Location:

athlone power station, kewtown, cape town

adaptive reuse, social infrastructure, soft infrastructure, hard infrastructure, cultural centre, public architecture, dichotomy, industrial living, empowerment architecture

Keywords:

The purpose of this study is to address the current disconnection of hard infrastructure with society. The study explores the idea that ‘social infrastructure’ could develop an urban change through its reimagining to be an integration (and simultaneity) of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructure, to form a new perception of what social infrastructure should be. This notion of a true social infrastructure can be tested by emphasizing the social cohesive possibilities of the Athlone Power Station.