Manufactured landscapes: the collective memory in industry’s architecture

Post-Industrial infrastructure is disconnected from the active urban environment. As such, post-industrial sites are socially underutilized, economically unproductive, and ecologically damaging to the urban fabric. Because these sites are often seen as undesirable or lacking value they are frequently wiped out, erased from the landscape forever. This thesis addresses this challenge by re-imagining industrial infrastructure as a valuable cultural resource deserving of reclamation and remediation. Taking Windsor as a site-specific example, the thesis demonstrates the opportunity to preserve industrial infrastructure as a cultural resource that maintains the industrial character and collective memory of the place. The proposal reconnects to the urban environment, creates an urban model for industry in the twenty-first century, and maintains the collective memory of a particular place for its people.