A space for healing : sensory architecture within the city

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology)Abstract: 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