High Neighbor!:Residents’ Social Practices in New Danish High-Rises

Historically, Denmark - like the other Nordic countries - has had relatively few, and relatively low residential high-rise buildings compared to other urbanized countries. Inspired by an international vertical urban turn, however, multiple high-rises have now been planned and built. This has refueled the debate on whether living in high-rises is compatible with Danish housing culture and our high standard of social life. From this local perspective, the article wishes to contribute to the emerging scholarship using an ethnographic approach to social life in high-rises while drawing on theories of practice and concepts of home. As part of the project "Vertical Residential Living: Updated Knowledge on Housing Culture and Social Life in Danish Residential High-Rises" (2020-2021), the article analyses more than 50 semi-structured interviews with residents and field observations of various social spaces in eight new high-rises in Denmark. Reflecting on the complex links between residents' homes, social practices, and shared spaces, the article presents three findings: First, vertical social life starts horizontally at the front door, outside one's home. Second, the character of social life taking place at the floor level is pivotal for entering the vertical community, and architecture, design, and interior are important here. Third, the article indicates that Danish home culture is echoed in residents' social practices in high-rises. Against this background, the article suggests that researchers also incorporate a more local and home-centered perspective on social practices, while studying - and planning - vertical neighborhoods

Rundt om webergrillen. En geokritisk læsning af parcelhusforstaden som sted i aktuel dansk kunst og litteratur

Cand. mag. Mette Mechlenborg forsvarede tirsdag den 14. februar 2012 sin ph.d.-afhandling på Syddansk Universitet. Forsvaret blev indledt med en forelæsning om afhandlingen, ”Rundt om webergrillen. En geokritisk læsning af parcelhusforstaden som sted i aktuel dansk kunst og litteratur”

Hjemme i globaliseringen

I nærværende artikel er det min hensigt at sætte fokus på den aktuelle dyrkelse af hjemmet, som har pustet liv i en diskussion om hjemmets rolle i globaliseringsteorierne. I dag synes udfordringen ikke at forstå globaliseringen over for det forankrede hverdagsliv, men at forsøge at etablere en dialog mellem de to. Ved at sætte begrebet hjem centralt i forhold til teorier om mobilitet, modernisering og globalisering, vil denne artikel sætte fokus på kløften mellem stereotype opfattelser af globaliseringen og ind-groede myter om hjem og hverdagsliv. Teoretisk og metodisk er artiklen placeret i feltet mellem boligforskning, kulturstudier og globaliserings-forskningen. Med udgangspunkt i Marshall Bermans modernitetsopfattelse og Mieke Bals tværkulturelle teori om "rejsende koncepter" gennemgås en række kanoniserede ideer om hjem og globalisering, idet hensigten er at åbne op for en mere nuanceret, tidssvarende definition af det globaliserede hjem. Af referencer kan nævnes Zygmunt Bauman, David Morley, John Tomlinson og Agnes Heller. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Mette Mechlenborg: At Home in Globalisation? The recent renaissance of home in culture and media has reactivated a discussion about the role of anchor in the theories of globalisation. It has also revived the discussion of the consequences of globalisation in everyday life. Today the challenge is not so much to understand the difference between a homebound life and globalisation, but to establish a dialogue between the two. By trying to place home in the center of theories on mobility, modernity and globalisation, this article focuses on the gap between traditional understandings of globalisation and myths of everyday life and home. Theoretically and methodically this article lies in the field between housing research, cultural studies and theories of globalisation. It is embedded in the writings of Marshall Berman and in Mieke Bal’s theory of “travelling concepts“, developed for interdisciplinary studies, but goes through a range of canonised publications and writings dealing with the gap between home and globalisation as it tries to open up for a more up to date and post modern definition of the globalised home. Key words: Globalisation, home, everyday life, mobility, theory