Afterlife Of Abandonment – Reanimating The Old Toppila Pulp Mill Silo With Zombie Metaphor

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology/Architecture", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In this case paper, I will scrutinize how an abandoned, cultural historically significant building can be seen as an undead corpse, a zombie, that has undergone a few reanimations attempts by the cultural heritage authorities. Designed by a famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, this cathedral like concrete structure has been a center of debate in the city of Oulu for decades; whether to demolish it or preserve it. With its new owner, the Spanish Factum Foundation, the silo’s complete reanimation is nearby. By viewing the silo as a specific heritage site and comparing it to zombies I try to develop a better understanding of what kind of a thing the silo is and what it does, and to see the silo in a different light and from a different perspective.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Archaeology/Architecture

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow