{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Short description|Former social centre in helsinki}} {{Infobox venue | name = Lepakko | fullname = | logo_caption = Young people in front of the squatted Lepakko in August 1979 | image = Lepakon valtaus.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_relief = | address = | location = | coordinates = {{Coord|60|9|53|N|24|54|52|E|type:landmark_region:FI|display=inline,title}} | built = 1940 | opened = 1979 | demolished = 1999 | owner = | architect = | builder = }}
'''Lepakko''' or '''Lepakkoluola''' was a self-managed social centre and a music venue in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, Finland, functioning from 1979 to 1999.
==History== thumb|right|Homeless people at Liekkihotelli in 1973. The building was a paint company warehouse located at Porkkalankatu 1 in the Ruoholahti district of Helsinki, which had been built in 1940.<ref name="Yle-Lindfors">{{cite news |last1=Lindfors |first1=Jukka |title=Elmu valtasi Lepakkoluolan kulttuurille |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2006/09/08/elmu-valtasi-lepakkoluolan-kulttuurille |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Yle |date=8 September 2006 |language=fi-FI}}</ref><ref name="Yle-Lindfors2">{{cite news |last1=Lindfors |first1=Jukka |title=Lepakko Liekkihotellina |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2008/04/29/lepakko-liekkihotellina |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Yle |date=29 April 2008 |language=fi-FI}}</ref> It then became derelict and the City Council of Helsinki opened a hostel for alcoholics on 5 December 1967, in response to public outcry when several homeless alcoholics had frozen to death in the cold of winter. It hosted up to one thousand people and was called Liekkihotelli, or the Flame Hotel.<ref name="Yle-Lindfors2" /><ref name="Yle-Sorjanen">{{cite news |last1=Sorjanen |first1=Axa |title=Lepakon monet kasvot |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2014/10/07/lepakon-monet-kasvot |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Yle |date=7 October 2014 |language=fi-FI}}</ref><ref name="Yle-Sorjanen2">{{cite news |last1=Sorjanen |first1=Axa |title=Lepakon alku ja loppu |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2014/04/29/lepakon-alku-ja-loppu |access-date=29 November 2021 |work=Yle |date=29 April 2014 |language=fi-FI}}</ref>
== Occupation ==
Lepakko (Finnish for bat) was squatted in 1979 and used as a music venue, also providing practice rooms for bands, theatre rehearsal space and a dance school. In addition, a motorcycle gang had a workshop.<ref name="Yle-Sorjanen" /> It took its name from the logo of the paint company which still was stencilled on the walls; it had been a butterfly, but the young people saw it more as a bat.<ref name="Yle-Sorjanen2"/><ref name="Yle-Lindfors2" /> It was the first public squat in Finland and its lifetime was extended by negotiating with the city council.<ref name="CUM">{{cite book |last1=Hessler |first1=Martina |last2=Zimmermann |first2=Clemens |title=Creative Urban Milieus: Historical Perspectives on Culture, Economy, and the City |date=2008 |publisher=Campus Verlag |isbn=978-3-593-38547-1 |page=303 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MInQkvnq2H8C&pg=PA303 |language=en}}</ref> It was then leased for a small fee by the Elmu association.<ref name="Yle-Lindfors" /> The centre became a thriving self-managed social centre during the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="SIC">{{cite journal |last1=Berglund |first1=Eeva |last2=Peipinen |first2=Vesa |title=Spaces of Insurgent Citizenship: Activism and acceptability in Helsinki |journal=Yhdyskuntasuunnittelun Seura |date=21 January 2018 |url=http://www.yss.fi/journal/spaces-of-insurgent-citizenship-activism-and-acceptability-in-helsinki-part-1/ |language=fi}}</ref>
== Legacy ==
Lepakko was evicted and demolished in 1999.<ref name="Yle-Lindfors" /> It had been a foundational venue for Finnish punk music and hosted Radio City, a commercial radio station.<ref name="CUM" />
== See also == * Sosiaalikeskus Satama
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *[http://www.hs.fi/kirjat/artikkeli/Lepakon+muistoa+kunnioittaen/HS20000517SI1KU028lv review on a book about the building in the online edition of Helsingin Sanomat] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20070930031342/http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/thisweek/21042000.html English translation from the international edition of HS]) *[http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=5&ag=35&t=91&a=1592 30 minute report from Yle] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050401003358/http://www2.helsinginsanomat.fi/english/archive/thisweek/48071999.html Helsingin Sanomat (international edition): "Holy Hermione, Robin – they're bulldozing the Batcave!"] * {{cite book |last1=Bottà |first1=Giacomo |title=Electronic Cities |chapter=Helsinki, Finland: Liberalisation, Shifting Night Clusters and Gentrification (2010–2020) |date=2021 |pages=165–181 |doi=10.1007/978-981-33-4741-0_11|isbn=978-981-33-4740-3 |s2cid=235015215 |hdl=10138/357091 |hdl-access=free }}
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Category:Culture in Helsinki Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Helsinki Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1999 Category:Squats Category:Former squats Category:Ruoholahti