The Bank of Ideas was a

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

self-managed social centre A self-managed social center, also known as an autonomous social center, is a self-organized community center in which Anti-authoritarianism, anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venue ...

in a disused

UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

office complex on Sun Street in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, England. It remained in the building from November 2011 until January 2012. The building was owned by

, and the squatters were members of the

Occupy London Occupy London was a political movement in London, England, and part of the international Occupy movement. While some media described it as an "anti-capitalist" movement, in the statement written and endorsed by consensus by the Occupy assembly i ...

protest movement. The building was described by an Occupy London spokesman as "a space for political discussion".

Aims

The Bank of Ideas' website stated that its purpose was to host "the non-monetary trade of ideas to help solve the pressing economic, social and environmental problems of our time" and referred to itself as a "public

repossession Repossession, commonly referred to as repo, is a "self-help" type of action in which the party having the right of ownership of a property takes the property in question back from the party having right of possession without invoking court proc ...

". The idea of "repossessing" bank property, according to one member of the movement, was in response to bank takeovers of households behind on their

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

payments. Drugs and alcohol were forbidden at the Bank of Ideas, as was all commercial activity. The centre continued to engage in organized meetings, events, and actions until about March 2012.

History

The building on Sun Street was occupied by protesters from November 2011. It hosted teach-ins and seminars on various social, economic and political issues. Other events included a mock trial of the United Kingdom government for alleged war crimes conducted during the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

, a screening of the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-winning film ''

How to Start a Revolution ''How to Start a Revolution'' is a British Academy Scotland Awards, BAFTA Scotland Award-winning British documentary film about Nobel Peace Prize nominee and political theorist Gene Sharp, described as the world's foremost scholar on nonviolent ...

'' and a free performance by the bands

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

and

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

Eviction

All seminars and events at the Bank of Ideas were suspended indefinitely after a court approved UBS's request for the organization's eviction on 26 January 2012. The centre was evicted from the site on 30 January 2012. While most people left peacefully, clashes between law enforcement and remaining squatters led to the arrest of one man on suspicion of criminal damage and assault.

References

{{Location dec, 51.520213, -0.084382, display=title 2011 in London Occupy movement in the United Kingdom Protests in London Evicted squats Squats in the United Kingdom Social centres in the United Kingdom Infoshops 2011 establishments in the United Kingdom 2012 disestablishments in the United Kingdom