Visit www.givrum.nu for our complete catalogue of our work
Method 1: Activating Empty Buildings and City Space
Empty buildings are an ideal opportunity to experiment with urban development. Here you can create a breeding ground for good communities through temporary activities. GivRum activates unused city space through a focus on community buidling. We invite the
various stakeholders of a city area to develop and create their own activities, helping to define the development of an urban space or building. Our aproach starts by mapping the resources present in a given area and trying to engage the stakeholders them in a co-creative process, where we jointly examine the needs and aspirations for the area. We act as a professional mediator, initiating these activities and enabling a smooth process. After a period of time we leave the urban space or building we have been working with, enabling the users who have taken responsibility for the site to take over.
Our ambition is to make vacant buildings widely available for alternative projects in urban
spaces. We believe that this may help to buildings and urban spaces being developed into
open and inspiring environments for people with good projects.
Key project examples:
P843
From 2006 -1 2010, a 2,000 m2 former paint factory lay empty on Prags Boulevard 43 on the island of Amager, Copenhagen. The factory had once been home to Sadolin, but lay empty after production moved to Sweden following takeover by Akzo Nobel. The site, consisting of four empty buildings had now become an unnecessary expense for the owner with property taxes, supervision and maintenance costs taking time, money and attention. GivRum wanted to demonstrate that the old premises could create value for the owner of the buildings and at the same time enable culture to flourish in and around the city‘s empty and unused spaces.
The factory resumed its production in the summer of 2010, after GivRum contacted the owner and secured permission to have free access to the buildings for a 2-year period. This time it was not, however, lacquer and paint that was fabricated on the old industrial area. instead, it was producing and creating everything from motorcycles to skis and furniture, hosting circus performances and growning organic vegetables -—- all as a tribute to art, knowledge and ideas, which would benefit the local area and the city as a whole.
GivRum started to invite artists and creatives who were in need of space to use the building.
The buildings were filled up in less than half a year over 30 different leases - studios, galleries, offices, urban gardens, venues and record labels to name a few. There were over 100 daily users. This resulted in a user-driven community, working continuously over a two-year period who were entrusted with responsibility for the operation of the site. By the end of 2012 (GivRum formally handed over the site to users, after negotiating a new three-year contract with the owners. GivRum initiated a self-organised and self-financed working community that could maintain this site, contributed towrds the Copenhagen strategy for a creative and diverse city and help to create cheap and flexible leases centrally in Copenhagen.
After a five year programme of various activities, Frags Boulevard 43 cemented itself as a key player in Copenhagens cultural scene. The building was recently sold to an American
investment firm to be used as storage, however the cultural community that was established here are undeterred and have since moved to a new site in the north of Copenhagen where they remain a resilient community.
Method 2: Conferences and Festivals
Givlium creates a focus for specific issues in urban development by gathering a network of
professionals to share projects and inspirations through conference and festival formats at
various scales. The aim is to promote and elevate knowledge on bottom up and grassroots
driven projects within a professional format, which may help to kick start a development
through meetings and networks. The conferences and festival formats help to break down
boundaries between municipal, private and local actors.
Key project examples:
Think Space
Think Space is the branch of Givrum.nu dedicated to fostering and disseminating information and ideas. This is done primarily through our annual Think Space conference, as well as through smaller workshops and seminars that are held throughout the year. These events, like our planning projects, are predominantly user-driven, and the topics reflect the interests and desire of our participants.
Our annual conference explores topics related to user-driven urban development. Each year focuses on one or more themes that are relevant to contemporary planning issues. The conference is also designed to highlight the urban areas where it is held, both by partnering with local organizations and by drawing people and resources to the area.
2011 Conference - Located at PB43 Copenhagen
2012 Conference - Located at Energy Center Voldparken Flusum
2013 Conference - Located in Malmo, Ddense and Aalborg
2014 Conference - Located in Frederiksberg and Nykobing Falster
City Link Festival
Through City Link, GivRum creates avenues for cultural collaboration between cities. Dur
mission is to promote international collaboration and combine the cultural environments of
various cities beyond institutional frameworks. City Link is a growing network of project
makers, artists, activists, officials, creative entrepreneurs and engaged citizens with ideas that can link cities.
Ambitious new urban development means that many cities are experiencing rapid urban
change. This entails the risk that innovative and cultural projects in the city will disappear if the needs of the citizens are not supported. City Link has responded by finding new ways to work with culture across national borders, providing ways for different groups to learn from each other.
City Link Festival Hamburg September 2014
City Link Festival Edinburgh September 2015
City Link ”Reimagining the City” Mini-Festival Copenhagen October 2015
City Link Festival lstanbul planned for later in 2016
Method 3: Research and Consultancy
GivRum is constantly working towards the democratisation of cities. We collaborate with many organisations to provide advice, analysis, research and theoretical knowledge within the field of urban development and social innovation. Our approach always begins with the inclusion of local actors and resources, working from a bottom~up perspective. From this we can begin to define the key issues for an area, and draw up long~term plans to mobilise projects and create new potential for it‘s buildings and urban spaces. See our website www.givrum.nu for more details.
