ARCHITECTS
Re-mining Johannesburg
Urban redevelopment through the treatment
of acid mine drainage
The architectural intervention proposes an urban
redevelopment along the mining belt of the city of Johannesburg through the treatment of acid mine drainage.
The design research includes a network of selected sites located along the Johannesburg mining belt to address the problem of acid mine drainage, as well as to provide solutions for future urban environments. The main solutions to eradicate the acid mine water problem are infrastructural, which in most cases is associated with inhumane environments. A design question addressing the marriage between harsh infrastructure and humane environments is therefore dealt with ,in an attempt to create a self-sustaining architecture in which infrastructure can have an integrative urban function for the future. The dissertation aims to achive a design intervention that
will thread the traces of a mining century into this contemporary African city, through an architecture that will grow into the future of the ever-changing and continuously emergent Johannesburg.
Concept sketch
After the water has been purified, the machines are removed and more habitable space is provided in the building
Acid mine drainage skyscraper mimicking mining headgear
Johannesburg Acid mine drainage
Johannesburg Acid mine drainage
The purification plant and dam wall trace the mining history of Johannesburg
The detailing of the building is a trace of mining headgear construction
The purified water will spill down the building facade, both cooling the building and providing a visual presence.
A new much needed water based recreational space for the city
The dam walls and plant is turned into housing and public parks