Perspective
First, There Was Artwashing. Now There’s … Squatter Chic?
Will developers start to copy the look of urban squatter and protest communities? London’s Nomadic Community Gardens suggests they might.
Graffitied sofas, 20-foot-high murals, upturned wooden crates, old pianos, oil drums filled with flowers: the Nomadic Community Gardens in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood, which opened in May 2015, oozes the DIY culture that is synonymous with grassroots urban anarchist squatting movements.
Similar in look and feel to long-term squatter communities such as Christiania in Copenhagen, Can Masdeu in Barcelona, Grow Heathrow outside of London, and many others in Europe and beyond, the site is open to all, an outdoor space where locals can grow their own food, hang out, and generally enjoy themselves.