Patchwork space: How adaptive reuse can create a gallery for architectural work and debate

Abstract

Culture consumption and participation in a society is important and can contribute to a socially sustainable city. Coming together with other people to look at art, watch theatre or listen to music fosters a democratic civilisation. Studies show that there is a difference in cultural consumption and participation habits between different socioeconomic groups in Sweden. The cultural infrastructure is unequally structured and many people lack interest for culture. A local newspaper in Gothenburg stated in an article written by property owners in the city center that citizens has not found their way back into the city after the pandemic. One exception are the museums that last year came back to the same number of visitors as before the pandemic. The project aims to transform a retail space in the city center of Gothenburg into a space for exhibition and debate for architecture. By imposing it in the city, people will stumble upon it during other errands. It becomes an opportunity to discover the art of architecture. This thesis investigates how speculative design through the means of adaptive resuse can create an exhibition space for architectural work and let opinions of the public take place in the city. By examining the history of display and curating strategies the thesis uses ideas from case studies of exhibition design and participation-, art- and museologytheories in order to transform an existing space into an architecture gallery. The working method has been based on how speculative repurposing can shape exhibition design. How reused material can be adapted to exhibition modules and how historical experiements with exhibition space can inform and inspire the process. Methods such as pencil on sketch paper, 3D-model rendering and collages has been used in the explorations. Participatory activities has been studied and a dedicated space for interactivity has been planned for in the gallery space. The thesis culminated in a transformation of a retail store in Gothenburg city into a gallery space for architectural work and debate. A space dedicated to architectural experimentation and sharing of opinions on the built environment.