Abstract
M.Tech. (Architectural Technology)
This dissertation is based on the notion of a journey through the mine dump in order to create a relationship
between the residents of Diepkloof and the tourist of Nasrec.
A challenge, either physical or cultural, can create an estrangement or void between people. However, a void
can often serve to create a juxtapose setting that creates poetic possibilities. The focus is to articulate the
state of the void in an architectural language - to articulate a journey through the void. Proposing a passage
through the super dump of Nasrec is to set up a link for both
People and infrastructure.
The site of this dissertation is Main Reef Road, which stretches
60km east and west of the Johannesburg CBD, and is a road renowned for
the mines along it. Along with its mine follows the creation of the mine dumps.
The mine landscape was developed and constructed by man through intense sweat and toil. Years of creating
tunnels underground and heaps of sand above ground.
The remnants on the surface , both above and below, leave a trail of dark,
deep memories of the founding of gold. These remnants have become
permanent scars on the land. The deep mine shafts and the tall
piles of sand which we refer to as the mine dumps have become landmarks to
Johannesburg , debatable on their positive or negative existence.
The mine dumps on Main Reef Road can be viewed both as organic and
man-made. They are traces or ‘scars’ on the land, as drawings are ‘scars’ on paper. This landscape is scared
with gaps of opportunity. Within the inter space of the mine dumps, lies something deeply imaginative and
expressive. The challenge of this dissertation is to make two end coincide, where the bustling Nasrec meets
the bustle of Diepkloof. Yielding a space of interaction that resonates with every tourist, every local and
every resident.
The aim is to engage with a ignored landscape as new terrain to explore the capabilities of architecture
within a landscape viewed as toxic and dysfunctional. Through the cut, void and exposure of the heart of
the mine dump, the process of creating a new identity and human presence within its walls. In essence,
proposing a physical passage connection a duality of people.