Iconic buildings in the making of city identity: The role of aspirational identity artefacts

Iconic buildings are important meaning generators in cities. This study explores the role that iconic buildings in-the-making have in the discursive construction of city identity in public debate. Through the examination of the Locarno PalaCinema case (Switzerland), our study proposes that iconic buildings – during their planning – can serve as aspirational identity artefacts: objects that are mobilised in discourse to inform productive idealisations of city identity by powerful urban actors. Findings identify the mechanisms through which the aspirational artefact and city identity interact in discourse, showing that iconic building projects orient city identity claims, while at the same time city identity meanings taken from collective memory, present understandings and future aspirations are used by actors to infuse the evolving project with meaning. This study aims to contribute to debates in urban planning and city identity by discussing the identity anticipation role of the planning of iconic buildings and how they can be a productive ground to reflect, re-orient and re-claim the unique features of a city’s identity while aspiring to achieve a different future.