Europe squat stuff...
Thinking about squatting in Prague? Check out the latest turn of events in the eviction of Milada, the city's last remaining squat.
Reminiscing about the good ol' days of squatting in London? Then read urban75's 'obit' on the 121 Centre, a squatted community anarchist centre in Brixton that served campaign and community groups for 18 years.
In 2007, artistic collective Macaq squatted a neglected empty apartment in Paris to highlight the lack of student housing in the city. Read about their efforts here.
Photos from inside the Barcelona squat in Amsterdam.
Wanna start your own direct action? The Human Shrub can show you how.
Showing posts with label jacketpotato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jacketpotato. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Monday, 22 June 2009
Jacket Potato
News of unusual squats...
Have you ever squatted an airport? That's what squatters have been doing since June 20th at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. A vacant airport since October 31 2008, the 400 hectares of land (equiv. to 525 football fields) is in the midst of redevelopment limbo, thanks to huge local opposition to plans for luxury apartments. Check out Demotix's site for more details.
In light of the recent "MP expenses" outrage here in the UK, a group of squatters have taken over the empty West London property of a pair of MPs, dubbed Mr and Mrs Expenses, in protest at their expense claims. Read here and glee.
Squatters winning eviction battles? So goes the case for the Oubliette Collective who, since May 2009, have been squatting a former school and hostel in south London that have stood empty since August 2007. Read here and glee again.
A unisex squat sauna which is open to all? With a steam room, vegetarian food also on offer and a chillout garden? Yes, really.
Is this story helping the public image of squatting? Back in 2006, Polish decorators hired to do up a flat owned by a banker reportedly downed tools upon arrival, moved in to the flat whilst she was away, and then claimed squatters rights! Read here and ponder.
And ponder this while you're at it!
Have you ever squatted an airport? That's what squatters have been doing since June 20th at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. A vacant airport since October 31 2008, the 400 hectares of land (equiv. to 525 football fields) is in the midst of redevelopment limbo, thanks to huge local opposition to plans for luxury apartments. Check out Demotix's site for more details.
In light of the recent "MP expenses" outrage here in the UK, a group of squatters have taken over the empty West London property of a pair of MPs, dubbed Mr and Mrs Expenses, in protest at their expense claims. Read here and glee.
Squatters winning eviction battles? So goes the case for the Oubliette Collective who, since May 2009, have been squatting a former school and hostel in south London that have stood empty since August 2007. Read here and glee again.
A unisex squat sauna which is open to all? With a steam room, vegetarian food also on offer and a chillout garden? Yes, really.
Is this story helping the public image of squatting? Back in 2006, Polish decorators hired to do up a flat owned by a banker reportedly downed tools upon arrival, moved in to the flat whilst she was away, and then claimed squatters rights! Read here and ponder.
And ponder this while you're at it!
Monday, 8 June 2009
Jacket Potato
New squat news, this time from non-squatters and their "hysteria" towards us.
"Council forced to give squatters a list of all its empty properties". That pretty much says it all.
And another. "Owner speaks of squatter hell".
"Riot police break into London squats" reports on the unfortunate consequences of the testosterone-pumped police presence at the G20 demo on April 1st.
If you're after positive press attention for your squat -- make sure your squat has been opened by middle-class artists, then we'll talk. That's what the Guardian newspaper seems to be telling us, in its latest fixation with such squats. It's telling that this article appears in their "art & design" section. Where would they put a non-artistic squat?
"Council forced to give squatters a list of all its empty properties". That pretty much says it all.
And another. "Owner speaks of squatter hell".
"Riot police break into London squats" reports on the unfortunate consequences of the testosterone-pumped police presence at the G20 demo on April 1st.
If you're after positive press attention for your squat -- make sure your squat has been opened by middle-class artists, then we'll talk. That's what the Guardian newspaper seems to be telling us, in its latest fixation with such squats. It's telling that this article appears in their "art & design" section. Where would they put a non-artistic squat?
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Jacket Potato
New squat-related news, this time from the United States.
And whilst it may be illegal to squat there, it hasn't stopped a number of advocacy groups taking advantage of the climate of foreclosures in the US, by actively moving homeless people into vacant properties. One such group is Take Back The Land, whose website features video footage of their efforts and dialogue with Max Rameau, founding member.
The foreclosure crisis is very much in the news over there. Amongst the stories of squatting of such is this one of a young man happily living in a foreclosure until he was discovered. Interesting to note in this article how they keep the leccy and water switched on in these empty properties.
The New York Times has just published photos of California's tent cities. These communities include the Village of Hope, where people are housed in tool sheds, and a tent encampment in Fresno called New Jack City. Other American shantytowns and tent communities have started springing up across the country, as evidenced here.
Umoja Village in Miami, Florida, until 2007 when it was accidentally burnt down, was home to 50 homeless people. Erected on a vacant lot that once housed low-income apartments, Umoja offered a safe space to put down roots and work towards a communal cause. Read their story.
And whilst it may be illegal to squat there, it hasn't stopped a number of advocacy groups taking advantage of the climate of foreclosures in the US, by actively moving homeless people into vacant properties. One such group is Take Back The Land, whose website features video footage of their efforts and dialogue with Max Rameau, founding member.
The foreclosure crisis is very much in the news over there. Amongst the stories of squatting of such is this one of a young man happily living in a foreclosure until he was discovered. Interesting to note in this article how they keep the leccy and water switched on in these empty properties.
The New York Times has just published photos of California's tent cities. These communities include the Village of Hope, where people are housed in tool sheds, and a tent encampment in Fresno called New Jack City. Other American shantytowns and tent communities have started springing up across the country, as evidenced here.
Umoja Village in Miami, Florida, until 2007 when it was accidentally burnt down, was home to 50 homeless people. Erected on a vacant lot that once housed low-income apartments, Umoja offered a safe space to put down roots and work towards a communal cause. Read their story.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Jacket Potato
The latest set of useful reading.
Want to highlight the fallout of the financial crisis and its effect on society? Where better than to open up a squat in an empty £3 million property just to hold a weekend conference about it -- can't get more emphasised than that. Conference report here. Usual media outcry.
Want proof of the illegal steps that property owners take to oust squatters (than go through the civil courts)? Check out the latest intrusion at rampART.
The New York Times drops a report about the recent Temporary School of Thought housing in Mayfair.
And a tribute to Alan Walter, a leading figure of the Defend Council Housing Campaign who was also involved in the infamous Tolmer Square squat in London in the '70s. Geeks amongst you may be interested in the minutes of a meeting from 1974 that documents the squatting activity in the city that year.
Want to highlight the fallout of the financial crisis and its effect on society? Where better than to open up a squat in an empty £3 million property just to hold a weekend conference about it -- can't get more emphasised than that. Conference report here. Usual media outcry.
Want proof of the illegal steps that property owners take to oust squatters (than go through the civil courts)? Check out the latest intrusion at rampART.
The New York Times drops a report about the recent Temporary School of Thought housing in Mayfair.
And a tribute to Alan Walter, a leading figure of the Defend Council Housing Campaign who was also involved in the infamous Tolmer Square squat in London in the '70s. Geeks amongst you may be interested in the minutes of a meeting from 1974 that documents the squatting activity in the city that year.
Friday, 20 February 2009
Jacket Potato
More useful reading, this time related to the housing market.
Shelter's current ad campaign reports that 200 homes are being repossessed a week. Their website offers housing advice in relation to eviction, repossession and homelessness, and is currently highlighting the changing housing market with their film "House of Cards".
Is this squatting or is it still paying rent? Dutch company Camelot perhaps straddles the two. In exchange for a low rent, Camelot tenants have the chance to live in a variety of empty properties (ie, mansions, office blocks); but at the same time, they must also protect the site from, uh, squatters. Some argue that Camelot is "privatising squatting", that if you want to squat, squat. Others argue that squatting isn't as straightforward to initiate as you think (or easy), and that Camelot provides a halfway. Make up your own mind here and here.
Annoyed there are empty properties in your city and yet so many homeless people? The Empty Homes Agency feels for you. They have done the math: there are 783,730 empty homes in England right now. Highlighting the waste of empty property, the Agency works with other bodies to campaign for their reuse. Check out what they have to say.
Derelict London is a photographic site documenting many of London's derelict and empty spaces. Useful for squatters, perhaps? The New Statesman comments that the site "seems to trace the skeleton of a dead city while it is still in apparently rude health".
Shelter's current ad campaign reports that 200 homes are being repossessed a week. Their website offers housing advice in relation to eviction, repossession and homelessness, and is currently highlighting the changing housing market with their film "House of Cards".
Is this squatting or is it still paying rent? Dutch company Camelot perhaps straddles the two. In exchange for a low rent, Camelot tenants have the chance to live in a variety of empty properties (ie, mansions, office blocks); but at the same time, they must also protect the site from, uh, squatters. Some argue that Camelot is "privatising squatting", that if you want to squat, squat. Others argue that squatting isn't as straightforward to initiate as you think (or easy), and that Camelot provides a halfway. Make up your own mind here and here.
Annoyed there are empty properties in your city and yet so many homeless people? The Empty Homes Agency feels for you. They have done the math: there are 783,730 empty homes in England right now. Highlighting the waste of empty property, the Agency works with other bodies to campaign for their reuse. Check out what they have to say.
Derelict London is a photographic site documenting many of London's derelict and empty spaces. Useful for squatters, perhaps? The New Statesman comments that the site "seems to trace the skeleton of a dead city while it is still in apparently rude health".
Monday, 19 January 2009
Jacket Potato
Some useful reading about squats or related around the world...
Thinking about squatting in Amsterdam? Well, Barcelona @ van Boetzelaerstraat 1 has been keeping a detailed blog of their exploits in, although we're not sure anymore, thanks to their most recent entry, "Breaking News! We're fucked!" According to them, Parnassusweg, the Intergalactic KingDOOM of FuckYou, has ordered all our troops to be destroyed by the 31st of August, so it remains to be seen if they are still in existence.
Can Masdeu in Barcelona is proof that squats can be of any size -- in this case, an abandoned hospital!
Squatter City reports on squatting from across the globe. News stories include 400 families being pushed out of their homes in Cambodia; the postponed eviction of 20,000 squatters in Caracas; and the so-called 'City of Smiles', Bacolod City in the Philippines that is preparing to eject 3000 squatters from its boundaries. Informative and vital reading.
It has also been reported that Tascheles, the iconic squat in central Berlin of 10 years, is facing eviction. If any of you have partied in Tascheles, taken in a film or hung out in its backyard, this is surprising news.
In related shutdown news, the Londonist has reported on the recent closure of the London Astoria, one of the city's landmark music and club venues. All in the name of transport redevelopment (by the name of Crossrail). Take a last glance at the Astoria before the bulldozers come in.
Thinking about squatting in Amsterdam? Well, Barcelona @ van Boetzelaerstraat 1 has been keeping a detailed blog of their exploits in, although we're not sure anymore, thanks to their most recent entry, "Breaking News! We're fucked!" According to them, Parnassusweg, the Intergalactic KingDOOM of FuckYou, has ordered all our troops to be destroyed by the 31st of August, so it remains to be seen if they are still in existence.
Can Masdeu in Barcelona is proof that squats can be of any size -- in this case, an abandoned hospital!
Squatter City reports on squatting from across the globe. News stories include 400 families being pushed out of their homes in Cambodia; the postponed eviction of 20,000 squatters in Caracas; and the so-called 'City of Smiles', Bacolod City in the Philippines that is preparing to eject 3000 squatters from its boundaries. Informative and vital reading.
It has also been reported that Tascheles, the iconic squat in central Berlin of 10 years, is facing eviction. If any of you have partied in Tascheles, taken in a film or hung out in its backyard, this is surprising news.
In related shutdown news, the Londonist has reported on the recent closure of the London Astoria, one of the city's landmark music and club venues. All in the name of transport redevelopment (by the name of Crossrail). Take a last glance at the Astoria before the bulldozers come in.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Jacket Potato
Some useful reading about established squats around the world...
Christiania is a long-term squat, founded in 1971 on the site of an abandoned military zone. An independent community of almost 900 people, the "Green Lung Of The City" covers 85 acres and has four unbreakable rules for visitors and those who live there: no hard drugs, no rocker badges, no weapons and no violence. Worth a visit.
Poortgebouw is one of Rotterdam's national landmarks. Built in 1879, it was squatted in 1980, to highlight the lack of affordable housing in the city. In 1982, the city council agreed that the squatters could stay on as a housing association, thus legalising the squat! Offering film nights, a cafe and an infoshop, Poortgebouw faces eviction in 2009, thanks to the building's sale in 2001 against the wishes of the housing association.
Although long since closed, the ELF Experiment in Amsterdam was an initiative by a group of people to engage in positive squatting. That initiative included a "magic restaurant", a budget dormitory, art studios and a "Skylab" that could house 24-hour parties on a regular basis. Sounds amazing? Check out the story, as told by its founder, Ton.
With the 2012 Olympics looming ever closer, Games Monitor continues to report on its impact on London. The site describes itself as seeking to deconstruct the 'fantastic' hype of Olympic boosterism and the eager complicity of the 'urban elites' in politics, business, the media, sport, academia and local institutional 'community stakeholders'. Informative stuff.
Christiania is a long-term squat, founded in 1971 on the site of an abandoned military zone. An independent community of almost 900 people, the "Green Lung Of The City" covers 85 acres and has four unbreakable rules for visitors and those who live there: no hard drugs, no rocker badges, no weapons and no violence. Worth a visit.
Poortgebouw is one of Rotterdam's national landmarks. Built in 1879, it was squatted in 1980, to highlight the lack of affordable housing in the city. In 1982, the city council agreed that the squatters could stay on as a housing association, thus legalising the squat! Offering film nights, a cafe and an infoshop, Poortgebouw faces eviction in 2009, thanks to the building's sale in 2001 against the wishes of the housing association.
Although long since closed, the ELF Experiment in Amsterdam was an initiative by a group of people to engage in positive squatting. That initiative included a "magic restaurant", a budget dormitory, art studios and a "Skylab" that could house 24-hour parties on a regular basis. Sounds amazing? Check out the story, as told by its founder, Ton.
With the 2012 Olympics looming ever closer, Games Monitor continues to report on its impact on London. The site describes itself as seeking to deconstruct the 'fantastic' hype of Olympic boosterism and the eager complicity of the 'urban elites' in politics, business, the media, sport, academia and local institutional 'community stakeholders'. Informative stuff.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Jacket Potato
More squatting community resources...
Established in 2004, rampART (named after Rampart Street) is one of the well-known of London's social centres. A hotspot for meetings, rehearsals, film screenings, workshops and benefit gigs, rampART is also used by a number of groups such as Food Not Bombs. Threatened with eviction this October, rampART has survived and lives on. Show your support whilst you can.
LARC (or the London Action Resource Centre), on the other hand, is a collectively run building that provides space and resources for people and groups working on self-organised non-hierarchical projects for radical social change. Phew. Resources include a prop-making space, a roof garden and a library.
If you want a literature lowdown of anarchy, visit the Freedom Press Bookshop, Britain's largest anarchist bookshop. Stock includes thousands of books, newspapers and pamphlets on a range of topics, ie. history to sex, philosophy to workers' struggles, fiction to anti-fascism, and t-shirts and CDs. Worth a browse.
Established in 2004, rampART (named after Rampart Street) is one of the well-known of London's social centres. A hotspot for meetings, rehearsals, film screenings, workshops and benefit gigs, rampART is also used by a number of groups such as Food Not Bombs. Threatened with eviction this October, rampART has survived and lives on. Show your support whilst you can.
LARC (or the London Action Resource Centre), on the other hand, is a collectively run building that provides space and resources for people and groups working on self-organised non-hierarchical projects for radical social change. Phew. Resources include a prop-making space, a roof garden and a library.
If you want a literature lowdown of anarchy, visit the Freedom Press Bookshop, Britain's largest anarchist bookshop. Stock includes thousands of books, newspapers and pamphlets on a range of topics, ie. history to sex, philosophy to workers' struggles, fiction to anti-fascism, and t-shirts and CDs. Worth a browse.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Jacket Potato
Thinking about squatting in London, but have no idea where to start?
First up, is the Advisory Service for Squatters, off of Whitechapel Road in east London. An unpaid collective of workers, the service offers daily advice for squatters and homeless people and has been doing so since 1975. Check out their very useful noticeboard for future squat housemates. This place definitely kicks A.S.S.
Also kicking ass is 56a Infoshop, Elephant & Castle's Crampton Street hub of squatter advice. A radical social centre, as it bills itself, 56a houses an extensive archive of international radical literature and also sells books, zines, music and t-shirts. 56a runs many workshops, including a free bike workshop and practical squatting nights.
A cool hangout to meet squatters and the like-minded, Pogo Cafe offers delicious and healthy vegan food with a bit of music, art, books and information to boot! Organised as a workers' cooperative, their vegan breakfasts are to die for!
First up, is the Advisory Service for Squatters, off of Whitechapel Road in east London. An unpaid collective of workers, the service offers daily advice for squatters and homeless people and has been doing so since 1975. Check out their very useful noticeboard for future squat housemates. This place definitely kicks A.S.S.
Also kicking ass is 56a Infoshop, Elephant & Castle's Crampton Street hub of squatter advice. A radical social centre, as it bills itself, 56a houses an extensive archive of international radical literature and also sells books, zines, music and t-shirts. 56a runs many workshops, including a free bike workshop and practical squatting nights.
A cool hangout to meet squatters and the like-minded, Pogo Cafe offers delicious and healthy vegan food with a bit of music, art, books and information to boot! Organised as a workers' cooperative, their vegan breakfasts are to die for!
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