Today I spoke with Alex Prout and Casper Frederiksen who manage Absalon folkehus (literally 'peoplehouse') in Copenhagen - which describes itself as your living room away from home - a place where you can go and have a coffee, hang out with pals,have a drink at their bar, work by yourself, or take part in their 'fællesspisning' - community dinner -which is a dinner they organise every day that you can go to by yourself or with friends and family.
Absalon was started 3 years ago by Lennart Lajboschitz, the founder of Tiger Stores in Copenhagen who wanted to create a space to bring people together. There are a range of events and activities, from yoga classes, to table tennis tournaments, movie nights, dance offs…. The focus on Absalon is creating the conditions for positive social interaction - enjoying being together with other people- be they friends or strangers- I was intrigued by the concept and went to visit last summer and loved it and the way that they are creating a community environment at Absalon.
Apologies for some of the background electronic noise in the recording - I hope this doesn't detract from the content. I'm hugely grateful to Alex and Casper for their time in speaking with me today and discussing all they are doing at Absalon.
Recorded in October 2018
Absalon (Absalon's website in Danish)