Speaker
Description
In Finland, the building stock is relatively young: the majority of the buildings is built during the second half of the 1900s. Yet, statistics show high demolition rates in Finland, in particular in growing cities, where demolishing has boomed in parallel with real estate business. Demolition does not only erase potential layers of heritage, it also threatens officially protected historic buildings and areas. Detailed knowledge about the motives and reasoning behind demolitions has been scarce. (Huuhka & Lahdensivu, 2016)
In my doctoral dissertation, published in January 2025, I studied decision making and urban planning processes in a real estate development project, Tikkurila Church Quarter, where a protected church was dismantled and replaced by a new church and housing blocks. The aim was to explore the discursive struggles for and against heritage in a development project typical for 2010s’ Finland. In my analysis, I applied critical discourse analysis and Sara Ahmed’s concept of affect (Ahmed, 2004). The data consisted of minutes of decisions made, planning documents, opinions and media texts concerning Tikkurila Church Quarter.
In the complicated case, demolition was justified by discourses that made use of affective language. Negative emotions like fear and disgust were aroused by exaggerating the risks of renovation: pointing out ”mold”, ”poisonous” materials and ”polluted” structures, that possibly could not be removed, and mystifying the ”indoor air problem” that would keep spreading the contaminated air. Affects mobilised decision-making more efficiently than facts. The narrative of the pro-demolition discourse suggested, that buildings inevitably deteriorate in the course of time. It ignored that the owner, who wanted to dismantle the building in hope for economic profit, had not maintained it appropriately. (Julin, 2025).
According to Ahmed, affects are sticky; they unite communities of fear and adhere from similar objects to another. In Finland, old buildings that are in need of repair are in common language often called ”mold houses”. In USA, demolition of economically unwanted buildings and areas can be justified by ”blight” (Abramson, 2016; Nelson, 2014). Interestingly, the concept of blight refers similarly to mold and contamination. In this paper, I explore the connections between these affective discourses appearing in different countries.
References
Abramson, Daniel M. (2016) Obsolescence: An Architectural History. Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press.
Ahmed, Sara (2004) The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Huuhka, Satu and Jukka Lahdensivu (2016) Statistical and Geographical Study on Demolished Buildings. Building Research & Information, 44 (1), pp. 73–96.
Julin, Paula (2025) Tarkoitus pyhittää keinot: Kiinteistökehittämisen ja kulttuuriympäristön suojelun diskurssit 2010-luvun suomalaisessa kaupunkisuunnittelussa, esimerkkinä Tikkurilan kirkon kortteli. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.
Nelson, Arthur C. (2014) Foundations of Real Estate Development Financing. Island Press/Center for Resource Economics
| Keywords | demolition; real estate development; affects; critical discourse analysis |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
