Photos Capture the Individuality Residents Infuse in Their Identical, One-Room Apartments

Fourth Floor, Apartment #22: Don Lukas (An alias as he preferred anonymity), lives with his girlfriend.

Bogdan Gîrbovan is a Romanian photographer living in Bucharest. The Bucharest apartment building pictured here was built in 1966 during a communist regime, in which individual expression was discouraged. These identical, one-room boxes that comprise the homes in the building were built to emphasize that idea.

Gîrbovan, who lives on the 10th floor of the building, created this brilliant series that features residents of the building posing in their homes. His intent in part was to illustrate the differences that emerge in such a uniform environment. The photos are a testament to the creativity and unique nature of people, across all cultural and economic strata. 

See the full series by Gîrbovan and read some of his views on the project here. 

Sixth Floor, Apartment #32. This resident is a public figure who refused to give her name or to show her face in the photograph. She is a temporary tenant, as opposed to other residents who own their rooms. 


Fifth Floor, Apartment #27. Mrs. Suhariuc Ioana is retired. She has lived in this space since 1967, living by herself since 1982. She owns her room.