[re]birth

Abstract: Gasverket used to be a very important part of the city’s industrial and infrastructural history. Now it is under development just like other several old industrial areas in the city center while new industries are constantly pushed outside the city center limits.  Looking at Gasverket’s (The Gas Factory) history and importance for the city of Stockholm, this thesis questions how we can integrate abandoned infrastructures back into the urban texture while protecting not only the built structure but also the infrastructural character of the area and challenging the definition of what infrastructure can and should be in the 21st century. Inspired by the social working ideologies of churches and/or mosques as places for charity and community, Gasverket aims to create a secular people’s place that redefines the concept of charity by offering job opportunities and educational help to groups of people who are not always included in the labor market. The project contributes to creating inclusive economic growth and equal work opportunities to create sustainable societies. In doing so, it brings back the production of construction materials in the city by reusing several household wastes and creates spaces to strengthen the bonds between individuals and the community.The strategy for dealing with what is left after the old gas work activities is to bring back the dirtiness of the production industry in the city center while integrating it with the current social and economic situations to create a sustainable infrastructural model. As the title suggests, with this project the area will become a place for the “rebirth” of an individual’s role in society, a space for the rebirth of waste materials, a place for a metaphorical rebirth after death, and finally the rebirth of Gasverket.