Architecture dilemmas in Gothenburg: Profession and politics in designing of areas of national importance in cultural heritage policy

Other conference contribution, 2024

This is a story about a site called Circustomten in the center of Gothenburg. The site is a part of an area is of national important and guarded by the law and the county administrative board because of its cultural heritage values, architectural qualities and urban design. In 2016, the city of Gothenburg organized a design developer competition at the site. The winning design show high-rise buildings in two open urban blocks. The land allocation agreement demanded the builder to carry out a parallel assignment for redesigning the site. However, the architect offices behind the winning design were excluded and could not compete for this new assignment. This is the first professional dilemma. The winner in the following parallel assignment 2020-2022 is a design team, including the firm that reviewed the contributions in the previous competition. This is the second dilemma. There is a business relationship involved in the planning process, challenging the ethical code of conduct adopted by Swedish architects. In 2023, the new political majority stopped the winning proposal from being implemented due to the architecture (lack of a classical style) and the urban design (lack of a closed block). This is the third dilemma. The rules of the game have been changed. The buildings must be dressed as in the late 1800s. This is the fourth dilemma. There has never been classical architecture in a close block on the site. The political demand to change the detailed plan conflicts with the status of the area as nationally important due to its values ​​and qualities in the cultural heritage. In this case, approval from the county administrative board is required to implement the new design on the plot.