Igniting the Heart(h): resuscitating the heritage of the Melville Koppies through earth and fire craft production

Abstract

If Melville is the potter's studio, filled with pots of all shapes, sizes, glazes and clays, then the Melville Koppies is the kiln, the heart(h) of the studio, the place that makes the space. The Melville Koppies is an island of stone, wild grass and heritage in a sea of suburbia. This island has been inhabited by many, including the Early Stone Age people, the Bantu-speaking iron smelting people, the gold-hungry miners, and a complex mix of birds, rocks and trees, to name a few. Today, it is quietly inhabited by the same rocks and trees, the frequent Melville dweller walking their dog, and on every Sunday, the African Independent Church members. The rich heritage in this wedge of nature reserve has been fenced off and forgotton, along with the embedded knowledge of iron forging, pottery making and co-habitation. Igniting the heart(h) is a thesis that will resuscitate the production and the ritual of these crafts and bring life, creativity, and exchange of knowledge back into the Koppies. This will introduce light industry into Melville as a means of providing smaller scale industries and job opportunities. A key aspect to the research and design will be the consideration of the ecology of the Koppies, and how to architecturally highlight the importance of conservation and cohabitation through vernacular design, while introducing a modern and technologically sustainable making-space that celebrates the Koppies and its heritage.