Re[de]fined: an Electronic Waste Recycling Plant and Jewellery Design School Maboneng Precinct, Johannesburg

Abstract

The reality of electronic device use, consumption, and production have increased dramatically over the past few decades, leading to an increase in the disposal of outdated technology. The aim is to explore an appropriate inner-city development that encourages e-waste recycling and material recovery to present an opportunity for economic benefit and community engagement. This begs the question of how architecture can act as a mediator to expand the sustainable processing of electronic waste (e-waste) by exposing the jewellery industry and addressing the rapid evolution of technology; able to express and take on an embodied entrepreneurial venture within the urban fabric of Maboneng in Johannesburg. Designers seldom address the challenge of creating a potential hub that provides entrepreneurs with an urban platform by approaching the city resources as a waste mine rather than sensitive ecological mining areas. The proposed design’s aim relies not only on the educational outcome of the jewellery design students but also on providing a prosperous and vibrant workforce through waste production methods to celebrate the secondary properties of the material. This is done by investigating waste control analysis to address the complex system of extraction methods, including the study of precedents contributing to the function, context, and building type. The urban renewal programme acts as an instrument to support other waste management investigations, offering education and active instruction in the city and redefining our response to the rampant concern of e-waste.