Iconic Buildings in the Making of City Identity: The Role of Aspirational Identity Artefacts

Author: Alessandra Zamparini, Gastone Gualtieri & Francesco Lurati
Year: 2023
Source type: article (qualitative discourse study)
Raw file: raw/articles/zamparini-et-al-2023-iconic-buildings-city-identity.md

Summary

Through a longitudinal qualitative discourse analysis of the Locarno PalaCinema project (Switzerland, ~2004–2019), this study proposes that iconic buildings in the making (during ideation, approval and construction) function as aspirational identity artefacts — objects mobilised in discourse by powerful urban actors to inform "productive idealisations" of city identity. The iconic building project orients city identity claims, while actors simultaneously draw on collective memory, present understandings and future aspirations to infuse the evolving project with meaning, making the icon a "temporal bridge" between a lost past and an aspired future.

Key Claims

• Iconic buildings as meaning generators: they "contribute to shaping new labels and images of the 'entrepreneurial city', 'creative city' and sustainable city," and are "powerful collective meaning generators" that inform perceptions of a city's distinctive character.
• City identity is discursively constructed: an "imagined community"/"social artifact" produced through actors' discursive articulations, in which institutional voices (politicians, media, planners) are most influential.
• Aspirational identity artefacts: drawing on "aspirational talk" performative theory, an iconic building in the making is "mobilised in discourse to orient city identity idealisations" — it anticipates and produces identity before it exists.
• Two reciprocating dimensions: (1) the aspirational artefact orienting city identity — foregrounding positive distinctive meanings, enabling identity "play" with multiple imaginaries (the tower proposal vs. the cultural-centre renovation), and reifying chosen aspirations in material features; (2) city identity infusing the artefact with meaning — legitimising the project through past-oriented collective memory and framing the artefact as an icon (synecdoche: part for whole) of desired identity.
• Iconicity involves spectacularity and symbolism (citing Jencks's "enigmatic signifiers"), but the study emphasises its "futuremaking semantic potential while in the making," problematising the icon as "not only icons of a generic hypermodern urbanity, but also buildings functioning as temporal bridges between very distinctive collective memories and future aspirations."
• Contestation and pride: iconisation is resisted (e.g., the "poisoned gift" donation controversy and failed referendum) yet a sense of collective pride prevails at inauguration.

Connections

Concepts: Aspirational Identity Artefact · Iconic Architecture · Star Architecture · Spectacle · Everyday Life
Authors: Alessandra Zamparini, Gastone Gualtieri & Francesco Lurati · Charles Jencks · Leslie Sklair · Nadia Alaily-Mattar
Debates: Spectacle vs. Function
Related source notes: Visuality Peaks, Function Lasts (Alaily-Mattar et al.) · The Iconic Building Is Here to Stay (Jencks) · Iconicity versus Contemporary Architecture (Nasr & Mandour)

Direct Quotes

"Iconic buildings are important meaning generators in cities." (Abstract)

"Our study proposes that iconic buildings – during their planning – can serve as aspirational identity artefacts: objects that are mobilised in discourse to inform productive idealisations of city identity by powerful urban actors." (Abstract)

"Iconic buildings are monuments to the future" (Jencks, cited)

Open Questions

• This supplies an empirical account of iconicity before construction — how does the "aspirational artefact"/anticipation effect relate to the wiki's focus on the icon's post-construction media circulation (Instagram, Bilbao effect)?