Transcendent site: the Resurrection of Denniston creates an unbuilt future architecture.

It is based in the celebration of a mine chimney and the rope-road that bound the steep mining slope and the activities of the 1880 mine. In 2010 the mine was a vestigial ghost. The economics were viable, to resurrect it, the mine and road of Denniston, in the South Island of New Zealand.

The proposal was heavily influenced by the wishes and wants of the handful of surviving inhabitants of the ghost town. It moves the miners from their underground world into a new verticality, 3 story fantasy designs, homes that speak of air and light, designed in new materials, designed to be adaptable to their desires. The community is nurtured with communal bathing, sensible and eco-friendly subterranean mushroom beds and artificially lit green vegetable areas, with an elevated pathway simulating the rope-road, connecting all parts of the new road.

The project tests the perception of architectural fantasy. The resurrected township goes beyond accepted building norms, establishing itself as a township rich in identity and imaginative spirit.

http://www.rogerhenrywilson.com/filter/architecture/Transcendent-Site-The-Resurrection-of-Denniston