STORIES FROM SIRIUSGATAN

Abstract

Through plans, sections, perspective drawings, and material specifica tions, architecture can make spatial change appear clear, ordered, and possible to act upon. Yet some of the most decisive forces shaping spatial transformation take place elsewhere: in financial calculations, institutional decisions, legal procedures, negotia tions, unequal relations, and everyday life. These processes often remain outside the frame of conventional ar chitectural representation. This thesis explores architectural graphic storytelling as a method for making such processes readable, through the empirical case of a mu nicipal housing renovation process at Siriusgatan in Bergsjön, Gothenburg. There, a planned renovation of bath rooms and building systems became a contested process in which tech nical maintenance, standard-raising measures, rent increases, affordabil ity, tenant influence, legal authori ty, and the possibility of remaining in place were drawn into the same multi-layered force field. Key words: The study is based on interviews, le gal documents, organisational mate rial, technical renovation documents, media sources, and site observa tions. Through the analysis, empirical material is organised into analytical themes, mapped across space and time, and developed into six key ten sions. These tensions structure an ar chitectural graphic novel that traces the renovation process through ac tors, spaces, decisions, conflicts, and lived consequences. The graphic novel does not aim to provide a complete or neutral ac count of Siriusgatan. Rather, it offers a situated and empirically grounded narrative that explores how storytell ing can support recognition, make unequal positions visible, and cre ate conditions for dialogue. In this way, the thesis positions architectural graphic storytelling not as a final lay er of communication, but as a meth od for knowledge-making in contest ed spatial processes.