Live in Cultural Heritage : A reception theoretical study of the old wooden architecture in Elsborg

This essay aims to investigate how the cultural heritage process and gentrification, that the Elsborg district in the city of Falun has gone through, is expressed in modern residents' reception of the architecture in the area, as well as to relate this to preceding ways of looking at the environment. In the study I examine two time periods; 1975 when Falun was appointed as pilot project for the European Architectural Heritage Year, and 2021 - the year in which this essay is written. The study is partly an analysis of texts produced in 1975 and partly an interview study with six current inhabitants of the Elsborg area. The analysis is based upon Wolfgang Kemp’s reception theory, which primarily argues for the focus being on the viewer instead of on the creator of the work or the work itself. The results of the study show that many of the thoughts that were formulated about the architecture in Elsborg during the European Architectural Heritage Year are repeated in the interviewees' experiences and uses of the environment today. Additionally, the observations of the respondents in the interview study highlight that the interviewees appreciate the old, traditional wooden architecture for its visual, historical and social values. Moreover, the participants view themselves as involved in preserving Elsborg and its cultural heritage. Keywords: Art history, architecture, Elsborg, Falun, reception theory, Wolfgang Kemp, cultural heritage, gentrification, wooden house