The Entrance, the Floor, and the Tile: Unfolding Material Histories at Museum Renovation Sites in Berlin, Stockholm, and London

What can building materials and renovation processes tell us about museums? This dissertation addresses processes of architectural and material change within national museums in northern Europe; it also provides a material history of the museum and the renovation site, through an analysis of the relationship between these places. Renovation is used as a general concept for material change, which includes many different actions. The research was structured through three case studies in Berlin, Stockholm, and London, each a delimited architectural and material renovation project in which actors from the construction industry, museum institutions, as well as global actors meet. This research has aimed to unfold reasons behind why national museum buildings change, exploring museum practices, international agreements, commodity chains, local development plans and ambitions, and hidden labour and labourers—processes which take place over decades and even centuries and are motivated by a range of global, national, and local ambitions. The first case that I discuss is the Museumsinsel in Berlin, and the Pergamonmuseum entrance in the period following the Second World War; a time of material destruction, evolving internationalisation, and global governance within the museum sector. The second case lies in the renovation work that was conducted in the 1960s at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, and more specifically a floor and the necessary changes to labour that this work facilitated. The third and last case study lies in an analysis of the trajectories of building materials and their commodity chains at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. Here, I examine the significant roles played by building materials throughout the history of this museum, finally focusing on the tile produced for the Exhibition Road Courtyard. The research employed historiographical methods such as microhistory and archival research, as well as ethnographic methods and site visits. Through the dissertation, I argue for the need for new architectural histories that address renovation in new ways; I also propose that, if better and more critical descriptions and more informed architectural decisions are to be made, renovation must be studied as a process that includes institutional, historical, and material activities and agencies. Vad kan byggnadsmaterial och renoveringsprocesser berätta om museer? Den här avhandlingen studerar arkitektoniska och materiella förändringsprocesse