Lepakko

{{Infobox venue

| name = Lepakko

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| logo_caption = Young people in front of the squatted Lepakko in August 1979

| image = Lepakon valtaus.jpg

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| coordinates = {{Coord|60|9|53|N|24|54|52|E|type:landmark_region:FI|display=inline,title}}

| built = 1940

| opened = 1979

| demolished = 1999

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Lepakko or Lepakkoluola was a self-managed social centre and a music venue in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, Finland, functioning from 1979 to 1999.

History

File:Kodittomia liekkihotellilla 1973.jpeg

The building was a paint company warehouse located at Porkkalankatu 1 in the Ruoholahti district of Helsinki, which had been built in 1940.{{cite news |last1=Lindfors |first1=Jukka |title=Elmu valtasi Lepakkoluolan kulttuurille |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2006/09/08/elmu-valtasi-lepakkoluolan-kulttuurille |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Yle |date=8 September 2006 |language=fi-FI}}{{cite news |last1=Lindfors |first1=Jukka |title=Lepakko Liekkihotellina |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2008/04/29/lepakko-liekkihotellina |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Yle |date=29 April 2008 |language=fi-FI}} It then became derelict and the City Council of Helsinki opened a hostel for alcoholics on 5 December 1967, in response to public outcry when several homeless alcoholics had frozen to death in the cold of winter. It hosted up to one thousand people and was called Liekkihotelli, or the Flame Hotel.{{cite news |last1=Sorjanen |first1=Axa |title=Lepakon monet kasvot |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2014/10/07/lepakon-monet-kasvot |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Yle |date=7 October 2014 |language=fi-FI}}{{cite news |last1=Sorjanen |first1=Axa |title=Lepakon alku ja loppu |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2014/04/29/lepakon-alku-ja-loppu |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Yle |date=29 April 2014 |language=fi-FI}}

Occupation

Lepakko (Finnish for bat) was squatted in 1979 and used as a music venue, also providing practice rooms for bands, theatre rehearsal space and a dance school. In addition, a motorcycle gang had a workshop. It took its name from the logo of the paint company which still was stencilled on the walls; it had been a butterfly, but the young people saw it more as a bat. It was the first public squat in Finland and its lifetime was extended by negotiating with the city council.{{cite book |last1=Hessler |first1=Martina |last2=Zimmermann |first2=Clemens |title=Creative Urban Milieus: Historical Perspectives on Culture, Economy, and the City |date=2008 |publisher=Campus Verlag |isbn=978-3-593-38547-1 |page=303 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MInQkvnq2H8C&pg=PA303 |language=en}} It was then leased for a small fee by the Elmu association. The centre became a thriving self-managed social centre during the 1980s and 1990s.{{cite journal |last1=Berglund |first1=Eeva |last2=Peipinen |first2=Vesa |title=Spaces of Insurgent Citizenship: Activism and acceptability in Helsinki |journal=Yhdyskuntasuunnittelun Seura |date=21 January 2018 |url=http://www.yss.fi/journal/spaces-of-insurgent-citizenship-activism-and-acceptability-in-helsinki-part-1/ |language=fi}}

Legacy

Lepakko was evicted and demolished in 1999. It had been a foundational venue for Finnish punk music and hosted Radio City, a commercial radio station.

Lepakko

History

Occupation

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading