The Purification Works

Abstract

This dissertation aims to propose an appropriate architectural intervention within a site that requires both ecological restitution and the commemoration of industrial heritage. The Johannesburg Gasworks site serves as a clear example of how the Industrial Revolution and subsequent industrial technologies have both damaged the natural environment and left blighted legacies within ever developing urban conditions.The project aims to uphold the general significance of Industrial heritage as proposed by charters such as the Nizhny Tagil charter prepared by The International Council for the Commemoration of Industrial Heritage as well as the unique heritage significance of the Gasworks site. An appropriate theoretical framework and precedents are explored that reconcile the two seemingly opposing requirements of post-industrial sites - that of commemoration and ecological restitution. In post-industrial sites scarred by water, soil and air pollution, as well as dangerous or inaccessible places, maintaining an appreciation of heritage whilst employing the various rehabilitative actions required need to be balanced to ensure both. The project undertaken forms part of four schemes proposed for the site that aim to maintain the iconic identity of the Johannesburg Gasworks by proposing ecologically sensitive industries. These industries and interventions within the site aim to bring about urban resilience, site specific environmental rehabilitation as well as integration with the surrounding urban context. The proposed project for the site draws its program from global ecological issues as well as site specific heritage factors. The aim of scripting a new layer of intervention onto the Gas Works site is to make a legible reading between the site’s history and its ecologically resilient future legacy.