The temporality of territorial production : The case of Stortorget, Malmö

In recent years, we have seen the development of a more relational approach to territoriality. This perspective, which focuses on events rather than space, also opens up for an elaboration of temporal aspects of territorial production. In this study, I investigate the central urban square, Stortorget, in Malmö, Sweden, in order to develop a discussion of a time-space territorology. In 1978, Korosec-Serfaty performed a thorough study of the square, observing its everyday activities. The present study compares territorial productions at Malmö’s Main Square during 1978 with those of 2013. The results of the study indicate a change of time-space production in which temporary territorial appropriations and tactics tend to become shorter in duration, whereas the number of temporary and large-scale territorial strategies has increased and the role of these become more important. The study also shows how these territorial transformations include changes (in pace, rhythm, temporal salience and scale) that seem to vertically stabilise the territorial structure of the square, and thus decrease both territorial complexity and the possibilities for new publics to evolve

Building type production and everyday life: rethinking building types through actor-network theory and object-oriented philosophy

The aim of this paper is to reconceptualise ‘building type’ in order to better account for its general role in society and everyday life. The paper merges the concept of building type with actor-network theory and object-oriented philosophy in order to develop the concept of ‘territorial sorts’ as a way of widening building-type research and making it more useful for investigating how building types are actually produced, not just in terms of the work done by different kinds of authorities, such as architects, engineers, and building regulators, but also in terms of the ongoing practices and power relations of everyday life

Territorial Complexity in Public Spaces - A Study of Territorial Production at Three Squares in Lund

The object of this paper is to develop a discussion of territoriality in the built environment as a way of dealing with issues of accessibility and the public nature of urban space. A discussion of territoriality makes it possible to deal with issues of spatial control and access in detail, as well as to maintain some of the complexity in the discussion by refraining from solely analysing these issues within the frame of one given dichotomy such as the public/private distinction. My discussion takes the form of an empirical study of territorial production at three squares in Lund, Sweden. I focus on the relationship between materiality and territoriality, and how different material actants (Latour 1998) support territorial production. Finally, I present a model regarding public space as the product of territorial complexity

A territorological study of time-space production at Stortorget, Malmö 1977-2013

International audienceNous avons assisté, ces dernières années, au développement d’une approche plus relationnelle de la territorialité. Cette perspective, qui se concentre sur les événements plutôt que sur l’espace, permet aussi d’ouvrir vers une élaboration des aspects temporels de la production territoriale. Dans cette étude, j’enquête sur la place centrale, Stortorget, à Malmö, Suède, dans le but de développer une discussion sur territorologie urbaine spatio-temporelle. En 1978, Korosec-Serfaty a exécuté une étude précise de la place, observant ses activités quotidiennes. Notre étude compare les productions territoriales sur la place centrale de Malmö de 1970 à celles d’aujourd’hui. Les résultats indiquent une modification de la production spatio-temporelle dans laquelle la durée des appropriations et tactiques territoriales temporaires a tendance à se raccourcir, alors que le nombre de stratégies territoriales temporaires et à grande échelle augmente et que leur rôle devient plus important. Elle souligne également le besoin d’approcher l’usage de l’espace public comme un système relationnel et interdépendant plutôt que comme des relations bilatérales génériques entre échanges matériels et activités sociales.Nous avons assisté, ces dernières années, au développement d’une approche plus relationnelle de la territorialité. Cette perspective, qui se concentre sur les événements plutôt que sur l’espace, permet aussi d’ouvrir vers une élaboration des aspects temporels de la production territoriale. Dans cette étude, j'enquête sur la place centrale, Stortorget, à Malmö, Suède, dans le but de développer une discussion sur territorologie urbaine spatio-temporelle. En 1978, Korosec-Serfaty a exécuté une étude précise de la place, observant ses activités quotidiennes. Notre étude compare les productions territoriales sur la place centrale de Malmö de 1970 à celles d’aujourd’hui. Les résultats indiquent une modification de la production spatio-temporelle dans laquelle la durée des appropriations et tactiques territoriales temporaires a tendance à se raccourcir, alors que le nombre de stratégies territoriales temporaires et à grande échelle augmente et que leur rôle devient plus important. Elle souligne également le besoin d’approcher l’usage de l’espace public comme un système relationnel et interdépendant plutôt que comme des relations bilatérales génériques entre échanges matériels et activités sociales

In search of building types : On visitor centers, thresholds and the territorialisation of entrances

The aim of this paper is to contribute to an actantial approach to building type studies through a study of the visitor centre and its role in contemporary spatial production. The article takes its empirical departure in the (from a Swedish perspective) intense urbanization of the Scania region, in the southern part of Sweden. Looking at building types in terms of actants implies that different sets of buildings can be abstracted in different ways (and not just in terms of form or function) depending on the effect they have in a certain situation. The proliferation of visitor centers in Scania is by no means an innocent development, these centers have a part to play (an actant role) in the urbanization process of the region. In this article I discuss this role as a kind threshold actant or type, which I further divide into four different subcategories in order to show connections with other sorts of spaces in the urban landscape. The discussion is then used both to highlight the role of visitor centers in recent processes of urbanization, and to argue for a more open-ended, relational and pragmatic approach to building types studie

The Animistic Moment: Clarice Lispector, Louis Kahn and the Reassembling of Materialities

In this paper I discuss a couple of anthropomorphic/animistic examples of how agency can be delegated to things as a productive strategy in a context of making. The first example is two texts by Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G.H (1964) and her posthumous (and incomplete) novel A Breath of Life, and the second is Louis Kahn and his work on the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad. The examples are used in order to discuss anthropomorphism/animism as seen from a relational ontology of material agency, where a certain part of an assemblage is deliberately made into a critical and transformative mediator. It is also suggested that such an animistic moment can be seen as particular and sometimes productive strategy for the unfolding and refolding of different spaces into each other. Finally, animism will be discussed, alongside hybridization and singularisation, as a specific strategy of spatial production

The Materiality of Territorial Production - A Conceptual Discussion of Territoriality, Materiality and the Everyday Life of Public Space

This article brings together research on territoriality and actor-network theory in order to develop new ways of investigating the role of materiality and material design in the territorial power relations of urban public places. Using the public square as a main example, I suggest some new ways of conceptualizing the production and stabilization of territories in the everyday urban environment. Setting out from a brief outline of the history of territoriality research, I re-appropriate the traditional approaches from the viewpoint of actants rather than persons or institutions, suggesting a distinction between four different forms of territorial production. I then go on to conceptualize some material ways of stabilizing the effects of these territorial productions. Finally, I argue that public space can be seen as constituted by a territorial complexity, thus pointing to the relationship between materiality and public space, via territorial stabilization and production