To make a long story short: We rebuilt, or rather gutted, a house in Cologne, Germany – a city that had been decimated by more than 90% during World World II. But before any work could start, we had to sort through and move out all of the stuff the people who had formerly lived here had accumulated for the past 60-odd years – mail from the front in Stalingrad, down to the last pair of underwear. So we did that and then we started to tear down some walls, and some more walls. A new heating system was required and a couple of bathrooms had to be replaced. Some new doorframes were needed. Pipes were replaced. Then, the attic and the flooring: 60 years ago in Germany, people made do with what they found after the war:…wood remnants, parchment paper, discarded mattressess and old clothes cabinets, bits of wood and tiny stones, steel faucets and crooked nails. It was all thrown into the attic and flooring as “strengthening measures and insulation.” You just made do. We bought the place this year. This is how we have made do.

The photos were mostly taken between January and October 2013.