A New Energy Landscape



The extensive coalfields in the Gauteng region are an ecological hazard and at present have no future management-planning once the coal is depleted or is no longer used as an energy source. Simultaneously, South Africa has for over a decade experienced rolling blackouts necessitating retrofitting many powerstations. This project looks to intercept this trajectory towards more coal extraction and power generation by imagining an alternative “energy-landscape” of more renewable energy sources. Importantly, the project does not propose specific future landscape or architectural outcomes but rather speculates on how the logics of extractive processes - in this case coal mining - can be re-adapted to create a more sustainable landscape. The entire Witbank coalfield region is studied to formulate an indexical approach to the territorial recalibration of the energy-generating/transmission infrastructure by focusing on the Anglo Kleinkopje Colliery as a specific case study to speculate on the future South African energy landscape.



Tutors 

Sanne van den Breemer
Filip Geerts
Ilmar Hurkxkens



Director of Studies

Salomon Frausto

Contributors

Nigel Alarcon(MX), Pooja Bhave(IN), Mariano Cuofano(IT), Fabiola Cruz(PE), Alonso Díaz(MX), Xiaoyu Ding(CN), Ines Garcia‑Lezana(ES), Sandra Garcia(ES), Martino Greco(IT), Sebastian Hitchcock(ZA), Alejandra Huesca(MX), Yesah Hwangbo(KR), Takuma Johnson(US), Yi-Ni Lin(TW), Paola Tovar(MX), Cristhy Mattos(BR), Preradon Pimpakan(TH), Adi Samet(IL), Raymond Tang(US), Kulaporn Temudom(TH), Danai Tsigkanou(GR), Jesse Verdoes(NL), Rongting Xiao(CN)