A squat is being set up in Ifanet industry (thessaloniki)

thessaloniki indymedia | 01.04.2004 10:49 | Free Spaces | London | World

The abandoned Ifanet industry was occupied, at 9.30 in Saturday morning, by 60 people. The aim is to turn the industrial block into an open public space. The first building is being repaired, after a leaflet was distributed to the neighborhood. The occupied squere IFANET is about 19.500 m2.

A squat is being set up in Ifanet industry (thessaloniki)

A new squat is being set up at the building of the
Ifanet industry

The abandoned building of the Ifanet industry was
occupied by 60 people at 9.30 am on Saturday morning.
The aim of the squat is to turn the industrial block
into an open public space. The first building is
already being repaired; a leaflet has been distributed
to the people in the neighborhood.

A squat is a response to the insanity of the
contemporary urban landscape. An urban landscape that
sees people and cars squeezed into tiny spaces,
equating happiness with the acquisition of this very
space while at the same time huge spaces (such as the
Ifanet industry) remain unused and inaccessible, due
to promises of politicians and the interests of
building contractors.

A squat promotes another way in using a building,
against the idea saying it can only be useful when
used as parking space or a marketplace.

A squat does not form a new property. On the contrary,
it is an attempt to bypass the notion of private space
and turn it in a space that is public, open and alive.

A squat as an action is a moment of liberation, a
single weapon in the arsenal of subversion. However,
in the scope of self-organization against any form of
authority and hierarchy, a squat may also be a crack
in the structure of capitalism and the alienated
everyday life it creates.

There is, therefore, a double target when squatting
the abandoned Ifanet industry: to promote the negation
to the old world by organizing offensive resistance
against it. And at the same time, to provide creative
solutions in organizing everyday life, time; promoting
interpersonal contact and communication.

We want it to be a gathering place, a starting gate of
our collectivization of our anxieties and
joys. We want a creative space open to personal and
collective expression. We want it to be an open social
space, interacting with and being enriched by people
and ideas.
A space that would diffuse its achievements by
creating a social perspective for them.

Let’s knit subversion, using our dreams and negations
as our thread

Knitting subversive situations

Squat in the old Ifanet factory building.

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A squat is being set up in Ifanet industry (thessaloniki)