Temporality, nationalism and the territorialisation of public space - Commemorational presences in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

New article out in Political Geography here

Abstract: In this article, I investigate how material strategies of commemoration are part of the recategorisation of public space in a series of nationalistic projects in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I look especially at the different ways in which these commemorative territories are made present, and the specific view of history that these presences entail. The studied cases include for example the transformation of a public square into a ‘memorial square’ (Rabin Square), of a religious space into a ‘space of national significance’ (Western Wall Plaza), and of part of an urban district into a ‘archaeological excavation’ and a ‘tourist theme park’ (City of David). In the article, I trace and conceptualise five temporal modalities (or temporal perspectives) and discuss their related material designs. Finally, I discuss how studying these modalities can be fertile for exploring how memorials play a part in producing and stabilising different kinds of nationalist affects and sentiments.

Western Wall, Jerusalem, 1905 (Source: Marinmuseet, Karlskrona)

Beyond rhythmanalysis

Beyond rhythmanalysis: towards a territoriology of rhythms and melodies in everyday spatial activities

Article in City, Territory and Architecture, written together with Andrea Mubi Brighenti.

Abstract: The recent, rich scholarship on rhythms, following in the wake of Lefebvre’s book Éléments de rythmanalyse (1992), proves that rhythmanalysis is an important sensitising notion and research technique. Despite its increasing recognition, however, rhythmanalysis has not yet become a proper science as its proponents had hoped. In this article, we argue that rhythmanalysis could benefit from being further developed and integrated into a wider science of territories. What research must attain is, we suggest, not simply a recording, description or analysis of rhythms; instead, the goal is to capture the life of rhythms as they enter territorial formations. A neo-vitalistic conception, in other words, could enrich the standard social-scientific understanding of the relation between rhythms and territories. More specifically, we submit that the notion of rhythm could be explored not only in terms of the recurrent patterns of association it defines, but also with essential reference to the intensive situations and moments it generates and, in the end, territorialises.

Fernand Deligny, Lignes d’erre [Wander Lines]. Courtesy Maison d'édition l’Arachnéen, Paris

Domestic Territories and the Little Humans: Understanding the Animation of Domesticity

Article written together with Andrea Mubi Brighenti published in Space and Culture.

Abstract: Domesticity is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. In this piece, we approach it from the point of view of a general theory of territories. To do so, we attempt to tackle simultaneously the ecological and spiritual dimensions of home by attending the expressive dimension of domesticity. We emphasize that the expressiveness of home inherently includes the register of the familiar as well as that of the unfamiliar (Freud’s unheimlich). The constant negotiations between these two registers can be appreciated as carried out at the limits of control. To highlight this fact, we focus on the case of the “little humans,” miniature humanoid creatures well attested in traditional mythologies and folk tales across different civilizations. Drawing from anthropological and ethnographic literature, yet with a leading interest in social–spatial theorizing, we seek to untangle the relations between humans and the little humans—these “elusive others” living with us—in order to clarify the deep meanings ingrained in domestic territories.

Three presents: On the multi-temporality of territorial production and the gift from John Soane

By Andrea Mubi Brighenti and Mattias Kärrholm

Published in Time & Society

 Abstract

Territoriality has primarily been seen as a spatial rather than temporal phenomenon. In this paper, we want to investigate how time functions in territorialising processes. In particular, we are attracted by the multi-temporality that is copresent in each process of territorialisation (i.e. processes in which time and space are used as means of measure, control and expression). The article is divided into two main parts. In the first part, we draw inspiration from Gilles Deleuze’s book Logic of Sense, as well as from authors such as Simmel, Whitehead, Benjamin and Jesi, in order to articulate three different types of the present (Aion, Kronos and Chronos). In the second part, we move to a short case study of the collector John Soane and the establishment of his house-museum. The case is used to exemplify how these three presents can be used to discuss temporal aspects of territorialisation in general, and the production of a specific sort of territory – the house-museum as a new building type in particular.

Keywords: Territorial production, temporality of the present, multiple temporalities, Aion, Kronos, Chronos, collectionism, house-museum.

Diagram of the three presents

John Soane's house: Looking up at the Dome from the Sepulchral Chamber (photo by courtesy of Jesper Magnusson).

John Soane's house: The Breakfast Room in No. 13 Lincoln’s Inn Field. A series or mirrors and openings allow glimpses from adjacent rooms and museum spaces (photo by courtesy of Jesper Magnusson).

In Search of Building Types

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

Now (2016-12-29) published in Journal of Space Syntax

Abstract: 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 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 studies, with a focus on the role that building types play in society and everyday life.

Keywords: building types, visitor centers, thresholds, material semiotics, territoriality

Domkyrkoforum, Lund (photo: M. K.)