Francesca Cirilli

AS A FALLEN APARTMENT BUILDING (2012)

In the middle of Berlin, as the wall felt down, many empty houses and wastelands along its former path were squatted. People with trucks and trailers arrived to settle down and live, finally quite permanently, in their mobile homes. They set the space arranging it and its flexible structure to the changing needs of the inhabitants. These projects based on alternative ways of living are called Wagenplatz. Relating with urban and natural, experimenting with political and social aspects, they question the issue of inhabiting, of the use of public space and gentrification processes.

A community such as a fallen apartment building, as someone taking part in the projects said: fallen and transformed. Sort of islands between generic buildings.

"because of freedom

at a point I realized I could live with less

because of the possibility to have a self-determined living space

'cause like that I can work less and have more time for my life

because they invited me to live here

to question the standardized ways of living

just because I like it
because I could stand anymore living in a flat
because I could build my own house
because it's cheap
because it's like a big family
because I can also have my personal space

because I can move my truck wherever and whenever I want
because I have been living here since twenty years

because I love living in naturebecause I love living in the city
because I can't go and live in the country, working in the city

because no one asked me to exchange this with a house on the seaside

because I can even have a garden

it was a pragmatic choice

it just happened

when I was a punk we squatted this empty and dead land

to not feel like living in a cage

because this is also a cultural project

for leading a more sustainable way of living

I came as a guest and then I stayed

because I love meeting new people who are always passing by

because we can organize the space according to our needs

for the ecological shape of this place

to contrast the idea that commercial interests can determine how urban space is used

to shape and negotiate the surronding in which we live

because this is a public space open to everybody
because this is our home and our utopia
'cause Utopia is far and this is only a step forward"