Drawing from the ongoing revitalization efforts in the Western Massachusetts post-industrial city of Springfield, Massachusetts, this adaptive reuse project aims to bring the public back to the city center by providing a common space for cultural connections. Sensitivity to preservation of the historic fabric of the existing Court Square Building is blended with the transformative potential of introducing architectural expressions of dance theory to create a school and theater for the performing arts. The study of balance between opposing, yet complimentary forces, as they exist in architecture and dance, creates a conceptual interplay that guides the design of this project. Viewing the existing historic building as a dance partner to the proposed contemporary addition, leads an exploration in the tectonic translation of form, rhythm, weight, movement and breath, as elements of dance theory that are developed to represent the building envelope, structure, materials, circulation and openings. Ultimately, the adapted building creates a dialogue for the past and present city of Springfield, simultaneously honoring its unique cultural heritage and future potential in serving as an icon for successful urban transformation.

I examensarbetet Kvar på Koverhar- En berättelse om återväxt används en nedlagd stålfabrik i södra Finland som utgångspunkt för en undersökning av framväxten av ett samhälle i en imaginär framtid där råvaror omhändertas, konsumismen och synen på exploatering och hållbarhet med alla de begränsningar och möjligheter det innebär är mer än fina ord i politiska manifest. I mitt projekt går hållbarhetsprocesserna hand i hand - ju bättre miljön återhämtar sig och bevaras, desto mer kan samhället utvecklas och växa. Platsens icke-urbana läge gör bioremediering tacksamt att använda, en långsam, men ekonomiskt och ekologiskt effektiv process som får ta tid på en plats där exploateringstrycket är litet. Miljöarbetet skapar sysselsättning och mervärde utanför ramarna för ekonomisk vinning. Stadsstrukturen tar form genom ett visualiserat scenario med utgångspunkt i den omgivande miljön, infrastrukturen, den befintliga strukturen och lokal tradition. De befintliga konstruktionerna och husgrunderna, baserade på stålfabrikens produktionslogik, används för att skapa oväntade arkitektoniska rumssammanhang tillsammans med den renande växtlighetens upplevelsevärden. En idé om cirkulär resursanvändning gör exploaterade industritomter till guldkorn för återanvändning och återuppbyggnad, där varje råvara och infrastruktursatsning är en tillgång. Jag vill berätta en historia om en plats som ingår i det kretsloppet, där gårdagens fantomfabrik skapar en grund för en idé om en framtida urban/rural sammansättning. / In the thesis project Residual resource - A story of regeneration the remains of an abandoned steel factory become the breeding ground for sustainable future settlement. Situated on the shore of southern Finland the area of Koverhar is in the midst of the forrest, but exceptionally well-equipped with infrastructural connections to the country's main cities. I have explored an imaginary scenario where future needs are catered to through environmental care, sustainable political decisions, resource-saving productions and decreased consumerism. In my thesis the bioremediation process initiates the expansion of the built environment. The non-urban location of the site makes the slow and ecologically effective bioremediation process ideal - the immediate need for exploitation is low, instead a community is allowed to form over a long period of time, based on soil-treatment and visualized changes in societal ideals concerning habitual urban and rural lifestyles. The existing foundations left at the site after the extensive demolition, will be used to generate unexpected spatial qualities in the built environment. The core of the development will remain public throughout the remediation process, with dwellings influenced by local tradition forming around. Through Residual resource - A story of regeneration I have explored the notion of circularity in terms of both environmental regeneration and architectural  reuse. The future need for reclaiming post-industrial sites and remediation of contaminated environments are but a contemporary challenge a source of potential for reuse of resources and regeneration of ecosystems and rural settlements.

Quarrying of limestone on the Swedish island of Gotland dates all the way back to the 5th century but saw the rise of its modern form during the early 20th century, with the establishment of Cementa AB at Slite, which since then has developed as an industrial town. Cementa has been progressively mining limestone in three large open pit quarries in Slite. Their factory accounts for approximately three quarters of Sweden’s cement production and is considered to be a vital part of the construction industry. However, the ecological and social damages caused by the extractive procedures far exceed the economic incentive and has triggered numerous debates on whether they should be allowed to continue production.   This project henceforth envisions an alternate post-extraction future for Slite’s mine-scape, where the production of cement will shift from extracting limestone to growing limestone using calcareous microalgae. The leftover quarries will be regenerated, the factory will be repurposed, and the contextual industrial land will be developed, improved, and enhanced for the benefit of the surrounding community and visitors. By shifting to a net-zero carbon method of producing cement, alternate industries will develop in place which will also resolve Slite’s socio-economic dependency on limestone and diversify its mono-cultural economy. A 30-year protocol is planned to transform the urban-industrial fabric of Slite into a microalgae farming field and extreme sports destination - creating an anthroposcenic garden in which production, everyday life and leisure are meant to be compatible. While the quarries will undergo a natural rewilding process, this proposal does not intend to artificially restore the quarries entirely to their original landscapes but rather acknowledge our anthropogenic actions as irreversible and consequential; and hence engage with this damaged landscape to find new uses for it.

In 2020, following over 35 years of abandonment, the local authority of Jordan made a major decision to transform three post-industrial sites simultaneously within Ruseifa city into urban public parks, namely the Pepsi Pond site, the Phosphate Ore Hills site, and the Phosphate Old Mines and Administration Building site. These transformative processes, known as "Parkification," not only represent a significant shift in how post-industrial sites are treated but also reflect an unprecedented approach for these sites in Jordan. Therefore, this dissertation has traced and analyzed the parkification processes integral to this transformation as benchmarks for developing post-industrial sites. To unravel the parkification processes, key drivers behind parkification, and perception of stakeholders and decision-makers towards post-industrial sites in Ruseifa, three research questions were examined: 1) How do decision-makers and other development influences Ruseifa view and treat post-industrial sites in Ruseifa city? 2) What are the parkification processes transforming post-industrial sites into parks in Ruseifa? and 3) What are the compelling issues of post-industrial sites, and how do the parkification processes address them? The research employed a two-phase, multi-method qualitative approach, utilizing several data collection methods. It involved gathering secondary data, conducting site visits and case studies, and conducting semi-structured interviews with key players engaged in the parkification projects at the case study sites. Thematic and content analyses were employed, followed by comparative analysis to conceptualize and analyze the transformation processes. The findings highlighted the unique characteristics of each process, identifying three distinct parkification approaches transforming post-industrial sites in Ruseifa. Key driving factors were uncovered by examining the landscape pattern, mechanism of transformation, dynamic interactions among key players, and varying perceptions involved in the parkification processes. The findings also analyzed the parkification approaches within the decision-making processes, contextualizing them as a tool, strategy, or intention. The study's results contribute to a broader understanding of decision-making processes for developing post-industrial sites in Jordan and their transformation into public parks. It provides a framework to evaluate transformation processes on disturbed sites that can be utilized in improving post-industrial planning and preservation. Moreover, this study adds a valuable contribution to Ruseifa, documenting the transformation process of these parkification projects and shedding light on post-industrial sites and their development in Jordan. / Doctor of Philosophy / In 2020, after more than 35 years of neglect, local authorities in Jordan made a significant decision to repurpose three long-abandoned industrial sites in Ruseifa city into public parks. This process of transformation, known as "parkification," marks a monumental shift in how these neglected spaces are perceived and utilized. This dissertation explores and analyzes the transformative journey of these post-industrial sites, serving as a benchmark for future developments. Through a series of investigations, the study addresses three key questions: How are decision-makers and influencers in Ruseifa approaching and treating these abandoned sites? What specific processes are involved in transforming these sites into public parks? And finally, how do these processes address the challenges associated with post-industrial sites? Using a comprehensive qualitative approach, the research combines secondary data analysis, on-site observations, case studies, and interviews with key stakeholders. By examining the patterns, mechanisms, and interactions driving the transformation processes, the study identifies three distinct approaches to transforming post-industrial sites into urban parks in Ruseifa. The findings reveal insights into the driving factors behind these transformations and the diverse perspectives shaping decision-making. Additionally, the study contextualizes parkification as a tool, a strategy, or an intention, highlighting its role in revitalizing neglected spaces. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of decision-making processes related to post-industrial development in Jordan and developing countries, offering a valuable framework for future planning and preservation efforts. Furthermore, it documents the journey of these parkification projects, shedding light on the evolution of post-industrial landscapes in Jordan and their potential for sustainable development.

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This dissertation examines the cultural and lived experiences of economic abandonment in deindustrialized zones by exploring how residents of a former single-industry economy negotiate this process via communicative constructions of identity, class, and social memory. As this work examines the conflicts about economic decline, class, and memory that inform the predicament of the residents of small towns within Appalachia and beyond, it contributes to ethnographies of deindustrialization in advanced capitalist societies, in zones of mass mineral extraction, as well as to other work on the Appalachian Region. The analysis of these constructions is based on three sets of data: material gathered during two years of offline ethnographic fieldwork in the Anthracite Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania, autoethnography, and the collaboration with local participants vis-à-vis a multi-modal and multi-sited "public digital humanities collaboratory" called “the Anthracite Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania Digital Project” (the latter, a term I develop to expand the methodological vocabulary), to which community members contributed through communication forums about the history, culture, and media representations of the Coal Region. Three narrative chapters analyze a series of lived experiences and theoretical concerns. The first of these chapters, chapter four, analyzes how place, identity, and memory link with past and present class, labor, and industrial dynamics, as well as landscapes left to ruin to demonstrate how, in the Anthracite Region “King Coal” maintains hegemony. Although the mining industry no longer exists as a viable form of employment, inhabitants still consider themselves residents of “The Coal Region,” and dialogue with modes of identification that evolved in the Anthracite Coal Region. These identifications unite earlier diverse, pan-ethnic identities tied to Europe and are at the basis of the emergence of a new subjectivity—a "coalcracker"—one with family who worked in the mines literally “cracking the coal.” As the landscapes are left to ruin, I develop the term "environmental classism" to conceptualize the impact of the fallout from King Coal. Chapter five examines dominant mediated imaginaries of Centralia, Pennsylvania, which have become cultural tropes for a modern ghost town. In these dominant narratives, the obliteration of Centralia, subject to an underground mine fire for 57 years, has been largely produced for the consumption, commodification, commercialization, and the aesthetic experience of either tourists or horror genre fans. I term this production "cultural extractivism" or the expropriation of cultural resources, memory artifacts, images, narratives, or stories extracted from a marginalized or forgotten community or culture for use by a dominant community or culture. The chapter shows local residents challenging such "cultural extractivisms." Chapter six examines the demolition of the Saint Nicholas Coal Breaker, the last anthracite coal breaker and the largest one in the world, a topic that surfaced on the "public digital humanities collaboratory" and compelled considerable discussion. Research on this discussion demonstrates that this structure served as a coping mechanism for community members. Local residents constructed labor-related identities tied to social memory around it. These analyses of how Coal Region residents used their agency to create artifacts suggest that media can be a site of resistance. In addition to the artifacts presented on the "public digital humanities collaboratory," community members submitted and curated their own (unsolicited) artifacts. Theoretical flashpoints emerged, often resulting in local residents issuing challenges to dominant narratives and politics about the Coal Region. This ethnographic research involves offline immersive contact with informants extending to online interactions that resulted in methodological and theoretical expansions which provide the basis for communication scholars and ethnographers 1. to rethink ideas about how they conceive online and offline spaces previously thought of in binary terms; and, 2. likewise to reconsider ethnographic research on economic abandonment in marginalized communities beyond urban and rural binaries. / Media & Communication