The Practice of Grounding: Mediating Between Unstable Soil and a Relocating City

Abstract

This thesis investigates the symbolic and material act of grounding in architecture, rethinking how buildings meet the earth beyond the standardised logic of concrete foundations. It considers the foundation as both an ecological and expressive element, shifting attention from what rises above the ground to the conditions beneath it. Central to this inquiry is the distinction between ‘grounding’ – the symbolic relationship between building and earth - and 'founding' – its technical and constructive realisation. Rather than providing neutral and passive support, the ground is a living, active and often unstable element that challenges the concepts of grounding and founding. Climatic, geological, and anthropogenic transformations increasingly render the soil dynamic and unpredictable, demanding a careful negotiation between instability of the ground and adaptability of foundations. The project is located in Kiruna, Sweden, where decades of iron ore mining have caused physical and territorial instability, including a substantial “deformation zone” where the ground is sinking, resulting in a gradual relocation of the city. The “relocation” process in fact consists in buildings in the zone being demolished and new buildings being erected east of the zone. The thesis addresses this condition through the design of a building that accompanies the process by gathering, sorting, and disseminating elements and materials from demolished buildings in the deformation zone of Old Kiruna. Embracing this “movement” as an architectural premise, the mobile and adaptable design shifts with the changing urban landscape, constantly renegotiating its relationship with the ground. Thus, grounding is presented as a recurring, temporary act rather than a permanent one. Developed through a research-by-design approach combining theoretical inquiry, precedent analysis, and material exploration, the design proposal translates the instability of the site into an architectural system capable of movement and adaptation.