Encapsulated potential: An exploration of alternative scenarios for industrial remnants

Abstract

This thesis seeks to investigate ways to communicate a critical perspective on contemporary urban development by exploring alternative scenarios for a former industrial site. By analyzing potential design approaches, a speculative design proposal can be presented in order to open up for discussion about what is considered valuable and broaden the general perception of conventionally considered useless structures. This thesis is situated at the site of the former cement factory in Limhamn in Malmö. The site is characterized by its six large-scaled concrete silos filled with marks from the industry and decay, surrounded by newly constructed housing buildings. The majority of the traces left by the cement factory have already been erased and with the current parallel commission for the site, the remaining structures will soon face the same fate of demolition. How can the transformation of this site be approached to give importance to its industrial heritage and visualize the embedded values? In order to investigate values the thesis uses a critical reading of the text The Modern Cult of Monument : Its Essence and Its Development written by Alois Riegl in 1903 combined with theories of life, death and design values in architecture presented in the text Buildings Must Die : A Perverse View of Architecture of Stephen Cairns and Jane M. Jacobs from 2017. The structure of the thesis is developed by an iterative research by design process. Starting with a inventory of the site as a base for design explorations, in order to translate into design approaches. The design approaches are then applied in relation to the site to visualize the research and how these approaches can be translated into design. The outcome of the thesis is a speculation on how the remaining structures on site can be deconstructed, relocated and reconstructed, focusing on design in relation to values. The outcome combines a pragmatic view on the silos as reused building material with a discussion about industrial heritage and explores the balance between the silos as symbolic industrial artifacts and a material resource but also the site as a shadow place and the act of moving things.