Opening the Corridor

Abstract: This thesis aims to create a social guide for Lund University Accommodation (LUACC) to facilitate more open, safe and equal student accommodation, namely corridors. A cultural analytical exploration and discussion of the nature of the corridor provide the legitimation and justification of this guide. The rationale of the thesis stemmed from my curiosity about the corridor as a nexus point of individuals living and interacting with others, and the development of community through the process of these interactions. Furthermore, LUACC was interested in how these theoretical investigations could be refined into a more practical and applicable form. The guide emerged through the meeting of my conceptual exploration and conclusions with LUACC’s pragmatic aims. This thesis investigates narratives, creation of ‘micro’ history and culture, the nature of home, and how a community develops in a microcosm and ultimately how it can be fostered. Questionnaires and interviews are used to gather first hand data and testimony from students, as well as indirect observations via ‘proxy’, to gain a more comprehensive and sensory insight into the corridor as both an environment and space. The thesis has uncovered and clarified the significance of the corridor, as fertile ground for both the development of strong social communities and for the positives which stem from this for individuals as social actors. Additionally, it has distilled these findings into a focused and fit-for-purpose guide aimed at actively proliferating the positive aspects discussed throughout the thesis. The analysis of the corridor revealed the complex and nuanced nature of relationships, social dependency and interpersonal communication that takes place in its physical space of rooms, kitchens, gardens and balconies; as well as it’'s metaphorical environment of late night talks, cultural celebrations and mundane conversations. Through the compiling and codifying of these discoveries a strategic framework was built to emulate and replicate these social bonds observed between individual people and as a collective whole. The hope is that, through the implementation of this material, improvements can be made to the conditions of corridors and the circumstances of those who inhabit them.