A "Border Concept" : Scandinavian Public Space in the 21st Century

• In July 2000, the Öresund Bridge opened between Sweden and Denmark, symbolizing the new borderless Europe and allowing a regional way of life. In 2015, this same bridge instead became the site of intense xenophobic attention. When asylum seekers fleeing the Syrian Civil War began crossing from Denmark to Sweden en masse, the border was hastily closed, clarifying that – for some – migrant publics were never included in the imaginary of this “public” transit space.  In this chapter, I examine three new public spaces in Sweden and Denmark that – in contrast to the bridge – explicitly include migrants as part of the public both creating and using them. Traveling, like the migrant, from arrival to settlement, I begin with Sandi Hilal’s Living Room for refugees in the northern Swedish city of Boden, where the right to hospitality is reclaimed in a private space made public. I then investigate Disorder Collective’s renovation of two public squares in a stigmatized Malmö neighborhood, where migrant children are included in an interactive design process. Crossing to Copenhagen, I conclude with Superkilen, which relies on the “extreme participation” of diverse local residents to create a park. Drawing on Giorgio Agamben’s notion of the refugee as a “border concept,” I argue that, as designers and migrants collaborate in these works, they also redraw the borders of both publics and public spaces for the Scandinavian 21st century.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Arkitektur (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Architecture (hsv//eng)

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Landskapsarkitektur (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Landscape Architecture (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

public space; landscape architecture; forced migration; participatory planning; Sweden; Denmark

Arkitektur

Architecture

Critical Studies

Kritiska studier

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kap (ämneskategori)