Location: Harvard GSD, Gund Hall Lobby
Dates: 3/7-13
Authors: Dorothy Tang & Andrew Watkins
Funded by the Penny White Award
Over the last century, the extraction of gold in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni has created a constantly shifting landscape. Regional urban form is tied to global gold prices, mining, and waste. Deep shaft mining has actively altered the topography, hydrology, and ecosystems of the 80 km mining belt that traverses the two municipalities. In the 1970s, the decline of the mining industry set the state for informal settlements to occupy former mining lands. The degraded environmental conditions are major obstacles for these communities to improve their livelihood. Now, with the advances in technology and rising gold prices, mining has been reactivated and massive topographical and hydrological operations are set in motion once again. Our research documents the physical and invisible infrastructures that support informal settlements and gold mining as a means to reveal opportunities for collaboration and future growth in both constituencies.
Enjoy some images from the exhibit! Drawings will be posted the next time around.
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