The future is shaped by the dreams of today. Such is the case with Johannesburg, the discovery of gold and subsequent dreams has shaped it to what it is today. Our Unit 7 site is Langlaagte, this is the farm where gold was first discovered. Within Langlaagte is the suburb of Mayfair, this is where my project is situated. I found myself wondering as I walked the streets of Mayfair, as to why the site of gold discovery is not an expression of luxury? If anything, there are areas of Mayfair whereby the building conditions are in such disrepair and leaves you wondering where is the gold to maintain these buildings?
This is where my exploration into the cost of gold mining begins. It’s an exploration of production versus extraction both below ground and above ground. Chapter One looks into the extent of below ground extraction and how this impacts on above ground production. A comparison of gold yield versus its use vs resource extraction vs price of gold is what starts to reveal to me the extent to which we are willing to shift the earth for dreams of power and money.
These dreams of power and money do effect the conditions of the sites of gold discovery and the people directly involved extracting it. Chapter Two looks into how gold production not only affects underground extraction but also how it extracts dignity. In Chapter Two, dignity is defined using Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs. The dignity diagnoses then also gives the dignity index that helps to measure the level of indignity produced by gold production within my site, Mayfair.
In Chapter Three, the dignity index is then used to shift the dial towards dignity by trying to counter some of the points of indignity through the insertion of dignity. Within the understanding that humans are generally willing to go to great extents to shift the earth for a kilogram of gold, as displayed in Chapter One, the intervention must go to similar extents to insert back some of the dignity that was extracted. A site study measuring indignity along six blocks indicates by use of calculation methods exactly how much dignity is present on site and still missing. This exploration gives us the probability versus the improbability of restoring dignity on site.
Chapter Four focuses on a single block and sinlge building by using only one of the identified elements of dignity, air, I propose a way in which air dignity could be increased on site. My explorations are not an attempt to completely reverse the effects of gold mining on dignity, its an attempt to offer toolkits that can be used in improving conditions of indignity.
