A Bed, a Chair and a Table is a publication about the Poortgebouw, a former squat and vibrant living community located in the South of Rotterdam. In this book, oral histories from inside and outside the Poortgebouw are interlaced with material from various institutional and personal archives. By bringing together these tales of resilience, political struggle, frustration and friendship with historical documents, this book brings forward new perspectives about the Poortgebouw's unique history and its importance in the contemporary city.

The project was developed by the Experimental Publishing Master of the Piet Zwart Institute in the context of Architecture of Appropriation. This is a research project by Het Nieuwe Instituut, that examines how squatters have appropriated urban spaces using radical improvisation techniques, and how this has influenced the way we think about the contemporary city.