Skärvor av en svit – förflutenhetens plats i Hammarkullen

Abstract

The present study examines the demolition of a house on Hammarkulletorget in 1996 and the discourse of Hammarkullen, Gothenburg (Sweden), drawn from the perspective of historicization [“historisering”]. I have examined how the past played role in presentations of Hammarkullen and how the past affected the decision to demolish a house. By examining which role the neighbourhood’s past time played in the perception of the neighbourhood, the thesis aims at providing a better understanding of how the past can influence and legitimize major changes in the urban environment. In the early 1980s the image of Hammarkullen as a victim of negative publicity is established and this reputation lives beyond the simplistic and negative descriptions themselfs. This has also established a duality in the presentations of Hammarkullen where the internal perception is positive and the external perception of Hammarkullen is negative. I have identified four different motives for the demolition at Hammarkulletorget. These have been summarized as follows, namely: 1. Housing policy, 2. Aesthetics and design, 3. Maintenance related, and 4. Area development. Together these four contributed to the decision of demolishing the house at Hammarkulletorget. The area that in general is referred to as “Hammarkullen” are the houses at Hammarkulletorget and Bredfjällsgatan. Although these houses represent only a part of Hammarkullen, they symbolize the whole district. Accordingly, it is not surprising that one of these houses were chosen for demolition. Hammarkullen has also been viewed as a neighbourhood where the desire for change is present. The desire for change probably contributed to the legitimacy of the demolition. This study’s main contribution are the examined time-spatial associations in the presented discourse of Hammarkullen and the studied demolition process, likewise the fact that the past has always been a part of the perception of the neighbourhood. This can be said to have contributed to the decision to demolish a house at Hammarkulletorget in 1996.