(Re)branding the Flon identity: A Swiss Youth Embassy_Flon ... - EPFL

AJZ’s (autonomische Jugend Zentrum - “autonomous youth centers”)
The movement in the 1980’s for Swiss youth had political and physical consequences that are visible still
to this day. At the time, it was an unprecedented swiss-wide social movement, as the youth in Switzerland
demanded an “alternative”, self-defining culture, formally recognized by the swiss authorities. In the eyes of
swiss politicians, this movement was seen as an unrealistic ‘utopia’, and would be difficult to concieve.
As this was the general attitude, from Zürich to Lausanne, the youth decided to take matters into their own
hands and occupy (mostly illegally) old structures and buildings that were uninhabited, and create what they
called ‘autonomous youth centers’, where youth could gather for meetings, rallys, and simply “hang out”
amongst each other.
Unfortunately for the swiss youth, their protests and efforts didn’t always bring the results that were hoped
for, but the 80’s movement is still remembered today as one of the strongest of its time, that to this day, has
had its mark on swiss politics.
Those that were involved in this movement, are today well into adulthood, and the precedent of youth ‘liberty’
has lost much of its resonance. However, there exists still a very active youth culture in Switzerland
and is constantly developing in modern terms, and deserves to be studied.
What was desired, and still does not exist in such form, is a physical platform network for youth within Switzerland
to find common meeting ground and exchange information from one swiss region to another.
15.