"We don't have a refugee crisis, we have a housing crisis"

"We don't have a refugee crisis, we have a housing crisis," said Peter Cachola Schmal in an interview with Reuters, setting the tone for the approach behind the German pavilion's at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. The Director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt shared his hope that the exhibition would inspire a revival of well-designed social housing across Europe. Rather than temporary shelters, governments should build large-scale quality homes for both refugees and citizens alike, he said.

Germany's entry in the Biennale this year has taken an out-of-the-box angle, focusing on simple shelters used to house asylum seekers. The structures, designed and developed to deal with the influx of migrants into Europe from Africa and the Middle East, provide a direct contrast to Germany's 2014 submission – a scale replica of the former German Chancellor's residence. 

"If nothing is done, the right wing will grow, and (public) opinion against refugees will grow. The first thing to do is build more affordable housing.", continued Mr. Schmal.

Peter Cachola Schmal accepted the invitation of Housing Europe and will deliver the keynote presenation of the international conference "The Housing Policies of our Future: How to make them work" that will be hosted at the UN European Headquarters, Palais Des Nations, in Geneva on September 15th. He will ellaborate on his idea that "We don't have a refugee crisis, we have a housing crisis" triggering a panel discussion on Housing and Society.