Reading Socio-Spatial Interplay - Arkitektur- og designhÃ¸gskolen i ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

R E A D I N G S O C I O - S P A T I A L I N T E R P L A Y P A R T 1groups of immigrants or refugees; 239 no curtains and exposed stolen trafficsigns may be associated with student flat share; etc. When we makeinterpretations of such material, there is of course a risk of getting fooled byprejudices. Although it is possible to observe some such differences withinall three study areas, I will (in chapter 5) only present a few examples of partstudiesof such observable patterns (mainly because of its complexity andambiguity).In the same way as morphological analyses of architectural systems implythat one examines issues of spatial organization and how environmental toolkitsare specialized to work as architectural tools for social life,iconographical analyses imply identification of uses of architectural meansfor communicating meaning, monumentality, symbolism or values. Whendoing so, we should take into consideration that individual interpretations ofvalues, meanings and potentials for use are manifold and shifting. Thereforeanalysis of patterns in architectural uses of iconographical means, as well asfor instance comments on characteristic differences in monumentality etc.,should not be treated as a basis for firm conclusions on issues of identity andmeaning. My main intention in this part of the empirical analysis is toidentify potentials that may be ascribed symbolic value in projects ofdistinction and identification (in one way or any other). The iconographicanalysis will be based on visual images (photo-registrations). Furthermorewill the analysis be presented as an integrated part of the architecturalanalysis of patterns and differences.Rhythmic, relational patterns in architectural development (“syntagms”)I have in the previous section suggested three ways of identifying patternsand systems in manifestations of architectural strategies: a) architecturalsystems of spatial organization, b) primary elements, and c) iconography:uses of visual means for communicating function and expressing aestheticpreferences.These ways of clarifying patterns represent an overall framework foranalysis of specific observable aspects of architecture. Each part-patternidentified through these suggested partial investigations will reveal patternsin aspects of how the environmental tool-kit has been designed to work, aspartial manifestations of architectural strategies. In other words: patterns in239 Ed Robbins, anthropologist, professor at AHO, project leader for the Immigentri-project, and one of myadvisors, once informed me about a research project he had carried out: A group of test-persons were invited tovisit a well established housing area in St Louis, USA. All the test persons said that this absolutely was a streetwhere they could have considered buying a home. After making one little change, the group was invited backto visit the street, and most of them changed their mind. None of them could describe why they no longerwould have liked to buy a home in the street – they just sensed that something was wrong. The change that wasdone was to replace window curtains with sheets in two of the houses – as a sign of people of colour movingin.126
R E A D I N G S O C I O - S P A T I A L I N T E R P L A Y P A R T 1characteristic aspects of form and general, embedded intentions of function,related to the latter.Morphological systems – systems of forms – are defined by how the elementsand patterns of forms within the system are dialectically related to each other.As touched upon earlier in this chapter, Choay uses the term “syntagms” todescribe the dialectical relations of contrasts and association through whichthe elements of such a system work as carriers of meaning – in relation toother elements of the system.The way Bourdieu describes the relations between the forms andorganization of different elements of the Kabylian house/settlement, asdiscussed in chapter 2, is – as I see it – fairly identical with what Choaydescribes as an analysis of “syntagmatic relations”. 240 The way I readChoay’s use of the term syntagms in relation to urban architecture, 241 shepoints at dynamic, structural and relational aspects of production of function,role and meaning of elements in the urban landscape – both in terms ofrelational aspects and as an approach for inquiring them – which can berelated to what I earlier pointed out as missing in Østerberg’s approach, 242but which I find in the corresponding approaches of Rossi and Lefebvre, 243and also in Bourdieu’s later discussions of homologies and distinctions. 244My argument is that such dynamic interrelations between differences –representing patterns and systems of contrasts and association within patternsof architectural differences – also can be identified within complex andmixed urban landscapes. But there are some important differences in240 Cf. the discussion at the beginning of this chapter.241 Choay is actually not that explicit, and again, I am aware of the 40-years lag between her writing the articleand me reading it, and that I therefore might be stretching her argument. During the last 40 years thediscourses on the dynamics and complexity of urban structures have developed considerably. Thisdevelopment has influenced my reading of Choay’s article, but also I believe, opened up for newinterpretations.242 As discussed in chapter 1: Østerberg’s socio-material dialectic describes a dialectical relation between, onone side, the social and the matter (social conditions producing socio-material environments with monumentsand symbols reflecting the power relations of the regimes that produced them) and, on the other side, betweenthe socio-matter and the social (how individuals experience, or are sensitive to, resonance from historicalpower relations, repression and demands transmitted through historical monuments, but also to experiences ofburden and relief related to characteristics in the socio-material environment). Østerberg describes the sociomateriallandscape of Oslo as a sum of four relatively independent layers or sediments, produced by fourdifferent historical regimes of urban development, in contrast to a perspective that sees the landscape as aproduct of dynamic dialectics between (historically produced) differences. Østerberg uses himself – i.e. hisown knowledge and experiences and his own sensitivity towards his socio-material environment – as a testpilot or an indicator of how socio-material environments interrelate with individual practices. I am interested ina more general model that can handle variations and changes in individual perspectives. Because of this,differences in form that may be open to different individual interpretations of meaning and content are not apart of his analysis.243 As discussed in chapter 1, both Rossi and Lefebvre describe and investigate dynamic dialectics betweendifferences in form. In contrast to Østerberg’s socio-material dialectics that are described as almost universalrelations between the social and the material (based on the experiences of only one individual test pilot:Østerberg himself), Lefebvre’s socio-spatial dialectics are investigated as dialectics between various kinds ofdifferences in socio-spatial form(s).244 As discussed in the previous chapter: In La Distinction Bourdieu describe how social space is defined byhomologies and distinctions, in other words by recognition and uses of association and contrasts.127
Page 1 and 2:
CON • TEXTHilde HaslumReading Soc
Page 3:
CON • TEXTTil Mikkel, Nora og Hau
Page 6 and 7:
R E A D I N G S O C I O - S P A T I
Page 8 and 9:
Page 10 and 11:
Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61:
Page 62 and 63:
Page 64 and 65:
Page 66 and 67:
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 72 and 73:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87: R E A D I N G S O C I O - S P A T I
Page 135: R E A D I N G S O C I O - S P A T I
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Page 233 and 234:
Page 235 and 236:
Page 237 and 238:
Page 239 and 240:
Page 241 and 242:
Page 243 and 244:
Page 245 and 246:
Page 247 and 248:
Page 249 and 250:
Page 251 and 252:
Page 253 and 254:
Page 255 and 256:
Page 257 and 258:
Page 259 and 260:
Page 261 and 262:
Page 263 and 264:
Page 265 and 266:
Page 267 and 268:
Page 269 and 270:
Page 271 and 272:
Page 273 and 274:
Page 275 and 276:
Page 277 and 278:
Page 279 and 280:
Page 281 and 282:
Page 283 and 284:
Page 285 and 286:
Page 287 and 288:
Page 289 and 290:
Page 291 and 292:
Page 293 and 294:
Page 295 and 296:
Page 297 and 298:
Page 299 and 300:
Page 301 and 302:
Page 303 and 304:
Page 305 and 306:
Page 307 and 308:
Page 309 and 310:
Page 311 and 312:
Page 313 and 314:
Page 315 and 316:
Page 317 and 318:
Page 319 and 320:
Page 321 and 322:
Page 323 and 324:
Page 325 and 326:
Page 327 and 328:
Page 329 and 330:
Page 331 and 332:
Page 333 and 334:
Page 335 and 336:
Page 337 and 338:
Page 339 and 340:
Page 341 and 342:
Page 343 and 344:
Page 345 and 346:
Page 347 and 348:
Page 349 and 350:
Page 351 and 352:
Page 353 and 354:
Page 355 and 356:
Page 357 and 358:
Page 359 and 360:
Page 361 and 362:
Page 363 and 364:
Page 365 and 366:
Page 367 and 368:
Page 369 and 370:
Page 371 and 372:
Page 373 and 374:
Page 375:
show all

Reading Socio-Spatial Interplay - Arkitektur- og designhÃ¸gskolen i ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?