Luftball, Antwerp, Belgium
Between 1820 and 1934 over 30 million people emigrated from Europe to the USA, of whom around 2 million sailed from the Belgian port of Antwerp. Their voyage to begin a new life started on the river Schelde, in a small neighbourhood called Luchtbal, continued through the Netherlands into the North Sea and finished in NYC. Luchtbal has become a place for those on the edge of society, emigrants and socially weak families. Hulking concrete buildings in the Brutalist style of Eastern Europe make up its bulk, reinforcing the sense of loneliness, emptiness and a certain rootlessness that can be felt here at every step.