Stalker: Archives of Decay

Abstract

The rise and fall of nations' industries have played a significant role in the formation and evolution of significant cultures around the world. However as a by-product often these sites inhabited for industrial use become heavily scarred once the industry has gathered the needed resources and abandoned the site to a presumption of decay. On some occasions these sites are listed as world heritage sites acknowledging their historical significance. Organisations such as UNESCO then have the opportunity to rejuvenate such sites by introducing contemporary architectural programmes such as tourism that provide the economic ability to foster a new era of heritage and conservation. But often the introduction of a contemporary programme such as tourism can run the risk of destroying the fragile pieces of a site's history, which it originally sought to protect. This thesis argues that traditional architectural conventional programme approaches to interventions can often destroy the heritage they advocate preserving. The thesis proposes testing guerrilla architecture as a viable new approach for contemporary design interventions on historic industrial sites; guerrilla architecture interventions can both challenge and strengthen the notion of place. The thesis argues that the guerrilla architecture interventions can become active participants in the on-going evolution of the site's history. Often such historic industrial sites are dangerous and fragile. This thesis investigates habitable guerrilla architectural interventions that are responsive to the progressive evolution of a site's decay. The thesis argues that different types of guerrilla intervention can offer different modes of experiencing a site by framing significant moments within the site's history, while retaining them safely at a distance.