The Omni Commons is a group of nine collectives in San Francisco's Bay Area devoted to DIY and community education.[1][2][3] It traces its inception to the Occupy movement, specifically Occupy Oakland, and was founded in 2014 on the principles of "community, positive creation and radical inclusion".[4][5]
Constructed in 1933, the building at 4799 Shattuck Ave in Oakland was conceived as the meeting hall for The Ligure Club,[6] the Italian garbagemen's social club. The 22,000 sq. ft. building hosts a 4,000 sq. ft. ballroom, a large foyer, a Disco room with formerly-illuminated floors, a children's play room, a large industrial kitchen under renovation, and many more spaces of varying sizes.[7]
The Commons currently consist of 9 member collectives ranging from activist groups to hackerspaces,[5][8] each of which have a representative in the Omni Commons' Delegates Council, the decision-making body of the group.[9] Collectives include:
A biohacker and citizen science lab in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood, Counter Culture Labs serves as a community laboratory and hackerspace for people of any skill level.[10]
An open-membership hackerspace in Oakland with an emphasis on community outreach and service.[11] Active projects hosted by Sudo Room include a weekly hardware hack night, regular programming hangouts, and People's Open Network, a community wireless network being developed by Sudo Mesh, in the San Francisco Bay Area.[12][13]