bmtv124 La Tabacalera, Madrid

La Tabacalera
Lavapies
La Tabacalera de Lavapies has long been important site for both workers and the community around it in Madrid. So when it stopped being a factory, members of the community occupied the building and started developing social services, education, arts, gardens, eating establishments and an ever expanding list of features all housed within this large complex. The following is a brief video tour of what I saw during my few hours at La Tabacalera, an intoxicating and exciting place for anyone interested in informal, not for profit, community spaces.

bmtv119 Room for Everyone

March from Waterloo SquareThe squatting community in Amsterdam is under siege, with the new law declaring squatting illegal, many who have lived in their homes for a decade or more are now considered criminals and subject to forceful eviction. ; But the community and its supporters have not given up hope and refuse to be made homeless by the authorities.

This brief video clip is from one of the many marches against the evictions, as squatters and supporters marched from Waterloo Square through the heart of Amsterdam.

More info at: squat.net or indymedia.nl

ctrp346 Audio Notes from Portugal

Lisbon, August 2010

Podcast recorded on my last day in Lisbon, thinking out loud about the issues related to housing and squatting in Portugal as well as the Netherlands.  Also further laying out plans for what to look into and who or what to be consulted in the quest to find answers and plant the seeds for a solution. No interview in this edition, just thinking out loud and an update for you the audience.

bm183 Amsterdam Creative Spaces, The Story of OT301

The city of Amsterdam is famous for many things, among them, the great movement of creative people who occupied abandoned buildings over the past 30 years. Yet slowly the movement is changing, as are the laws, and squatting has become increasingly difficult. OT301 is performance space, restaurant, printshop, cafe, cinema, and much more; a unique example of a building and a group of people who have found a way to keep their dream alive amidst the wave of buyouts and evictions sweeping the city. One of the original founders, Colin, sat down with me to discuss what they’ve done and more broadly – what is happenning to such a famous movement in this town.

we talk about:
– The initial squatting of the building
– Relations with the local community
– Functions of the building
– Negociation with the local government
– The squatting scene historically
– Changes in the scene in the past decade
– The politics of squatting
– other European squatters and cities
to know more you’ll have to listen…

The building.

Colin mentions: Broedplaatsen Amsterdam (english version)

also recommended at the end of this program: Euronews (no comment segment now in podcast format)