Environmental Nostalgia and Everyday Aesthetics

Abstract

How we behave in daily life has an impact on environmental emergencies. In the decisions that we take every day, decisions that are important for the climate, the built environment has a vital but not so noticed part. The project Urban design and everyday life choices recognises the built environment as a co-producer of climate ethics. One of the project studies focuses on everyday choices regarding grocery shopping in the new city district Western Harbour in Malmö; an urban area close to the sea that was built to afford a sustainable and ecologically friendly way of life. In this study, six residents’ experiences of and thoughts about shopping routes and routines have been investigated by using the method of semi-structured qualitative interviews supported by participant produced photographs and captions. Three subject areas have been identified in the collected material and will be examined in this presentation: 1) The branding of the residential area as ecologically sustainable is an ongoing and changing process of resemiotization (cf. Remm, 2016; Barthes, 1957). This affected the residents’ experiences of and visions for their neighbourhood, causing them to reposition themselves within the changing context; 2) Everyday consumer choices were placed in a narrative that fitted with the respondents’ overall idea of what respectable grocery shopping is and should be (cf. Skeggs, 1997). Commodities were placed in a social and cultural perspective, where ethical consumer choices could be seen as symbolically good (Bourdieu, 1979; Appadurai 1986), guiding the informants to take on the role of ascetic grocery shoppers (cf. Brighenti & Kärrholm, 2018); and 3) The territorialisation of shopping routes and routines were affected by aesthetic values linked to nature, beauty, playfulness and surprise, that added positive experiences to the respondents’ everyday life (cf. Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Brighenti & Kärrholm, 2018). The built environment in combination with the (bad) weather, the price and quality of goods, unclear information of product origin, as well as picky companion animals, also affected the informants’ possibilities to make ethical consumer choices (cf. Brembech, Hansson & Vayre, 2015). By claiming the term “environmental nostalgia”, which encompasses a search for home, identity, authenticity and reimagination (cf. Chrostowska, 2010; Boym, 2001), the presentation will move towards a discussion where aesthetic experiences and the framing of nature within the built culture are recognised as important parts of sustainable urban environments (cf. Brady, Brook & Prior, 2018).

Abstract (Swedish)

How we behave in daily life has an impact on environmental emergencies. In the decisions that we take every day, decisions that are important for the climate, the built environment has a vital but not so noticed part. The project Urban design and everyday life choices recognises the built environment as a co-producer of climate ethics. One of the project studies focuses on everyday choices regarding grocery shopping in the new city district Western Harbour in Malmö; an urban area close to the sea that was built to afford a sustainable and ecologically friendly way of life. In this study, six residents’ experiences of and thoughts about shopping routes and routines have been investigated by using the method of semi-structured qualitative interviews supported by participant produced photographs and captions. Three subject areas have been identified in the collected material and will be examined in this presentation: 1) The branding of the residential area as ecologically sustainable is an ongoing and changing process of resemiotization (cf. Remm, 2016; Barthes, 1957). This affected the residents’ experiences of and visions for their neighbourhood, causing them to reposition themselves within the changing context; 2) Everyday consumer choices were placed in a narrative that fitted with the respondents’ overall idea of what respectable grocery shopping is and should be (cf. Skeggs, 1997). Commodities were placed in a social and cultural perspective, where ethical consumer choices could be seen as symbolically good (Bourdieu, 1979; Appadurai 1986), guiding the informants to take on the role of ascetic grocery shoppers (cf. Brighenti & Kärrholm, 2018); and 3) The territorialisation of shopping routes and routines were affected by aesthetic values linked to nature, beauty, playfulness and surprise, that added positive experiences to the respondents’ everyday life (cf. Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Brighenti & Kärrholm, 2018). The built environment in combination with the (bad) weather, the price and quality of goods, unclear information of product origin, as well as picky companion animals, also affected the informants’ possibilities to make ethical consumer choices (cf. Brembech, Hansson & Vayre, 2015). By claiming the term “environmental nostalgia”, which encompasses a search for home, identity, authenticity and reimagination (cf. Chrostowska, 2010; Boym, 2001), the presentation will move towards a discussion where aesthetic experiences and the framing of nature within the built culture are recognised as important parts of sustainable urban environments (cf. Brady, Brook & Prior, 2018).

• author: Petersson, Anna and Kärrholm, Mattias
• organization: Department of Architecture and Built Environment
• publishing date: 2021-06-05
• type: Contribution to conference
• publication status: unpublished
• subject: Human Geography
• conference name: International Institute of Applied Aesthetics’ (IIAA) International Summer Conference, Aesthetics in the Age of Environmental Crisis
• conference location: Lahti, Finland
• conference dates: 2021-06-03 - 2021-06-05
• project: Urban design and everyday life choices: On the built environment as a co-producer
• language: English
• LU publication?: yes
• id: 74a148d7-4f89-48ff-8234-747131b53c0d
• date added to LUP: 2021-06-07 09:13:18
• date last changed: 2023-06-15 10:16:12