Den rivna simhallen - en etnologisk studie av bevarande, materialitet och kulturarv

Abstract

In this essay the aim is to look at difficulties in preservation of buildings in general, and especially the ones of the modernist era. To navigate in this huge field the study is narrowed down to take place in Finspång, a small Swedish town. In Finspång there was a swimming pool facility built in 1967. In 2003 the facility was closed down due to its unusable conditions and then after seven years with discussions of different plans about what to do with the facility it was demolished in 2010. This case is the base in the essay, and why it was not preserved.

The purpose of this essay is to look at what the people in Finspång think about preservation of buildings with the demolished swimming hall facility as base, and what impact materiality has on questions regarding preservation, cultural heritage, memory and history. Through this the essay aim to look at these questions in a larger context. By using actor-network theory the swimming pool facility is looked at as a non-human actant and a meeting point for the concepts materiality, preservation, cultural heritage, memory and history. The main part of the material consists of interviews with eight people living in Finspång and one with the head of municipal development in Finspång. The informants refers to something older, something with history, as the things they want to preserve. They do not limit their preservation plans to only material things, but the most common example is Finspångs castle with surroundings from 1668. However, what the informants regards as something ”older” can be anything from 1600 to 1950. Also what is considered to belong in a cultural heritage is different depending on whom is asked, but history seems to be a key word here too. Buildings from the modernist era is not old, and many people still live in and uses them. The swimming pool facility was perhaps too young to be considered worth to preserve, despite its values as a building representing the 1960’s. The swimming pool facility that was demolished is an actant that brings back memories to the informants. In the essay these memories are compared with pictures of the facility, and it leads to a discussion about memory and history. The memories of the swimming pool facility becomes history when they are used in this essay.

Key words: Ethnology, preservation, cultural heritage, materiality, modernism, ANT, Finspång, swimming pool facility, 1960’s, memory, history