ABC-Centres and Identities of Mustamäe Mikrorayons

This article studies the imagery of local commercial centres (the ABCcentres) in Mustamäe – the first post-war prefabricated housing area in Estonia. We argue that the ABC-centres functioned not just locations for shopping and services, but also 'identity spots': many residents identified...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Kunstiteaduslikke uurimusi 2008, Vol.17 (4), p.110-113
Main Authors: Sooväli-Sepping, Helen, Lankots, Epp
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cultural Essay
Political Essay
Societal Essay
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Summary:This article studies the imagery of local commercial centres (the ABCcentres) in Mustamäe – the first post-war prefabricated housing area in Estonia. We argue that the ABC-centres functioned not just locations for shopping and services, but also 'identity spots': many residents identified their neighbourhood by their local ABC-centre. Today, the status and the identities of former ABC-centres have been considerably transformed. The framing idea of the article is to find common features between architectural history and cultural geography: ABC-centres are seen as urban landscape with specific historical context and tangible architectural qualities, at the same time being culturally meaningful on the level of social representations.
ISSN:1406-2860