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This thesis on the Swedish voluntary women’s defence organisation Riksförbundet Sveriges lottakårer (SLK), studies how the board and the members of SLK discussed the problems and the meaning of voluntary defence work during the 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore the thesis aims to engage with previous research and give an explanation to why people may be interested in voluntary defence. Views varied greatly within SLK: some meant that the voluntary grounds of participation gave a sense of elite status to the organisation; however others saw voluntary work as untenable, since more women at the time had both work and family obligations. Another issue was professionalisation versus socialisation. While some members wanted to see a centralisation and professionalisation of the organisation, others found it more important to safeguard the social functions and independence of the local corps unit. The results suggest that gender structures as well as individual agency create multiple reasons and meanings behind voluntary defence work.

This thesis explores how textile contributes to meaning-making and spatial design in scenography. Through the theoretical lens of performativity theory, it studies three scenes from Cirkus Cirkör’s popular show Knitting Peace. Using semiotic analysis as formulated by Jan-Gunnar Sjölin, the thesis focuses on movement, spatiality and socio-cultural meaning through the three questions; How can textile enhance movement and rhythm? How is it used together with lighting to create changes in spatiality? And What connotations does textile induce, and how do they affect the overall meaning-making in scenography? The results suggest that textile is a valuable material in performance art and scenography. For example, textile behaves in ways that resemble both fluid and solid form. This allows for change of depth and shifting between open and closed spaces on stage with little effort. It also gives means to enhance and enlarge human movement in scale, intensity and time. In Knitting Peace this is used together with lighting design to create off sync layers of reality to symbolise a distorted dreamworld. The thesis shows how we can better understand the way textile affect us by applying perspectives that focus on its different characteristics. Moreover, it demonstrates that an interdisciplinary approach that builds on knowledge from different fields, such as fashion design and performance studies, can greatly benefit our understanding of the potential use of textile in arts. 

The aim of this essay is to investigate the theories of city planning that existed during Greek, Hellenistic and Roman period. Vitruvius, Aristoteles and Hippodamos had thoughts about the placement of the city, the street networks organization and individual buildings proportion, function and neighbors. Aristoteles angle of incidence is pragmatic and social aspects. Vitruvius emphasizes health aspects and the individual buildings with regard to durability, expediency and beauty. Hippodamos view on how health aspects should be regarded aligns with Aristoteles and stresses an equal distribution of the urban land. Gerasa is investigated in relation to these template city qualities and results show that it does not consistently overlap or deviate. To add a further perspective it is put in relation to Pompeji and they are compared with the theories. Questions: 1. What is laid out by Aristoteles, Vitruvius and Hippodamos about a city's ideal placement and internal structure and design? 2. How does the remains from the excavated cities Gerasa and Pompeji relate to these theories? Method: The Theories on city planning were searched and assembled from literary sources. Then a comparison was made between all the three parts of Gerasa, Pompeji and the ideal cities. 

This thesis aims to explore the theory, implementation, and critical aspects of gamification and extended reality employed within the cultural sector. More specifically the impact of gamification and virtualization on the information dissemination by the institutions and what it means for the visitor as well as the challenges that arise with the use of such technologies and potential points of criticism. The role of digitalization of memory institutions will be examined, with a focus on gamification/virtualization from both the museum’s professionals’ experiences and the visitors’ perspectives as well as the utilization of gamification and virtualization for the preservation of cultural heritage. The relevant data will be extracted using semi-structured interviews and conducting a literature study for five modes of virtualization and gamification. The thesis will conclude by summarizing the contribution of gamification and extended reality and highlight the benefits and challenges arising from the implementation of such elements. The main findings showcase that gamification and virtualization are not just generic additions to museum exhibitions, they signify the crossing towards a new type of learning while experiencing culture more critically and shifting the focus not only towards the visitor but also to a new type of visitor.

The energy use in the existing building stock must be reduced and historic buildings need special attention, both in terms of practice and policies. The general objective of this study is to provide an improved evidence base regarding the energy use in the historic residential building stock in Sweden. Data from the Swedish data base of energy performance certificates (EPC) has been used, which are based on measured energy use. The aim is to use the building energy data to inform on the energy use in historic buildings. Since national data on heritage values in the building stock are unavailable age, is used as a proxy, and buildings built before 1945 are studied in more detail. In the study policies for energy targets are compared with the real energy performance of the older buildings in the building stock, and based on the results their possible contribution to energy saving on a national level is discussed. Buildings built before 1945 stand for a significant part of the energy use in the Swedish building stock, and well planned measures, taking heritage values in account, could achieve significant energy savings. Buildings built before 1845 account for a very small part of the energy use for buildings and should not be prioritised in achieving national targets for energy saving. Buildings built 1945–1974 are those that use the most energy and where renovation could have limited impact on heritage values. Apartment buildings with district heating built between 1845 and 1945 have an average energy performance that is twice the target for new and renovated buildings. The average value or the mode value of the group could be assumed to represent a realistic target. Using this method we could identify buildings or groups of buildings that represent best practice in a given segment of the building stock. General targets for energy saving when applied to historic buildings can result in negative effects on the heritage values of the buildings. This method and the results of this study can be used to set more realistic targets for policy planning and renovation aiming to improve energy performance in the Swedish historic building stock. 

This essay is a comparative study of two sculptures with the same motive and title, The Dance, by Ellen Roosval: a freestanding sculpture created in 1925 and a relief sculpture from 1933. The essay has two objectives: to analyse these works of art and to highlight the artist Ellen Roosval as an example of a female artist in the early 20th century. Roosval’s reworking of the free-standing sculpture into a relief generates multiple transformations. The research questions in the current study are: how the reception of the works relates to the viewer; how typology, site and material affect the design and expression; and how the two sculptures relate to the interwar period aesthetics, dance and the motive. In the analysis of both works aspects of their meaning in relation to the beholder’s experience have been crucial. The applied method of analysis originates from Wolfgang Kemp as developed by Jessica Sjöholm Skrubbe, with particular emphasis on the beholder’s movements, the meaning of the term site-specific and the impact of the base. The study begins with a general background on the situation for female sculptors in the early 20th century, the artist Ellen Roosval, and dance. The dance section also introduces the dance company The Swedish Ballet (1920-25) that the two versions of The Dance were a tribute to. Then follows a contextualized analysis of the works focusing on the formal elements, the different sites, bases and the beholder’s movements. Next follows an analysis of typologies, materials and stylistic expressions as well as the shaping of the human body, nudity and movements. Roosval’s The Dance 1933 is compared both to the relief The Dance by Antoine Bourdelle from 1912 and to the Swedish Ballet performances. The analysis concludes with a discussion of how the site relates to the choice of materials and how aesthetics and dance relate to the period 1920s. The results demonstrate aspects of various transformations in relation to the beholders experience. The final discussion concludes on Roosval’s norm-breaking achievements, which inspired the title of this essay: The Resistance of Time.

Nederländsk titel: Hanno Brand en Joop W. Koopmans (reds.), Willem Lodewijk: stadhouder en strateeg (1560-1620-2020); Guido von Büren, Ralf-Peter Fuchs en Georg Mölich (reds.), Herrschaft, Hof und Humanismus. Wilhelm V. von Jülich-Kleve-Berg und seine Zeit