Overview
By Arran Wood
Link to book (made available with permission of the author): https://isis-online.org/uploads/isis-reports/documents/FINAL%20THESIS%20BOOK%20ARRAN%20WOOD.pdf
Abstract of the Book by the author
The Angola-South African War left extensive scars and remains a raw place in the lives of many South Africans. Yet it has become a kind of suppressed memory that is hard to grapple with in the post-democratic reality, and the majority of South Africans choose to conveniently overlook the consequences of this conflict. The memory and memorialization of the war has become a shrouded specter. One of the most obscured facets of the war was the fact that South Africa managed to construct nuclear weapons, and (even more astoundingly) became the first nation to voluntarily decommission their nuclear arsenal. In the wake of ghost-like memories of the past, the question arises: How can a spectral architecture mold out of the core witnessing experiences of those discarded machined souls and soulless machines entangled in the obscurantist mindset that birthed the nuclear weapons program at Pelindaba in the context of the Border War?
Those in power, too, choose to forget the haunting effects in the hearts of those conscripted into the war and the suffering enforced by it. The manifestation of this amnesia-like state comes in the form of the nuclear weapons site, rusting and forgotten.
Through a symbolic repurposing of decommissioned firearms in a foundry and the remembrance of specters from the site in an inverted monument, a design is proposed as a means to reveal the forgotten and censored. The exposure of restricted historical documentation is part of the outcome of this research; to find what is still prevailing of something that no longer officially exists and document the remaining structures. Regarding placing architecture and conflict in context, special care is taken in analyzing precedent studies of the built form as well as structural theory of ‘the form in conflict’ with a morphology responding to place as much as process. The proposed architecture of structure, relating to spectral remembrances of the flesh, attempts to explore the role architecture can play as a mediator and reminder of forgotten conflicts.
Further from the author:
I have very little nuclear physics background but wanted to propose our own situation for a theoretical memorial design. This means choosing a real place and then designing a building for that area with an integrated program. I took an interest in how buildings and architecture react to conflict (warfare) and how this can impact current design.
When looking for relevant conflict to South Africa, I came across impacts that the Border War had on South Africa as well as influences of the Cold War era. This led me down a path looking into that history and uncovering the South Africa nuclear weapon program. I think the general population (including myself at one point) knows at least that our country at one point had nukes, but the details are not broadly known, and it is barely spoken about. It was a fascinating and challenging journey to make in trying to understand what the program entailed, which was where I came across the work by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS). I took a particular interest in the buildings at Pelindaba (the 5000 series). So, this became the site for my project.
The majority of the work is designing what I am calling an “inverted monument” for the history of the nuclear weapons program that is on the site of the 5000 buildings series. In part of the research, after months of trying, I amazingly was granted access to the site and allowed to tour the buildings as well as take photographs, an experience I will never forget. A lot of the work for my project is very 'philosophical’ you could say, as architecture is all about the human experience. And what should that experience be when dealing with something that is so secret and controversial?
Architectural Drawings
Aran Wood produced two architectural drawings of the remains of Building 5000 and Building 5100, available here with his permission. In his words: “I wanted to contribute something to the recording of this piece of history. I do find it sad how the structures are slowly being forgotten to time, building 5100 has been halfway demolished. I believe they stopped the demolition in December 2019, but only a portion is left, which is what I have drawn up for that building." Links to two drawings
Envisioning the Memorial
Wood’s work is theoretical, as there is yet no memorial, and he takes a creative approach to an architectural response to the long forgotten site. He created a video capturing his vision of a memorial among the old buildings, available at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCfSn8a6RVU&ab_channel=Arran