Carlijn Kingma's monumental drawing maps the Dutch housing crisis

Carlijn Kingma (b. 1991) created a monumental ink drawing titled 'De machinerie van de volkshuisvesting' (The Machinery of Public Housing), measuring 113 by 150 cm, which visualizes the Dutch housing crisis as a complex apparatus of money flows, regulations, interests, and political decisions. The drawing shows existing housing stock on the left, faltering new construction on the right, banks at the top, the political arena at the bottom, and tenants, homeowners, housing corporations, developers, and municipalities moving through the machine. The project was developed in collaboration with the investigative platform Follow the Money, which also hosts an animated video tour. The original drawing is now on view for the first time at Singer Laren, accompanied by satirical prints that elaborate on specific mechanisms of the crisis. Kingma, who calls herself a cartographer, spent about two thousand hours on the drawing during her pregnancy, balancing art and parenthood. After two years of research with her partner Thomas Bollen, she transformed the Dutch housing system into a drawn system, arguing that the current crisis is not accidental but results from a system prioritizing property ownership and wealth growth over safe, affordable housing. A full interview will be published in Museumtijdschrift+ on June 24. An evening program at Singer Laren on July 1 will feature Kingma, Bollen, author Maaike Schoon, professor Edwin Buitelaar, and other speakers.