Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Who cares for urban repair? Stretching the life of buildings, the case of the Edman Pavillion in Lund’s (Sweden) People’s Park.

Pries, Johan LU and Zalar, Alva LU (2025) Global Urban History Project Conference
Abstract (Swedish)
In architecture and urban geography, discussions on repair, maintenance and adap5ve re-use
have emerged as a crucial intellectual terrain. Temporal aspects of how the urban fabric is
used have also emerged as an issue worth theore5cal and empirical a=en5on. Latching onto
these themes, we will present work tracking the history of conten5on around the publicly
owned mee5ng and arts venue in Lund’s Peoples’ Park – the Edman Pavilion – stretching back
decades and through several phases of poten5al demoli5on (and protec5on). We will trace
the genealogies of mul5ple and compe5ng forms of caring and repara5ve architectural
prac5ces, which craGs this building as worthy of being maintained and adapted for... (More)
In architecture and urban geography, discussions on repair, maintenance and adap5ve re-use
have emerged as a crucial intellectual terrain. Temporal aspects of how the urban fabric is
used have also emerged as an issue worth theore5cal and empirical a=en5on. Latching onto
these themes, we will present work tracking the history of conten5on around the publicly
owned mee5ng and arts venue in Lund’s Peoples’ Park – the Edman Pavilion – stretching back
decades and through several phases of poten5al demoli5on (and protec5on). We will trace
the genealogies of mul5ple and compe5ng forms of caring and repara5ve architectural
prac5ces, which craGs this building as worthy of being maintained and adapted for new
func5ons. In this, we will point to compe5ng claims about what kind of support that the
building offers for different uses and purposes, and who are the appropriate users. Actors
involved in architectural repair of this contested building a=ach themselves to the fate of the
object, but they also a=ach cons5tuencies to the building as its actual and poten5al users. This
paper will explore the stretching out of a building’s life as a complex and mul5-layered
historical geography of care and repair, but also that stretching across 5me entails a stretching
in space. The paper explores the capacity of the building, an example of Swedish brutalism
explicitly aiming to be versa5le and flexible, to be stretched and bent for different purposes –
and thus its capacity to sustain over 5me. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
unpublished
subject
conference name
Global Urban History Project Conference
conference location
Berlin, Germany
conference dates
2026-07-10 - 2026-07-12
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
57c80c50-ac51-43d4-8a04-e09a42b5fd3a
date added to LUP
2026-01-20 10:35:41
date last changed
2026-01-22 14:35:38
@misc{57c80c50-ac51-43d4-8a04-e09a42b5fd3a,
  abstract     = {{In architecture and urban geography, discussions on repair, maintenance and adap5ve re-use<br/>have emerged as a crucial intellectual terrain. Temporal aspects of how the urban fabric is<br/>used have also emerged as an issue worth theore5cal and empirical a=en5on. Latching onto<br/>these themes, we will present work tracking the history of conten5on around the publicly<br/>owned mee5ng and arts venue in Lund’s Peoples’ Park – the Edman Pavilion – stretching back<br/>decades and through several phases of poten5al demoli5on (and protec5on). We will trace<br/>the genealogies of mul5ple and compe5ng forms of caring and repara5ve architectural<br/>prac5ces, which craGs this building as worthy of being maintained and adapted for new<br/>func5ons. In this, we will point to compe5ng claims about what kind of support that the<br/>building offers for different uses and purposes, and who are the appropriate users. Actors<br/>involved in architectural repair of this contested building a=ach themselves to the fate of the<br/>object, but they also a=ach cons5tuencies to the building as its actual and poten5al users. This<br/>paper will explore the stretching out of a building’s life as a complex and mul5-layered<br/>historical geography of care and repair, but also that stretching across 5me entails a stretching<br/>in space. The paper explores the capacity of the building, an example of Swedish brutalism<br/>explicitly aiming to be versa5le and flexible, to be stretched and bent for different purposes –<br/>and thus its capacity to sustain over 5me.}},
  author       = {{Pries, Johan and Zalar, Alva}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  title        = {{Who cares for urban repair? Stretching the life of buildings, the case of the Edman Pavillion in Lund’s (Sweden) People’s Park.}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}