We are pleased to announce the completion of the next chapter of Parallel Polis and a new phase of our operation.
Parallel Polis 1.0
Paralelní Polis (or as we refer to it Parallel Polis 1.0) was the idea of Václav Bend, thanks to which people increased their freedom during totalitarian Czechoslovakia. They created parallel social structures – a second culture, an exchange of information, a freer religious expression, and a parallel economic structure.
Parallel Polis 2.0
The project of the Prague Paralní Polis in Holešovice and the Paralelná Polis space in Bratislava follows this idea – and we call this version Parallel Polis 2.0. It created a parallel social structure a little more publicly – you knew it as a black building near Račianske mýto, with a sign and logo where lectures took place, people met, you could work there in a parallel economic structure, sometimes see an exhibition (from parallel culture) and so on. However, the point was never the building. It was the community and its ideas. We learned a lot during this stage. It’s time to transform into a new version, so you won’t find Paralelná Polis near Račianske mýto anymore.
Parallel Polis 3.0
Cloud community
The new Parallel Polis 3.0 reflects the current situation. We are creating a cloud community in which we try to preserve as much of the original social structures as possible, but we virtualize them. We devote even more energy to people and even less to buildings. Suddenly it matters less who is in Bratislava, Prague, Košice. This structure of the cloud community is not bounded by the walls of the building but is formed by relationships and social structures.
The Prague Paralelní Polis has virtualized itself as part of Corona Nights and broadcasts a program every day. This created a parallel media space, which is made up of purely private sources, and within Corona Nights you can listen to concerts, interviews, etc. Paralelná Polis Bratislava will join this project because, in the age of the Internet, it doesn’t matter where we broadcast from.
Since we introduced anti-coronavirus measures in Parallel Polis 2.0 (about a week before they were introduced by the state), who is located where has stopped making sense. For us, a virtual meeting with someone from Prague or Košice is the same as a meeting with someone from Bratislava. We experiment with meetings in virtual reality, online meetups, and the like.
The need for physical distancing due to the threat of infection will soon end, but we no longer plan to return “to normal”.
Physical Parallel Polis 3.0 as a fluid structure
In addition to the cloud community, our goal is to start building more fluid structures using shipping containers. In this way, we embody the properties of the cloud community and the dynamics of the virtual environment into the physical world.
These have several major benefits:
- They are not so tied to a physical place. In case of a need to move, we can go wherever we want, even outside the state lines on the map, for example to Austria or Hungary.
- Greater independence from the owner. The container “village” will be largely independent of the physical structures. The owner of the land will thus only be the owner of the land and the connection, and thanks to that the relations will be set up differently – easier.
- Possibility to take advantage of local changes in the land market. Since we do not plan to do any constructions, only to place mobile structures, we can use more lucrative spaces that are only available temporarily. We can move according to the needs of better price, availability, or closer to community members.
- Scalability – We are not limited by the space of four walls. In case of need to add a room, service, or another part of Parallel Polis, just add another container and modify the structure of the containers themselves. Does anyone want to repair bicycles or make burgers or vegan food? There is nothing easier than adding another service in the form of another container.
- Modularity – Individual modules do not have to have the same ownership or access structure. A private container may have different entry rules than a lecture or “coworking” space. A warehouse, gym, or any other structure may have a variety of access and ownership structures. Some containers do not even have to be directly property-linked to members of the Parallel Polis community (if someone wants to sell us crypto-Hamburgers, we do not oppose private activities). Some containers may be owned by people, virtual “companies” or tokenized communities, some may be owned by all or be part of the basic services of a “village”.
- Ability to move modules – Individual modules can also have a mobile function. The need for a mobile Polis at the festival, or a studio with live reporting from the conference, can be solved by simply loading the container onto the truck and taking it away. The structure can be really fluid – in time and in space. We are looking forward to our friends from Košice or Prague coming “for the summer” with their container to stay with us. If we go to a common “retreat” in nature, we can take the whole cafeteria with us.
You can find more information on using shipping containers to create temporary autonomous zones in the talk from Paralelná Polis.
Acknowledgment
Thank you for being with us and supporting Parallel Polis 2.0. We hope that the possibilities offered by the cloud community and the more fluid structure of the temporary autonomous zones fill you with the enthusiasm of new possibilities, just like it fills us. We hope you will continue to support us and take part in this new phase of Parallel Polis 3.0. We look forward to meeting you – whether in virtual space or in a physical Polis 3.0 environment.
If you know of a suitable land where it would be possible to start working with a few shipping containers in Bratislava, feel free to let us know.