Paper short abstract:

The paper revisits the phenomenological notion of place in context of current endeavors, in heritage studies and location-based heritage conservation, to introduce more-than-representational elements into understanding and assessment of the historical urban landscape.

Paper long abstract:

Since adoption to the Burra Charter in 1979, the term 'place' has surfaced in many location-based conservation guidelines, replacing terms like site or monument. The current Burra Charter emphasizes that place is not solely a tangible entity but equally embodies intangible dimensions and that its cultural significance is not only aesthetic, historical and scientific, but can also be social or spiritual. Furthermore, the Charter concedes that the value of places may differ between people and that their cultural significance may not be stable. This qualification of the conceptual understanding of place is linked to calls for democratization of heritage that, in terms of the historic urban landscape, have fostered implementation of participatory gestures in heritage management. This understanding of place can also be associated with the affective turn in heritage studies that has prompted scholars to devise methods that might empirically assist access to the more-than-representational aspects of people’s relations to location-based heritage. Focusing on the people-place nexus, such studies have renewed interest in concepts like 'sense of place' and 'place attachment' in understanding and promoting the social and spiritual value of the historic urban landscape.

Given the evolving interest in place in heritage studies and conservation, the paper revisits the notion of place, especially as developed in Jeff Malpas’ philosophical topography. By aligning the notion with the current progressions in the heritage field indicated above, the paper seeks to advance a phenomenological apprehension of place in expanding understanding of the cultural significance of historic urban landscapes.

Paper short abstract:

How are conflictual events becoming urban cultural heritage and what is the role of affective relations to the city and its streets in this? Drawing on ethnographic research on cultural institutions in Paris I understand the city as „promissory assemblage“ to study affect and the public sphere.

Paper long abstract:

At the latest since the French Revolution, Paris has been the place where social conflicts have been brought to the streets; streets as battle ground and central stage for public matters of concern (Wakeman 2009). Can we talk about a performative agency of Parisian streets and if so, how does this translate into urban cultural heritage?

The topic ot this panel allows me to evaluate current material from ethnographic research on two cultural institutions in Paris. In order to evoke promises attached to the city, I have conducted walk-alongs with a variety of people: Parisians working in these institutions, colleagues in urban studies, visitors, people who have moved here recently or since a longer period of time.

While „contested heritage“ (Hamm et al 2022), especially of postcolonial struggles, is slowly being taken up officially and translated into collective memorials, certain streets and places evoked individual memories of their ephemeral appropriations to create publics for collective matters of concern.

How are ephemeral articulations such as demonstrations remembered, how do they relate to raids or even clashes such as attacks that took place in the very same streets? And what out of these divergent events becomes urban cultural heritage - why and for whom?

This research is framed by assemblage research conceiving Paris as a „promissory assemblage“ (Färber 2019, 2020) which allows to grasp affective attachments in their ambivalent mode of endurance (Berlant 2010).

Paper short abstract:

Inspired by philosopher Jacques Derrida’s analysis of “ruptures”, “spacing”, and “traces” I examine how careful architectural interventions can establish trajectories linking the industrial past of an Copenhagen neighborhood to a post-industrial present.

Paper long abstract:

Based on Jernbanebyen in Copenhagen as an empirical example, of urban transformation, this paper explores architectural intervention as a radical rupture defining not only future cityscapes but also what gets to constitute their past.

In 2021, the Danish architect firm Cobe won a competition for the urban renewal of Jernbanebyen (the Railway City), a 365.000 m2 area in central Copenhagen consisting of large-scale workshops and maintaining facilities for diesel locomotives and train sets. The purpose of the competition was to design a master plan for transforming the area into a new sustainable and welcoming neighborhood.

My role on the Cobe team was to develop principles for preserving the legacy of a location that from 1900 to this day has been devoted to the maintenance of large machinery and to which public access was highly restricted.

When applied as a deliberate strategy, transformation implies a rupture by which the past is set in relation to a new spatial order. Such rupture, I argue, not only marks the beginning of a “new present” it also sets the past in a new light. Inspired by philosopher Jacques Derrida’s analysis of “ruptures”, “spacing”, and “traces” I examine how careful architectural interventions can establish trajectories linking the industrial past to a post-industrial present.

Through empirical examples from our competition material, I will present how this approach was incorporated as a design parameter in the winning proposal.

Paper short abstract:

Introducing case studies from Iceland, the paper discusses how ethnographic understanding of emotional engagement and attachment to historic sites and urban heritage is essential to community participation in decision-making on the safeguarding of cultural heritage.

Paper long abstract:

People form different attachments to urban environment that is seen to embody the past or commonly regarded as heritage. Such engagements are considered to be foundational for a sense of belonging and community, and can thus be regarded as the very reason why heritage matters and needs to be safeguarded. However, such subjective issues tend to be ill suited to fit the ways urban areas are managed. Both cultural heritage management and urban planning are highly regulated fields where authorities and specialists dominate decision-making processes. But how do authorities attempt to incorporate the different attachment and engagement that people form with the urban landscape and cultural heritage into their administrative processes?

The paper introduces an ongoing doctoral research project examining participation with respect to safeguarding cultural heritage of the urban environment. Two different cases from Iceland are examined by way of in-depth interviews and observational fieldwork identifying different perspectives and values people attach to urban heritage. The project also analyses the legal framework around cultural heritage as well as the approaches that authorities take to identify and interpret cultural heritage and its safeguarding.

Drawing on the cases the paper addresses to what extent authorities have succeeded in facilitating community dialog and involvement regarding safeguarding of urban heritage. In conclusion, the paper argues that an ethnographically informed understanding of how people engage with and attach meaning to urban heritage is imperative for enhancing participatory model in heritage management, designed to attract and facilitate participation from communities in negotiating the urban landscape.

Paper short abstract:

The paper seeks to analyse how the public realm of Riga has changed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The visual support and protest signs along with elimination to the controversial cultural heritage from the Soviet past have quite significantly altered the cityscape of Latvia’s capital.

Paper long abstract:

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 drew immediate condemnation from the world’s democracies urging action both at official level and in society at large. From the very first days of the war, Riga’s public urban environment, especially the historic city centre, changed, becoming increasingly coloured in the blue-yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag. Symbolic support for Ukraine in the public realm has gone hand in hand with protests against Russia manifested in art and performative acts. Soon the visual changes were complemented by other sensory experiences in the city: slogans, songs and literature readings in Ukrainian (sound), borscht and other Ukrainian food (smell, taste) brought to Riga by war refugees.

The recent events in Ukraine have led the people of Riga to reconsider their hitherto customary relationship with their city, both intellectually and emotionally. Latvia’s geopolitical position in the neighbourhood of Russia, as well as the collective memory of the traumatic historical events of the 20th century, is associated with more or less emotional discomfort. This war has contributed to the next phase of desovietization in Latvia, urging to get rid of the Soviet colonial legacy that has been left over and spared until now. Several streets of Riga have been officially renamed and the controversial monumental heritage dismantled, raising discussions not only about public attitudes towards cultural heritage and the heritage management, but also about integration policy issues.

The paper proposes to analyse the materials documented in the on-going author’s fieldworks, mainly from a visual communication perspective.

Paper short abstract:

Intramuros, Manila, is an excellent example of a historic urban landscape which for many triggers negative emotions. Taking as a point of departure the attempts at forgetting, reconstructing, and gentrifying it, the paper will discuss the politics of heritage and affect in today’s Manila.

Paper long abstract:

The Old City of Intramuros, Manila, is an excellent example of problematic or unwanted heritage, a historic urban landscape which for many triggers negative emotions. The perception of it may vary among different groups: from shame and contempt towards Spanish colonization, through sadness and trauma connected to the killings of World War II, and finally to anger and fear because of forced evictions.

Taking as a point of departure the attempts at, subsequently, forgetting, reconstructing, commercializing, and gentrifying Intramuros, the paper will discuss the politics of heritage in today’s Manila and how it is shaped by affects. Taken into account will be the experiences of different actors living and working together in the area - informal settlers, business owners, students, government employees, activists, and heritage experts – which all produce various emotional attachments to and detachments from the place (Smith, Wetherell, Campbell 2018). This will lead me to discuss how the inhabitants’ relation to the often difficult past influences the visions for the future of the historical quarter and enables or forecloses certain activities.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the application of walking-interviews and audio-visual recording glasses to give insight into people's relationships with everyday heritage using the historic urban landscape of central Reykjavík as primary case.

Paper long abstract:

A historical urban landscape is not just an aggregation of old buildings, for residents it is material manifestation of memories and meanings which connect individuals to place and society. In research on place-attachment, it has been shown that active connections with the environment have value for the well-being and social functioning of individuals. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that people's place-attachment cannot be fully explained on the grounds of representational value. Affect and emotions, with the processing of experiences and memories, play a key role in the formation of people's connection to places.

In recent years, there has been an upsurge in considering emotions and affective factors in analysing people's relationship to cultural heritage. In an ongoing study, qualitative methods are developed on this basis to gain a holistic understanding and insight into people's relationship with places and everyday heritage. This paper examines how two methodologies, walking-interviews and sensory research methodology involving the use of audio-visual recording glasses, differ and complement each other to shed a light on people's place-attachment and how residents form a multifaceted relationship with the urban landscape. The potentials and limitations of the sensory research methodologies are considered, exploring how they can be used to provide access to emotional and affective aspects of the people-place nexus. By giving insights into the more-than-representational, the paper argues that the methods can be used in substantiating claims for the social values of everyday heritage and should thus be taken into consideration when it comes to heritage management.

Paper short abstract:

The study explores the effect that drastic changes in urban landscape have on place attachment of locals with strong personal connection to the place. The focus is on people’s emotions and attitudes towards the changes in places connected to their personal history.

Paper long abstract:

Reykjavik city center has undergone rapid change in the last decade. The tourist boom of the mid-2010s led to a proliferation of shops and restaurants specializing first and foremost on the tourist experience, and economic development led to gentrification of certain parts of downtown. During the pandemic the streets changed yet again as the tourist flow dwindled and restrictions caused many establishments to go out of business. The drastic transformation of the area in a short period has forced the local population to find ways to deal with the changes by altering their everyday practices, negotiating, contesting, and adapting to the transformation of the neighborhood.

These processes elicit different feelings associated with the changing features of the urban landscape, including the emergence of new and disappearance of old places and objects. This study explores the effect that these changes in the urban landscape have on the place attachment of locals who have a strong connection to the place, a connection that is rooted in personal memory and community heritage. Methods of sensory ethnography, such as walk-along interviews with a flexible route chosen by the participants, allow to capture the embodied experience of the study participants and their connection to space and place. In addition, walking through the space allows us to move through time as it invokes memories attached to the surrounding landscape. The focus here is on the emotions and attitudes of the participants towards the changes happening in places connected to their personal history.

Paper short abstract:

"Giardinetto" is a contested public space in the heart of the historic city of Koper/Capodistria (Slovenia) currently awaiting a thorough renewal. The paper discusses affective atmospheres, heritage dissonance, multiple publics, and possible futures of this heritage site.

Paper long abstract:

The presentation derives from the research of "Giardinetto", a square in the heart of the historic city of Koper/Capodistria (Slovenia). The site is an open public space, currently with no official name. It served as a parking lot for several decades until the beginning of 2022. However, the site is permeated by various historical uses, cultural practices, affects, and meanings while awaiting a thorough renewal. Because of the turbulent 20th-century history and significant demographic changes within the region, the town of Koper itself is a contested landscape.

The research relied on the ethnographic methods of studying space (mapping, participant observation, interviews, historical sources), participant action research, and the photo-voice method. The material was analyzed through constituency analysis and thematic coding. The qualitative methodology provided the insights into the place attachment processes and affective atmospheres remembered or lived in the space. The research aimed to understand the complexities and layers of this historic urban space, particularly its contested nature (ethnicity, class, gender, economic activities, usage, etc.) and affects and emotions attached to the site while questioning heritage dissonance and multiple publics as well as discussing possible futures.

This case study is a work in progress; research results are currently presented to the local community. The site is perceived as an urban heritage, and its renewal is discussed on various levels. These discussions also produce a particular affective atmosphere of the site that will be constitutive for Giardinetto's future.