Upcycling Wild Pigeon's Field in a post-hydrocarbon Brunei - An Exploration of Architecture Reacting to Social Changes Through Narratives

The hydrocarbon industry has immensely influenced and moulded the societal structure of the inhabitants of modern day Brunei. Nonetheless, the dependency on this commodity will eventually cease, shifting the future social structure and leaving questions on plausible resolutions towards treatments on the existing sites, ‘non-buildings’ and infrastructures of the industry. Infrastructures and ‘non-buildings’ are typically subjected to the process of dismantling, removal, deep sea dumping and abandonment. It has been observed that in recent times, alternate methods are offered within the architectural profession. Through the application of adaptive reuse architecture, warehouses, factories and even ‘non-building’ are repurposed, where its industrial heritage and cultural value are highly recognised and considered necessary to retain. Focusing on specified onshore oilfields in Brunei, this thesis seeks an exploration into a methodology of regenerating a site and offering spaces that evoke a ‘sense of belonging’ or cultural identity. Through architectural discourse on memory and semiotics, local narratives are put forward and explored as an extension to cultural identity. This methodology is further explored through the application of John Hejduk’s concept of languages and masques. It proposes an imaginative practise into visual experiments for an exploration on the effect of reusing hydrocarbon infrastructure as architectural spaces. As Brunei shifts towards a new epoch, studies on current socioeconomic structure are critical to recognise where the structure is leaning towards to as it cannot simply change overnight.