How objects shape logics in construction

Abstract

The notion of institutional logics is a key tenet in institutional theory but few studies have attended to the micro‐foundations of logics. The sociology of associations is used to explore the micro‐foundations of logics, their emergence and temporal–spatial importance. A case study of the construction of the skyscraper, ‘Turning Torso’, in Malmö city, shows how technical objects and actions implicated in the material practices of building construction shape logics and identities associated with professions, economy, market, science and design. We summarize our findings by theorizing logics and identities as emergent and contingent outcomes of the material practices of building construction. The argument is concluded by considering the building construction as a materially mediated meaning structure.

Keywords:

• institutional logics
• sociology of associations
• actor‐network theory
• construction
• skyscrapers

Acknowledgements

The paper’s argument is developed from a series of related research projects and publications on the construction of the Turning Torso skyscraper within the Center for Management Studies of the Building Process, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark (see Georg and Tryggestad 2009; Tryggestad, Georg, and Hernes 2010). We would like to thank Kristian Kreiner for inspiring us to develop the topic of logics, and Tor Hernes for his comments on previous versions of this paper. An earlier version of the paper was presented at Research Institute for the Built Environment (RIBE) research seminar at the University of Reading, and we would like to thank Jennifer Whyte, Chris Harty and seminar participants for constructive comments.

Notes

1. HSB is the acronym for Hyresgästernes Sparkasse och Byggnadsförening (literal translation: Tenants Savings Bank and Buildings Society) that has 33 regional offices across Sweden.

2. The Empire State Building was delivered by and large on time and according to cost budget, yet it was ‘[t]he most colossal miscalculation of the 1920s […] which remained three‐quarters empty for a decade after its opening in 1931 and did not turn an annual profit until 1950’ (Willis 1995, 90). The Turning Torso was not completed on time or on budget, but it was quickly inhabited.