Abstract:
Industrialization brought about dramatic changes in many
major cities around the world, including Johannesburg.
However, rapid technological advancements have resulted
in the abandonment of many industrial sites often within
the confines of expanding cities as is the case with the old
Johannesburg Gasworks.
The repercussions of the hazardous industrial processes of
the past are still present on the site in the form of pollution.
This, together with South Africa’s lack of protection of our
industrial heritage, has awoken the fear that these post-
industrial artefacts might be in danger of becoming extinct
if their value is not recognised.
This dissertation aims to investigate the potential of
redundant industrial sites like the old Johannesburg
Gasworks to mitigate the environmental and social issues
resulting from the past in an attempt to reintegrate the
site back into the surrounding urban fabric. Through
the understanding and application of environmental and
heritage theories, this dissertation hopes to find a means
of using architecture as a tool to mediate the dichotomous
relationship between industry and nature, resulting from
an exploitative world view, and inspire a new archetype
for industrial architecture, that is able to inspire mutually
beneficial relationships between industry and nature, whilst
creating a didactic and dialectical relationship between the
existing industrial heritage of the past and the envisioned
contemporary architecture of the future.
