On our first visit to the little house between the tracks - a former water station, and still belonging to a water company - we had to climb over quite a few bits of random stuff. Building materials, furniture, weird decoration material - not the ideal setting for a coworking space, one might think.
 

But, the moment we left the viewing, I knew it was right for us, that it was where I wanted to set up Chukster’s very first proper office. And so, for a few years, we had the chance to work from this unusual building squeezed in between a busy road and the train tracks. It was noisy. The fuse failed pretty regularly. After dark, some dodgy characters would come wandering down the ramp. The house was badly heated - and the kitchen looked like something from the 1960s. But it was great. A proper urban space, right in the middle of it all, with so much character and history.
 

The guy running the place, Roberto, had a tendency (and a talent) to find all sorts of strange objects (from 500 discarded hotel pillows to papier-maché cactuses and a toilet wagon) and hoard them in the building’s basement. We shared the space with lots of other creative people, painted the walls, set up cosy lighting, and a big neon “C” on the wall.

The house was filled with creative characters, and people that were happy to make things happen. The outside space was graffiti-covered, and somewhat ugly, but it felt vibrant and there was always evening sun.

We wanted to share it with the neighbourhood. And so, one spring afternoon when discussing the upcoming Distortion street party we thought “Why don’t we create a counter-event?” A sort of anti-Distortion, an urban oasis with armchairs and rugs and pillows and cross stitching, framed. A distraction from the madness in the street,  but also a mash-up of the words district and action. 

We built a bar, painted signs, designed a visual identity, convinced companies to sponsor drinks, and lugged a lot of the odd furniture and decor elements out of the basement. The “Distraction” Pop-Up offered cosy seating areas, table football, and an awesome cocktail made from white wine and kombucha. Drinks were cheap, the sun was shining and for a couple of weekends, there was an antidote to polished, pretty, neat Copenhagen. Something that felt distinctly big city, something that we had seen in Berlin, or Vienna.

We ran Distraction for 2 weekends in a row, from Thursday to Sunday. In the end, we got shut down because we allowed this old rocker dressed in leather to play some music on a Saturday afternoon.

We didn’t make much money, and I don’t think I have ever felt as tired as that last day, after tidying everything away at 5am. It was absolutely worth it. I would do it again tomorrow. The world needs more shared, laid-back spaces for people to meet and be.