On The Road - Calafou Work

Following on from my last blog introducing Calafou I bring you the first of four collections of pictures looking at different aspects of this fascinating project.

The collection below presents Calafou's work spaces.

hidden office

Hacklab

the hacklab

I found the hacklab a confusing place, especially as there was no electricity while I was at Calafou. I asked a member of the communications team to send me some information about the place.

"Collaborative and open space for development of free, open-source IT tools. It was founded in summer 2011 by the CIC. Their motto is 'Compartir Es Bueno'. As far as I know it is involved in four main tasks:
- provide tech support for CIC
- Lorea - free software for building free social networks. Ecoxarxes or N-1 are based on the Lorea kernel
- Guifi.net - free alternative to commercial ISP   /weefee/
- Phone liberation network (PLN) - free alternative to commercial phone companies.
[ PLN es una red de centrales telefónicas autónomas federadas enfocada en crear una red internacional de telefonía libre. Está totalmente desarrollada con software libre y el conocimiento generado en su desarrollo se comparte sin restricciones. ]
They created the network, the first node, which works as a switchboard, and the tech needed to easily build other nodes.
- Security-related issues - hacker stuff
- Many other mini-projects - and it's always open to new ideas
Most of these projects are performed not only at Calafou's hacklab, but in a distributed way, in many places at once (it may be happening in your own computer  ;)
The hacklab has been recently split in two, or maybe had a daughter, the hardlab, used for hardware hacking, and is pregnant with the future medialab. There is also a chemlab, and I plan to build a biolab very soon. Welcome to Labtown!"

hacklab hardware

The information above was added to by two separate emails that arrived that same afternoon:

"The hardlab is no daughter of anything. It has always being and
independent and rizomatic body. The hardlab was physically first in the
mutangerlab, then when we have elecricity problems, it moved to the
hacklab. And now find a right place, more adecuated to the needs of it."

"The hacklab is no mother or father of anything. It's a community-operated
workspace where people with common interests, often in computers,
technology, science, digital art or electronic art, can meet, socialise
and/or collaborate."

hacklab n-1

Construction / Development

a wood framed power adaptor sits alone in a half developed building

In my week at Calafou I saw many of the spaces changing around me. The air was always heavy with the sounds of sawing, hammering and the running of the generator.

Casa Roja - the guest house - was left half built by the previous owners.

white room in casa roja when I arrived

white room in casa roja when I left

The viviendas - permanent accommodation for the residents - were half fallen down when the collective arrived. They are slowly developing each of these into habitable spaces.

vivienda holes

vivienda windows and doors

The Social Centre

ball games

The social centre contains a bar, a free shop, an info point, gym equipment and children's toys. It becomes a canteen during large events and can host numerous workshops concurrently.

the free shop

free shop detail

in the free shop

reception

The Gardens

planting

There are always people working in the gardens, planting and caring for the crops - food and medicinal plants - and composting the food waste from the colony.

planters in development

The workshop

The workshop is divided into woodworking, plastics, glass and metal. They also have fabric workshops and screen printing spaces on site. While I was there they had started to build a finishing shed where they could polish, buff paint and finish everything produced in the workshop. There are plans to start producing and selling furniture and other things very soon.

cramps

workshop machinery

metal workshop

Stored
Wandering round the enormous site you are bound to come across some surprising things stashed away.

home made marmalade on the staircase

chairs in the attic

All the work on this site is done by the 35 or so people who live there. They also take turns cooking the communal meals and doing the everyday housework. They also have to find the rent every month.
Luckily no-one there is afraid of had work so it all seems to come together.

Next collection: Calafou Home