LOKKUPPET / THE LOKK COUP

Background

The Lokk draws its name from the platform that covers the train tracks of Oslo’s central station. The platform was built to make new profitable space for a shopping mall in the prime location of the city’s center. Protests grew as the construction started and the space was eventually taken over by the residents of the nearby neighbourhoods. The occupied Lokk is now a thriving community, a free-state governed by its own inhabitants that developed out of chaotic building processes that rose without oversight where people came together, gathered materials from wherever they could find and started building houses, public squares and playgrounds. The growing interest in the exciting arena is forcing the residents to consider if the organic/chaotic growth could be maintained or regulated. Questions remain of ownership, who owns the properties that were built and would it be justifiable for some to capitalise on the collaborative investments.

Once you enter through the portal, you will see a scaled-down model of Lokk and can listen to the narration of how the Lokk came to be and where it is heading.