HAPPY NEW YEAR
A new collection called The Old Gasworks minted on 1st January 2024
The old gas works in Athens is the best-preserved in Europe and the only one with the mechanical equipment kept in its original place. It is an example of typical 19th and 20th-century industrial architecture.
A ‘retort’ is an oven in which coal is baked to release coal gas. The original stokers would load the retorts with a shovel requiring strength, skill and endurance. The temperature inside the retorts reached 1000 degrees celsius.
The coal released an array of substances and produced coal gas. The gas then ascended through the vertical pipes above the retorts. This process took about 5 hours with 100 kilos of coal producing 25 kilos of coal gas.
The residue inside the retort of 75 kilos of coke would then be removed and stored in the gasworks yard. This would be used as fuel for the retorts or sold commercially.
The ones in Athens stopped their operations in 1984
Photographs taken in Athens
October 2023
