This thesis examines aspects of expression and identity in Ångermanland’s vernacular building tradition, with a starting point in the unique appeal the buildings have on their beholder. These timber houses in the countryside of Ångermanland, built during the 18th and 19th centuries, have certain defined characteristics that are considered part of a regional building tradition. Previous research on these buildings has left out more in-depth considerations of their expression, appeal and meaning-making.

From a theoretical perspective rooted in phenomenology, hermeneutics and materiality, with support in Christian Norberg-Schulz’ theories among others, this building tradition is examined with an aim of exploring how the buildings speak metaphorically through their appeal. Through fieldwork, five buildings with surrounding sites have been studied as examples of the building tradition. By looking at their historical context, their materiality as well as how they can be phenomenologically perceived in their locations, this study answers questions about the buildings’ significance for identity and meaning formation.

The study points to several possible ways in which the building tradition has such meanings, not least in the ways people, buildings and places exist in relation. In the traditional timber houses people can feel belonging, feel at home and experience a connection in time with both the past and the future. As part of people’s lifeworlds, the buildings can also have a significant impact on ideations of the self, the surroundings and how people shape their ways of being. In that sense, this study discusses ways of looking at the built environment as something of importance for giving people a meaningful anchoring in existence.