Interim use

Waste ground or vacant buildings are made available for temporary, flexible and cost-effective use. For example, interim use enables smaller projects and initiatives to realise their ideas. And for the owners it’s a way to have their vacant properties in use for fixed periods.

Projects and examples

HausHalten e. V., Leipzig

Unlike almost any other German city, Leipzig has preserved many houses from the “Gründerzeit”, the late nineteenth century period of rapid industrial expansion. Until recently, many of these old buildings were completely or partially empty and threatened with decay. At the same time, there’s still a great deal of interest in low-cost space for creative activities. For this reason, the association HausHalten e. V. was founded with the aim of countering potential decay and bringing together owners and creative users. In the meantime, housing has become expensive in Leipzig too. The association is now trying to revive vacant houses and spaces in the Leipzig area through temporary use. More information at: www.haushalten.org

Variante Bunker, Turin

Art, sports, community gardening, nightclub: there’s plenty going on at the site of a disused bunker in the Italian city of Turin. Five years ago, a non-profit association began developing the abandoned private site with sports and recreational activities in mind. Until the city government gets round to implementing a planned major infrastructure project there, the owner is allowing more and more of the site to be used by other non-profit organisations. In the future, the creators hope to get legal regulation for the use of the diversely occupied space for non-profit purposes not only on a month-by-month basis, but also for the longer term. More information at: www.variantebunker.com

Mercato Metropolitano, London

Even in a cosmopolitan city like London, office buildings or commercial properties remain vacant for longer periods of time – despite existing building permits for shops, flats or offices. For this reason, the Mercato Metropolitano, for example, has set up its temporary home for a few years in a disused paper mill in the south London inner-city area of “Elephant and Castle” – pending building approval for a new residential complex. With its own vegetable garden, cooking school, pop-up cinema and gourmet food stalls, the venue has since developed into one of London’s liveliest street food markets. The district is now considering a permanent location for the market. More information at: www.mercatometropolitano.com

WePark, San Francisco

In April 2019, programmer Victor Pontison came up with the idea of converting a street parking lot in San Francisco into an office for the day. On top of his already high living expenses, the freelancer was unable to afford the monthly rent of 400 US dollars for a co-working space. Together with a few like-minded people, he “occupied” an empty street parking lot with folding tables, chairs and laptops and paid the parking fee of 2.25 US dollars an hour. The “WePark” initiative received a lot of attention on Twitter, including from people in other cities similarly affected. In the future, “parking lot workers” could partner with local cafés and secure Internet access and access to the restrooms for regular coffee orders. This concept also sends a signal to cities to focus more on people instead of cars.