responsible for editing the book and curating the exhibition of the same name.

The design of the work was carried out by Alex Paganelli, a member of NARRATIVA.