Forbidden places

Abandoned places leave nobody cold. They bring out sentiments of fear, nostalgia, danger, memory and possibility in us.

When I was ten-eleven, me and my friends trespassed on an abandoned dock area in our city. We found an open door, and a room inside that we made our “own”. This was our secret club house where we felt we were in control, where no adults, or ruling gangs of older kids on the streets (Palosaaren mopedijengi) could control us. We made big interior decorations; we painted the walls with old paints we found on the area, we brought carpets and furniture there, we kept a library there etc. The planning and the imagination of all that this could become made us absolutely tied to the place. The area itself was a heaven for a child with all its exciting cranes, old ship parts and warehouses. It was a thrilling time and we would work all day on this almost without any breaks and love it. In modern day entrepreneurial culture they would call this “flow”…. and head hunt me down to some well paid media company.

In the end my mother found out and made an end of it, but I still treasure this time when we were child house occupants.

The site www.forbidden-places.net has a fantastic collection of photographs from deserted hospitals, factories, underground subway stations etc in Europe that war, demographics, economy or other change have made ruins. Some of the photos are just stunning. Would be interesting to see a section from Finland. Enjoy! //aito

www.forbidden-places.net