ROG: an urban squat of quasi-public nature

By Jenny Kanellopoulou and Nikos Ntounis

The ongoing project titled “Making and managing Ljubljana’s urban squats: inclusive and participatory practices” (funded by the BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants and supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy), investigates the way Ljubljana’s squatted areas Metelkova and Tovarna ROG are used and managed by both the official institutions and the communities of their respective users. It aims to appreciate the power dynamics that emerge in their everyday running and to critically evaluate the role that institutions play and the influence that they have vis-à-vis these particular urban settings. In this post, we wish to offer a brief elaboration on the spatial particularities surrounding ROG, namely its recent recognition by the Slovenian legal system as a “quasi-public” place. 

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Gentrification, autonomy, and the cultural space: 23 years of Metelkova Mesto

The institutional part of Metelkova – as seen from the rooftop of the +MSUM. Photo: Nikos Ntounis
The institutional part of Metelkova – as seen from the rooftop of the +MSUM. Photo: Nikos Ntounis

by Jenny Kanellopoulou and Nikos Ntounis

Following up from our first blog entry on the normalisation of autonomous areas within urban centres, we embarked on a two week research trip in Slovenia and Denmark visiting the places in question, appreciating the communities that live and work in them, and engaging in fruitful discussions with them, as well as with the areas’ other stakeholders such as city representatives.

This blog entry is dedicated to the area of Metelkova Mesto, the semi-squatted cultural neighbourhood of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the attempts of the municipality, as well as the state of Slovenia to “broaden” the cultural zone surrounding the urban squat and create a cultural space where all stakeholders can meet and contribute to the place’s brand: apart from the autonomous squatted buildings, the city of Ljubljana operates the Museum of Contemporary Art, whereas the state of Slovenia has also founded the Ethnographic museum in the same quarter. From state, to municipal, to autonomous level, the broader cultural zone of Metelkova Mesto creates the impression of a place dedicated to the promotion of arts and culture, a valuable asset to the city and to the country itself. [1]

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