Re-Presencing Woodstock Gasworks: Remediation and re-imagination of an industrial landscape
This design dissertation follows a narrative process of research and design speculation. The report defines the subject of the project and is the first part of the dissertation. The subject started with an historical narrative that was to be extended in the contemporary landscape, it was about a wasted piece of post-industrial land that was intended to be programmatically re-imagined to redefine our relationship with infrastructure. The second part and final outcome is a building proposal. Its function has been formed through my initial agenda of redefining the public relationship with infrastructure and industry. The resultant programme is an organic waste to energy plant that shares the site in Woodstock, Cape Town with a research centre, exhibition space, office space and recreational facilities. The story of the site before its current empty life was a catalyst for the investigation. I chose this site for it concealed a hidden narrative in the city that had the potential to disappear with the demolition of the old gasworks in 1996. No above ground structures were built on the site since then because of the polluted soils of the coal gas production on the site for over 100 years. Creating a re-imagined industrial plant that celebrated the industrial history of the site and Woodstock the area became the object of my project. The management of the polluted soils, public pedestrian accessibility to the site and the undesirable ground plane of the context became the first spatial informants for the design project. My method of site research was through archival research using maps and texts from Cape historical records in the libraries, as well as meeting with an archaeologist, formed my historical analysis. My architectural project aims at replacing emptiness of a post-industrial landscape into a site that is part of the productive urban environment, reflecting ideals of participation and hybridity.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics