IMMOREFUGEE 

“This zine by the Defrost Studio is a welcome antidote to the many photographic projects that have emerged around the refugee crisis. Using the notorious and now destroyed Jungle camp in Calais, they copy the graphics and tone of a holiday let brochure. It is wicked and brilliant at the same time” 

Martin Parr

The Jungle was a sprawling residential area covering 500,000 square meters on the outskirts of Calais, France. Enclosed by a 5-meter-high metal fence and equipped with running water and lighting, the "New Jungle" offered various housing types, both original and newly constructed.

At its peak, over 6,000 refugees lived in the conditions depicted here before the camp was ultimately demolished. Much like a real city, people came and went in the New Jungle: some aimed to reach the UK, while others planned to apply for asylum in France. This constant movement made the New Jungle a vibrant, dynamic community with many characteristics of an actual city. Residents built tents and shelters near one another, often grouped by nationality. The camp had its own library, church, mosque, and even a restaurant-lined street. Each dwelling became a portrait of its inhabitants' intentions, reflecting construction techniques and styles from their home regions. The camp’s resemblance to a city was so strong that we organized an exhibition and talk on the subject at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. This project explores what it might have been like to call the camp home, capturing the reality of life in these handmade structures created by the refugees themselves.

ImmoRefugee is based on Invisible City - a photographic project featuring 110 images that document various housing types within the camp.