All together now: Basement covers

Here are some images of improvised repairs, alterations to covers of coal cellars that are no longer in use. Some quite decorative ones such as the one above, others are more pragmatic. The basements that were used back in the days to stock coals in general now serve some other function. It used to be a space that was accessible from the street so that the coal could be deposited straight in the cellar. Now this is no longer common practice, the open cover with its ventilation holes has become a nuisance. It lets in rain, dust and other undesired infiltration. Heat escapes through it. As in other Belgian cities, Brussels counts thousands of self-invented solutions for this anachronistic piece of domestic infrastructure.

These pictures are all taken in Brussels in 2010.

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