Architecture as a means of labour : architecture contributing to contextual events through its consumption a clothing production facility in the City of Pretoria

Abstract

Traditional paces of production in an urban context have been crudely built as machines, exploiting the resources of a location without care for the consequences. Their success has been measured primarily in terms of how efficiently they can accommodate a particular process in order to achieve an end product. This dissertation explores the manifestation of a new model for a light production facility within an urban context. A new clothing production facility is proposed in reaction to the infestation of imported apparel wear within the city. The new facility punctures into existing structures of a production typology, exploring how edge conditions and production processes can become more responsive to the urban environment, advocating a hybrid production facility. The design of the facility is informed by a theoretical premise, exploring labour, which refers to elevating the act process above product. This draws parallels to the way in which architecture can, through cyclic processes, become both artefact and utility within its context.