DISLOCATION / RELOCATION RE-DISCOVERING, ASSERTING & RE-IMAGINING IDENTITY IN YEOVILLE CANDICE OLVER 0101625Y 2 Acknowledgments: Mom and dad for all your support and unconditional love, without you both this wouldn't have been possible. Mom, thanks for running around whenever I needed you, and Dad for putting you through the first drafts. My Sister, Dinks, for all the frustrating days of helping me with my document and whenever there was a problem you always new how to fix it. To Craig, who always whispered words of encouragement or shouted them when I needed it. To Ariane, A huge thanks for being an inspiring mentor, who has definitely put all her energy and thought into this thesis, for this I will be forever gratefull. THANK YOU! To all the lecturers at WITS, Lone Paulson and Aly Karam, for all the words of encouragement and advice. To my friends, Nicole, Rach, Jen and Vangie thank you for understanding and always supporting me, I hope I can return the favour one day. 3 All photographs and sketches are done by the author unless otherwise stated. I, Candice Olver (0101625y) am a student registered for the course Master of Architecture. [Professional] in the year 2008. I am aware that plagiarism [the use of someones else?s work without permission and/ or without acknowledging the original sources] is wrong. I confirm that the work submitted for assessment for the above course is my own unaided work, except where I have stated explicitly otherwise. I have followed the required conventions in referenc- ing thoughts, ideas, and visual materials of others. For this purpose, I have referred to the Graduate School of Engineering and the Built Environment style guide. I understand that the University of the Witwatersrand may take disciplinary action against me, if there is a belief that this is not my own un- aided work or that I have failed to acknowledge the source of the ideas or words in my own work. This document is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree: Master of Architecture [Professional] at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 2008. This thesis aims to explore the process of identity construction within the context of the urban environment of Johannesburg. This exploration aims to inform the design of a Social Centre that will facilitate the process of personal and communal identity construction within the suburb of Yeoville, Johannesburg. The intention is to re-design an existing community centre on a key public space in such a way that it will reactivate and add value to the public space in the suburb of Yeoville (and in turn facilitating the city of Johannesburg) and the expression of the identity of Yeoville and in the process provide a space in which people can explore their own identity and contribute to the identity of Johannesburg. CONTENTS . . . INTRODUCTION pg. 6 SEARCH FOR IDENTITY Dening Identity Identity Construction Identity by Design pg. 10 JOHANNESBURG?S SEARCH FOR IDENTITY Fortune Seeking Legacy Search for Identity pg. 20 URBAN PUBLIC SPACE ANALYSIS Joubert Park Beyers Naude Square Marytzgerald Square pg. 30 MEETING YEOVILLE RESIDENTS Formal Interviews Street Interviews pg. 40 EXISTING CENTRES CRITIQUE Zolani multi-purpose centre Yeoville Recreation Centre pg. 46 CASE STUDIES Sendai Mediatheque Yokohama International Terminal pg. 50 ARCHITECTURAL BRIEF pg. 58 PROGRAMME pg. 62 FEASIBILITY & SUSTAINABILITY Feasibility Sustainabilty SITE ANALYSIS Site Selection and Context Analysis Yeoville Market pg. 70 DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS Design Concept Theory Translated Design principles pg. 86 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT Concept Sketches Design Development pg. 92 ARCHITECTURAL RESPONSE Design Drawings Technical resolution pg. 100 REFERENCES pg. 126 2 1 3 4 5 6 7 11 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 PICTURE 1 INTRODUCTION Lindsay Bremner has described Johannes- burg as a rapidly transforming city where people are remaking public space by exploring new identities. (Bremner 2004:25) It is the role of architecture within the reimagin- ing of South Africa?s identity that has inspired an investigation into identity and the process of its construction, within the context of the city of Johannesburg. The question of identity, how it is defined or created, how it can be re-discovered, asserted and re-imagined is explored. It is an examina- tion of the contemporary urban condition in the city and attempts to understand people?s ap- propriation of the city through its public spaces and to apply this knowledge in the design. The notion of personal and communal identi- ties is investigated, analysed and interpreted in terms of how people appropriate the public spaces of the city. The links between personal identity and place-identity are explored and how people identify with themselves leads to the manner in which they interact and identify with the city through the public spaces that they frequent and occupy on a daily basis. The concept of identity, the exploration of the creative process of identity construction and how this can be translated into something tan- gible in architectural terms is explored in sec- tion 2.0, Search for identity. Historically Johannesburg was and still is viewed as a city where one can make one?s for- tune. This has attracted people from many na- tionalities with different identities to express. It is this heritage of the city of Johannesburg, the city of opportunity, and the extent to which this has contributed to the search for identity within the city of Johannesburg that will be in- vestigated in section 3.0. Section 6.0 is concerned with the critique of existing facilities at the Yeoville Park as well as case study of the Zolani Multi-purpose Centre in Nyanga, Cape Town. Case studies are researched in section 7.0 in order to gain an increased understanding of urban landscaping and design that would facilitate the creative identity construction process. Toyo Ito?s, Sendai Mediatheque is an example that highlights the relationship between public and private spaces as well as making technology and information eas- ily accessible. The Yokohama International Ferry Termi- nal by Foreign Office Architects highlights the important role of the creation of public space and the ability to make-place. This research aimed to highlight design princi- ples to derive solutions that would be ap- propriate to the brief. The critique of existing centres and urban public spaces within Johannesburg, the theoretical concept of identity construction and the insight gained from interviews led to the formation of the architectural brief and programme in sections 8.0 and 9.0 re- spectively. Section 10.0 deals with the feasibility and sustinability of the project. Section 11.0 describes a process of site analysis. Within Yeoville, the site of Yeoville Square was chosen for being the hub within the activities of daily life and the heart of Yeoville. The mappings of the site illustrate the heavy pedestrian traffic throughout the area, making it suitable for a public space. The site investigation highlighted the al- ready established public amenities that have been identified by the Johannesburg Development Agency for redevelopment that would enhance the scheme and enrich the brief in terms of the local community. The Consitutional Court in Hillbrow and the Apartheid Museum will be studied as con- temporary attempts to assert and explore a national identity through the use of pro- grammes and built form. The reimagining of the identity of Johannesburg as a city is most evident in the inner city landscape of New- town. The many projects in Newtown have re-used existing structures and spaces creating new programmes and public spaces that accomodate the transforming society of post- apartheid Johannesburg. The Yeoville Market will be studied as an architectural reaction on a community scale to the reclaiming of the public spaces of the streets, parks and pavements within Yeoville, Johannesburg. In order to establish criteria for an interven- tion it was necessary to investigate existing public facilities in Johannesburg. Section 4.0 attempts to analyse the existing infrastruc- ture of urban public spaces in the inner city of Johannesburg. This research will contribute to outline the positive and negative aspects of public buildings and urban public spaces that exist in Johannesburg and define what the current needs are. The Joubert Park, Beyer?s Naude Square, The Yeoville Park, MaryFitzgerald Square and the Centre Pom- pidou are examples that illustrate the rela- tionship between the public appropriation of the space and population density, individual and communal living as well as public and private space. Key representatives of the Yeoville com- munity as well as informal steet interviews were conducted in Section 5.0 to explore the different cultures and communities that co- exist in present day Yeoville. It is an attempt to gain insight into the functioning and situ- ations that the Yeoville community are cur- rently facing and ameliorate this through an architectural design. INT RODU CTIO N 8 Introduction 9 Section 12.0 describes the design principles and concepts that were derived from the theoretical argument, case studies, interviews and site analysis. Design development is explored in Section 13.0. and the project?s urban and design resolution through the set of design and technical draw- ings will be presented in section 14. The intention of this thesis is to investigate the role of architecture in the creative process of identity formation and by facilitating this proc- ess enable the re-discovery, assertion and re- imagining of individual and communal identities. By enabling this creative process it is hoped that individuals and communities can positively in- teract and contribute to the city of johannesburg and its search for identity. Secondly, this thesis attempts to use architecture as a process that can deliver build- ings to reactivate and add value to public space within the inner city. An architecture that incor- porates a programme of identity re-discovery, assertion and re-imagining that can be used to reactivate public space. The intention is to design a multi-purpose cultur- al centre and public space which will reactivate and add value to the public space within the city. It will contribute to the expression of identity of Yeoville and in turn the city and in the process provide a space within which people can explore identity. WHY YEOVILLE ? For fortune seekers Yeoville is often the entry or starting point into the city of Johannesburg. This thesis attempts to address the issue of identity construction within the diverse cultures that exist in Yeoville and how the individuals and communities can function and positively contribute to the city and the search for identity. Yeoville is well connected to the inner city and to the Uni- versity of the Witwatersrand and this made the area attrac- tive to people who would be working in the city and needing transportation. Yeoville has reasonable rents and transpor- tation costs and along with the large percentage of African immigrants already established in Yeoville, it provides the starting point into the city of Johannesburg. Yeoville as a suburb has a strong identity. The role the area has played in the history of political activism as well as being a ?grey? area during apartheid plays a part in the formation of the suburbs identity. Apartheid has caused a fragmented city both spatially and racially. Yeoville however went through a relatively smooth transition that saw more interaction between various racial groups with an even more cosmopolitan composition of the city. Yeoville is home to people from all over Africa namely West Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as East and Southern Africa. Yeoville can be seen as the most integrated part of the city and this is perhaps why migrants and immigrants choose to negotiate the city from this point. There is an existing network of community based forums that are concerned with the regeneration of the suburb such as the Yeoville Community Forum, The Yeoville Youth Fo- rum, The Yeoville Safety and Security Forum and the newly created Africa Diaspora Forum. The JDA (Johannesburg Developement Agency) has also highlighted Yeoville?s main high street, Raleigh/Rockey Street and the Yeoville Park, as part of the Urban Redevel- opment Zone. As a result Yeoville is known as the ?melting pot? of cultures within the inner city of Johannesburg and Yeoville has a strong sense of identity as a suburb and it is proposed that this grounding creates the appropriate area from which the migrants and immigrants can begin the process of identity construction. INT RODU CTIO N 2 SEARCH FOR IDENTITY Defining Identity Identity Construction Identity by Design 12 Before attempting to deal with the concept of the identity of Yeoville and its? community and the city of Johannesburg, an approach towards the concept of identity is essential to unpack the complex cultural diversity that occurs within the Yeoville community and the city. Stuart Hall addresses the concept of identity in the essay, ?cultural identity and diaspora?. Hall proposes that identity should be thought of as a ?production?, which is never complete and always in the process of transformation and al- ways constituted within representation. This is an alternative to thinking of identity as an already accomplished fact. (Rutherford 1990:222) This thesis seeks to open a dialogue and inves- tigation on the subject of cultural identity and representation. We all speak and write from a particular place and time, from a history and a culture which is specific, we can say that it is al- ways in context or positioned. It is thus proposed in this thesis that the concept of creative identity construction and its positioning or context of in- dividual and collective identities will provide the clues as to how architecture through built form and programming can facilitate this process within the suburb of Yeoville and in turn the city of Johannesburg. Hall suggests (Rutherford 1990: 223) that there are two ways of thinking about ?cultural identity?: The first position defines ?cultural identity? in terms of one shared culture, a collective ?one true self?, which people with a shared history and ancestry hold in common. Our cultural identities reflect the common histori- cal experiences and shared cultural codes which provide us with a stable, unchanging and contin- uous frame of reference and meaning, beneath the shifting divisions and vicissitudes of our ac- tual history. The ?oneness? that underlies all superficial differ- ences is the truth and the essence and the iden- tity that must be discovered or excavated and brought to light and expressed. Is it a matter of unearthing that which the coloni- al experience has buried and overlaid, bringing to light the hidden continuities it suppressed? Stuart Hall proposes than an entirely different practice of not merely rediscovering but the production of identity that holds the key to the search for identity. Not an identity that is ground in archaeology but in the re-telling of the past. (Rutherford 1990:223) Stuart Hall believes that the act of imaginative rediscovery of an essential identity must not be underestimated or the importance neglected. The importance of the act of imaginative re- discovery which the concept of a rediscovered identity entails must not be underestimated or neglected. (Rutherford 1990: 224) The second view of identity formation recognis- es that as well as the many points of similarity there are also critical points of deep and signifi- cant difference which constitute what we really are or rather what we have become. ? We cannot speak with any exactness about ?one experience, one identity?, without acknowl- edging its other side ? the ruptures and discon- tinuities which constitute uniqueness.? (Rutherford 1990:224) Cultural identity is therefore a matter of ?becom- ing? as well as of ?being?. It belongs to the fu- ture as much as to the past. It is not something which already exists, transcending space, time, history and culture. Cultural identities that come from somewhere have histories, but like every- thing which is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed in some essentialised past, they are subject to the continuous ?play? of history, culture and power. Far from being grounded in a ?recovery? of the past, which is waiting to be found, and which when found, will secure our sense of ourselves into eternity, identities are the names we give to the different ways we are positioned by and position ourselves within, the narratives of the past. (Rutherford 1990:224) Defining Identity SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY 13 Cultural identity is not a fixed essence that is un- changed outside history and culture. It is not a universal and transcendental spirit inside us on which history has made no fundamental mark. It is not once and for all. It is not a fixed origin to which we can make a final and absolute return. The past continues to speak to us, but it no long- er addresses us as a simple, factual past but is always being constructed through memory, fan- tasy, narrative and myth. (Rutherford 1990:225) Cultural identities are the points of identification, the unstable points of identification which are made within the discourses of history and cul- ture. Not an essence but a positioning. If identity does not proceed in a straight, unbro- ken line, from a fixed origin, how are we to un- derstand its formation? Hall suggests that identities are thought of as ?framed? by two axes or vectors, operating at the same time. Identity formation has to be thought of as a dialogic relationship between these two axes. Firstly the vector of similarity and continuity: The first gives us some grounding or continuity with the past. The second reminds us that what we share is precisely the experience of a profound discon- tinuity. ?Difference persists in and alongside continuity?. (Rutherford 1990:227) The boundaries of differ- ence are continually repositioned in relation to different points of reference. At different places and times in relation to different questions the boundaries are re-sited. They become not only mutually excluding categories, but also differen- tial points along a sliding scale. Derrida?s theory of differance can be used to ex- plain this sense of difference. The use of the anomalous ?a? in his way of writing ?difference? ? differance- as a marker which sets up a dis- turbance in our understanding or translation of the word or concept. It sets the word in motion toward new meanings without erasing the trace of its other meanings. The second sense of difference challenges the fixed binaries which stabilise meaning and rep- resentation and it shows how meaning is never finished or completed, but it keeps on moving to encompass other, additional or supplementary meanings. The diaspora that Hall explores is defined not by essence or purity, but the recognition of a nec- essary heterogeneity and diversity, by a con- ception of ?identity? which lives with and through difference. Diaspora identities are those which are constantly producing and reproducing them- selves anew, through transformation and differ- ence. One can only think here of what is unique- ly or essential to Yeoville: the mixes of ethnicity; the blends of African cuisine; and the diaspora aesthetic. Stuart Hall makes the use of metaphors to put into play a different sense of our relationship to the past and thus a different way of thinking about cultural identity, which might constitute new points of recognition in the discourses of the emerging identity of the diaspora within Yeo- ville. Stuart Hall theorizes identity as constituted, not outside but within representation and not as a second-order mirror held up to reflect what al- ready exists, but as that form of representation which is able to constitute us new kinds of sub- jects, and thereby enable us to discover places from which to speak. Benedict Anderson argues in ?Imagined Communities? that communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity or genu- ineness, but by the style in which they are imag- ined. By allowing us to see and recognise the differ- ent parts and histories of ourselves, to construct those points of identification, those positionali- ties we call in retrospect our ?cultural identities?. It is now that we look towards the link that the exploration and creative process of identity con- struction has with place-identity and the manner in which the interaction between the two can in- form the architectural process. SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY 14 ?Identity? is a notoriously loose concept, but it is this looseness that makes it valuable as Paul Gilroy suggests, ?That the sheer variety of ideas condensed into the concept of identity, and the wide range of issues to which it can be made to refer, fosters creative links between themes and perspectives that are not conventionally associ- ated.? (Bentley 2007:2) In Bentley?s experience (Bentley 2007:3), it is when people talk about a places? identity that they have in mind some sort of meaning the place has in terms of their own identity: how the place affects the way they conceive of themselves, or how they imagine it will affect the way other peo- ple will conceive of them. PLACE IDENTITY/SELF IDENTITY A place?s identity is strongly linked with concerns about people?s own current and desired identi- ties. The links between place-identity and per- sonal and social identities is what will be focused on. The interweaving of place-identity and human identity is a broadly encountered phenomenon. In the construction of people?s identities it is not the hardware of the buildings, streets and green spaces that matter but it is what these spaces mean to people that is the most important. Stu- art Hall points out that, ?National identities are not things that we are born with but are formed and transformed within and relation to represen- tation. We only know what it is to be English be- cause of the way ?Englishness? has become to be represented, as a set of meanings, by English culture.? (Hall 1992: 292) The same can be thought of when considering imagined membership of any community. The importance of meaning should not be thought of only in terms of what a place represents to peo- ple, as Scott Lash explains: ?The city signifies as we move through it, along its paths and thoroughfares, it is not a representation but a total environment. Be- yond and more interactive than interactivity, is inhabiting. And we inhabit or live the fields of urban space.? (Lash 1999:85) The process of inhabiting involves the whole body with all its senses, and generates mean- ings arising from patterns of human use as well as from the sensory associations of places themselves. Multi-sensory processes of inhab- iting places? structures and open spaces gener- ates a complex meaning in which patterns of use and form are both involved. Why does place-identity matter? To understand place-identity the links between the meaning of cultural landscapes (landscapes modified by human intervention) and human identities must be explored. Place-identity is a set of meanings that is as- sociated with any particular cultural landscape which any person or group of people draws on in the construction of their own personal and social identities. Cultural landscapes are the key source of meaning in a dynamic identity- construction process. It is the dynamic nature of the identity-construction process that has re- sulted in its fluid character. The fluidity of the identity construction proc- ess has increased because of the changes in the core values that govern peoples? lives ac- cording to Bentley (2007:6). One of the crucial value-changes is the growing importance of choice in everyday life. Choice plays a key role in peoples? lives and holds a complex and con- tradictory implication for the identity-construc- tion process. Choice becomes the supreme value when one is able to choose ones own identity. It is the choice of identity that creates an extreme degree of fluidity. Some cultural landscapes support the desire to experiment with subject position and interac- tion better than others. The need is for places which offer open potentials for the choices of a wide range of different patterns of activity and cultural interpretations. These are called ?re- sponsive? places. FLUIDITY/STABILITY Stability in identity terms is also needed. People want to exercise choice and these situations of- fer no firm ground of foundational values as a basis for making sense of any particular choice. Cultural landscapes are well suited to supply- ing a sense of permanence. Identity Construction SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY 15 However permanence does not address the is- sue of loneliness that Bentley (2007:7) suggests stems from the fluidity of today?s identity con- struction. Seeing oneself as part of a wider com- munity which makes the same kinds of choices can address the loneliness and at the same time make sense of ones choices. Cultural land- scapes have important roles to play in fostering this perception of community membership. IMAGINED COMMUNITIES The relative permanence of cultural landscapes particularly public space can be drawn on for constructing imagined communities of the most stable kind, to which some of the most stable and deepest aspects of our own identities re- late. Self ?identification through the membership of imagined communities is a powerful strategy to cope with the loneliness that we are faced with in the infinite regress of choice, without losing out in terms of the choice itself. Imagined com- munities are likely to carry on being constructed at least partly in relation to notions of place. As Anne-Marie Fortier puts it, ?Imagining a community is both that which is created as a common history, experience or cul- ture of a group and how the imagined community is attached to places-the location of culture.? (Fortier 1999:42) A diverse and dynamic place like Yeoville is home to people who see themselves as members of different imagined communities, with different values and histories. Alain Touraine argues that a pre-requisite for enabling people from differ- ent imagined communities to live together is the development of a mutual respect. Support from particular kinds of cultural landscapes is called for in the development of respect for the value of the identity construction process. (Touraine 2000:15) This reinforces the need for responsive places, which offer open potentials for the choice of a wide range of different patterns of activity which are also able to support cultural interpretations appropriate to a range of different imagined communities. Cultural Landscapes that support the construction of personal and social identi- ties which value an open sense of the future re- quire a sense of rootedness. It is the argument of Bentley in ?Identity by Design? (2007:11) that well rooted identities are needed if we are to break free so as to develop the confidence to value open futures; and that cultural landscapes have a potential role to play in the construction of these roots. A cultural landscape that is, ?rooted in the past but not stuck in the past.? What is required is the support for experimentation with new identities while still having a firm grip on our established roots. CONCLUSION The Three main issues at stake in the relation- ship between cultural landscapes and the con- struction of human identities according to Bent- ley are: 1. Landscapes which will support the most open possible range of choices in people?s eve- ryday lives, and which will help us to develop the sense of empowerment that we need to take ad- vantage of these opportunities in practice. 2. Landscapes that support the construction of imagined communities, in order to dispel the inherent sense of lonely rootlessness which is the downside of the infinite regress of choice. 3. Landscapes to help us, as members of a particular imagined community, to get beyond the morality of low expectations, to develop the open, optimistic identities to find transcultural ways of living together. (Bentley 2007:13) How do these translate into practical design ideas? SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY 16 According to Bentley (2007:13) four key ques- tions call for the designer?s attention. First, how can built form best support an open range of choices in our everyday lives, and how can it help us develop the sense of empower- ment we need to take advantage of these oppor- tunities in practice? Second, how can design support the construc- tion of a rooted sense of imagined community, needed to dispel the feelings of lonely rootless ness which so easily arise when choice becomes the supreme value in so many of our lives? Third, how can support for imagined communi- ties be achieved without drifting into a nostalgic culture of low expectations, which renders us fearful of living with other imagined communi- ties? Fourth, how can this capacity for living together become actively promoted through transcultural, inclusive design? The issues of personal and communal identities and place-identity can be addressed within the formation of cultural landscapes. The basic raw material of parts and wholes from which cultural landscapes are formed are as follows: The mor- phological elements of topography and hydrol- ogy, linkage networks, blocks/patches, plots and buildings/shelters. According to Bentley (2007:261) it is the de- signer?s task to organise these elements and the relationships and interfaces between them, which will result in maximising choice, construct- ing the rootedness of imagined communities and overcoming nostalgia, supporting a sense of transcultural inclusiveness for as many users as possible. TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROLOGY Bentley suggests (2007:262) that to avoid slip- ping into a superficial ?image making? approach, the underlying structure of topography and hy- drology which forms the (literal) bedrock of any cultural landscape must be considered first.The underlying topography is always the ?deepest morphological element that is most resistant to change and most attempts to appropriate it for place-identity construction involves moulding its meanings, rather than altering its physical characteristics to any radical extent. When dealing with the built form the underlying topography can be modified through the de- sign of linkage spaces. It is these spaces that are the spaces which most directly affect how people encounter strangers. It is these spaces that are crucial for transcultural inclusiveness and for the construction of imagined communi- ties. Public space forms the majority of these linkage spaces. Public space should be formed into highly connected networks, rather than de- signing a system of relatively isolated enclave spaces. The more highly connected the spa- tial system, the greater the choice of routes through it and therefore the greater the chance of meeting people from other imagined com- munities in the normal run of everyday life, with consequent advantages for transcultural inclu- siveness. LINKAGE NETWORKS The availability and appeal of public transport play an important role in terms of how linkage spaces are used in everyday life. On a site which slopes, the relationship be- tween the public space network and the land- form itself is also important. This relationship affects street gradients and therefore the eve- ryday physical experience of moving around the place. Once this relationship is established the typical pattern of experience becomes part of the ?roots? from which imagined communi- ties grow. Identity By Design SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY 17 DETAIL DESIGN Bentley (2007:267) discusses detail design in terms of user choice, as it can affect both the uses to which the space can be put and the meaning it has for its users. Detail design can af- fect the potential for different uses to take place. At the level of meaning, public space detail can also support user choice by making the place more legible. In terms of helping public space support a rooted sense of imagined community, detail design can help to develop the historical depth of local distinctiveness by using materi- als and indigenous plants which are locally well established or through public art works which celebrate people or events which have signifi- cance for the imagined community concerned. The details of public space can also be used to help break down structures of meaning which impact negatively on particular imagined com- munities. It is important that details play a part in develop- ing a sense of inclusive transculturality as public space is a natural meeting place for people from different imagined communities. Inclusive detail design has to develop the ca- pacity of public space to support a choice of cul- ture-specific activity patterns. The first step that Bentley suggests (2007:268) to achieving this would be to map out the range of imagined com- munities which are likely to use the space. Hav- ing established who will likely use the space, the next step is to investigate the typical patterns of public space used by members of these com- munities. Having established which patterns of use the design should support, the final step is to decide how best to cater for these patterns, as well as minimise the likelihood of negative interactions between them. Once the layouts of the key linkage systems have been decided, attention can move on to the development of blocks which are formed in the interstices of the public space network. The sizes and shapes of the blocks may itself have a thematic character in a particular place. This may be an important aspect of local distinctiveness, which may con- tribute to a sense of rootedness through histori- cal continuity. SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY BLOCKS AND PATCHES The size of the blocks also play a crucial role in place-identity terms for these dimensions affect the ways in which private/public relationships can be spatially mediated. The design of blocks that are large enough to allow development fronting onto all the surrounding public spaces, together with the potential for private space at the back is important to develope responsive en- vironments.. Privacy is achieved by allowing a certain dis- tance between the backs of buildings. Blocks which make this distance too small will have a number of disadvantages in place-identity terms. This can be seen in the Existing Yeoville recrea- tion centre where some of the buildings have their backs to the public space. This results in a relatively dead edge when maintaining privacy, with a consequent lack of surveillance. Within the blocks themselves, the sizes and shapes of plots have implications for locally rooted distinctiveness, for transculturality and for choice. PUBLIC SP ACE BACKS OF BUILDINGS Diagram of exisiting buildings at the Yeoville Recreation Centre. 18 The advantage of active interfaces between buildings and public space suggest the poten- tial for designing new composite building types, of integrating those types which have little ca- pacity to create active interfaces, and by adding more active programme elements at least on the ground floor. Building design can contribute to the rootedness of imagined communities by either restoring old buildings or demolishing or radically converting buildings with overtones of alienation and de- spair. This will help local people to re-imagine their community in new, forward looking ways. It is important to first establish as clearly as pos- sible which imagined communities are relevant to the project in question. In uncovering commu- nities it is necessary to identify existing buildings which are important to the community, in either positive or negative terms. Highly valued build- ings should be kept and be given showcase fu- ture roles in the relation to the new project. One important strategy involves ?being rooted in the past but not stuck in the past.? Bentley (2007:268) believes that this can be achieved through using ?deep? building types which are rooted in local traditions, but then using a ?for- ward-looking? design vocabulary. Buildings can be conceived as embodying different subsys- tems which co-exist at different depths of form, mass, spatial structure, technological systems or surface vocabulary. On one level the under- lying spatial type is used to achieve a sense of rootedness, whilst the other more ?surface? lev- els are given the forward looking role.? (Bentley 2007:269) At a more detailed level, a similar aim can be addressed through buildings designed to foster personalisation by their users. SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY PLOTS AND BUILDINGS The interaction between plot widths and building types affects the proportion of public space front- age which is built or unbuilt. This in turn affects the degree of plan enclosure of the public space. The pattern of plot widths affects the underlying visual organisation of the walls which define the public space, and which are so important in local distinctiveness terms. Patterns of plot frontage also have an important impact on transculturality, because it affects the number of entrances along a length of public space. This affects the perceptions of safety and therefore supports the sense of confidence. Buildings which are resilient and are able to adapt to new uses over time as demand and fi- nancial feasibility change; so that the building can increase its capacity to widen users? choices, rather than shrinking them. Adaptable room sizes and shapes linked by adaptable circulation and servicing systems, which allow for patterns of use which could never have been foreseen by the de- signers and thereby opening the building to many different user groups. The interface between buildings and public spac- es is crucial in transculturality terms. Natural sur- veillance is important for the sense of community safety which is strongly affected by the percent- age of the public space edge which is offered signs of life through the presence of buildings? doors and windows. Lively interfaces with the public space can be created by locating those in- ternal activities which require least privacy on the ground floor at the front. 19 SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY www.identity.com PICTURE JOHANNESBURG?S SEARCH FOR IDENTITY Fortune Seeking Legacy Search For Identity The Constitutional Court The Apartheid Museum 3 22 FORTUNE SEEKING LEGACY Johannesburg today stands as a monument to human enterprise. Johannesburg owes its existence to the discovery of gold and the hunt for wealth that was brought with it. The existence of gold deposits in the Eastern Transvaal had excited the interest of numer- ous early explorers and geologists. It was the discovery of gold in 1886 in the Witwatersrand which was to focus the attention of the whole world on South Africa and which brought with it a population of speculators and workers who were to lay the foundation of an industry which speedily became the premier industry of South Africa. Jeremy Foster writes that, ?the location and growth of the sprawling city itself was ren- dered inevitable by the reefs of gold that lay beneath its surface.? (Foster 1996:118) It was the fortune seeking legacy of South Af- rica and in particular, Johannesburg that led to the influx of migrant and immigrant workers seeking wealth on the mines. Prior to the South African War 110 gold mines had employed 111 697 African labourers. However after July 1903 after the war there were only 55 507 African labourers. The necessary labour was recruited from China. However in March 1910, five years later the last of the Chinese labourers had all left the Rand to return to China. Following the creation of the city?s financial dis- trict and consolidation of South Africa?s mining industry after the Anglo-Boer War, the 1930?s witnessed the abandonment of the gold stand- ard which unleashed a surge of investment into the country and led to the increase of migrants and immigrants into Johannesburg. After the Sharpeville uprising on 21st March 1960 the Nationalist government implement- ed economic controls that led to an economic boom that lasted for a decade. During the state of emergency in 1986, the flow of black and white residents in and out of Johannesburg was uncontrollable. According to Tomlinson et al (2003:13) by 1993, 86% of the inner city population were black and this increased to 95% by 1996. The rapid greying of the inner city was accompanied by physical decline and racial stereotyping of the new residences. The rush of migrants from Southern Africa in the 1980?s into Johannesburg resulted in raised rentals and overcrowding. With the end of Apartheid, Johannesburg became an even greater destination for international immigrants seeking a better life. Johannesburg was and is still is, seen as a place to make ones? fortune or at the very least the chance at a better quality of life. A chinese poster. (Norwich 1986: 24) JOHANNESBU RG ?S SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY Migrant Miners. (Kallaway 1986: 54). A group of miners. (Kallaway1986:35) Chinese miners. (Kallaway 1986: 35) 23 JOHANNESBURG?S SEARCH FOR IDENTITY Since the first democratic elections in 1994 South African cities have undergone rapid transformation. Ordinary citizens have been given the chance to reconstruct their lives and societies. The open spaces of the city were invaded, shops set up on the streets and the modernist landscape was transformed with new practices. People from the rural areas as well as Africa sought refuge and opportunity and ?transformed urban centres into cosmo- politan ones.? (Bremner 2007:13) The dynamic and fluid transformation resulted in the invention of new urban pro- grammes and architectural and urban projects that spoke to the transforming society-institu- tional buildings, social housing, new business centres, museums, public spaces and so on. Constitutional Hill for example now houses the new Constitutional Court and reveals the ethnical revindication that forms part of Jo- hannesburg?s urban transformation and the Apartheid Museum that attempts to rewrite the history of the nation and the city and con- tributes to the formation of new urban public spaces. These projects explore the expres- sion of South African identity. Johannesburg contributes to a large extent to the identity of South Africa mainly because of the population of 9 million in Gauteng, the high levels of infrastructure and technologi- cal development, a cultural and creative vital- ity, and a growing significance in the global economy. Johannesburg is in many ways the cosmopolitan capital of South Africa. ?People are remaking the public spaces of a rapidly transforming city by exploring new identities, bonds and intimacies that are formed in the midst of or in between the new rigidities and spatial enclosures of the emerging Johannesburg.? (Bremner 2004:19) This is most evident in the transforming landscapes of the inner city of Johannes- burg. Newtown is one of the oldest areas in Johannesburg and therefore has many scars from the apartheid era. Many projects in Newtown have contributed to giving the area and the city a new identity such as the brickfields which were brought to life again in the form of a mixed-income housing de- velopment, The Nelson Mandela Bridge, The Market Theatre, the Mary Fitsgerald Square, MuseuMAfricA, Bassline and the Sci-Bono Discovery centre to name but a few. Many of these projects reused or ret- rofitted existing structures and spaces with new programmes that accommodate the new spatial, material and institutional prac- tices in Johannesburg. Just as Johannesburg is the cosmopolitan capital of South Africa, Yeoville in many ways represents a concentrated sample of the cosmopolitan lifestyle that Johannes- burg has to offer. The Yeoville Market repre- sents an architecture that encompasses all that Yeoville stands for. It attempts to give back the public space and the streets that were denied during the Apartheid era. Pub- lic space was synonymous with ?loitering or insurrection? during apartheid and was declared undesirable and was therefore erased. (Bremner 2004:21) Since democracy the public spaces of the streets, parks and pavements have been reclaimed. People are re-imagining and remaking the public spaces of the city, and the Yeoville Market is an architectural reac- tion to these emerging practices in Yeoville. JOHANNESBU RG ?S SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY Constitutional Court (Bremner 2007:13) The Apartheid Museum (Bremner 2001:43) Newtown, Maryfitsgerald Square looking onto the MuseuM-AfricA (www.joburg.org) 24 CONSTITUTION HILL OMM DESIGN WORKSHOP & URBAN SOLUTIONS, 1997 - 2004. The Constitutional Court designed by OMM Design Workshop and Urban Solutions during 1997-2004, as Bremner describes (2007:) was the site of a number of former prison buildings ?the Fort Prison, Prison Numbers 4 and 5, the Womens? Gaol and an Awaiting Trial Block. It now houses South Africa?s new Constitutional Court, Gender and Human Rights Commissions and a number of museums, exhibition and per- formance spaces, offices, shops, restaurants and other tourist facilities. Pedestrian routes reconnect the isolated hidden prison back into the surrounding urban fabric. Judge Albie Sachs emphasised that the ?court precincts will act as a hub, a central axis and meeting point in a still divided city. It will not be like a government precinct that closes after hours.? The Constitutional Court building comprises of a forecourt, foyer, court chamber, judges chambers, a library, an administrative wing and exhibition wing. The library tower is the tallest structure on the side of the ridge and symbol- ises a glowing beacon. It is explained that the massing is a beacon of knowledge in the north that establishes a dialogue with the chamber of wisdom in the south. The building forms a series of pavilions that step down a north facing slope. There is an expres- sion of awareness of and sensitivity towards the existing topography. This is further emphasised by the covered and uncovered walkways, open and closed courtyards, by stepped paths and public walkways. (Bremner 2007: 29) Bremner (2007:29) states that the two funda- mental principles underpinning the design are the construction methods and processes and methods of climatic control that are rooted in the contemporary South African context. Natu- ral light and air penetrate and circulate through- out the building, linking users with time and na- ture. Secondly the democratic fragmentation to reflect the openness and transparency of the Constitution, and the use of indigenous materi- als, planting, craft and art. The materiality was chosen for the textual, structural and mechani- cal aspects, and also acted as surfaces onto which light would fall and reflect coolness and warmth. The material palette is restrained and minimalistic with little or no cladding that results in the exposure and true nature of the building materials. The bricks of the old awaiting trial prison were reused in the main court auditorium. It was the only building of historical significance that was sacrificed on the site, but successfully reinte- grates elements of the past in a new forward looking way. The exposure of the buildings? perimeter re- flects the civic presence of the urban scale and the sensitivity towards the pedestrian. JOHANNESBU RG ?S SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY (Bremner 2001:29) (Bremner 2001:29) (Bremner 2001:31) (Bremner 2001:31) (Bremner 2001:29) 25 The gallery spills out onto the Great African Steps whilst the court foyer reveals moveable glazed partitions that integrate it into the outdoor square. Hannah Le Roux in her article ?Hell/whole@ (2004:40) discusses the process of historical inversion within which the site and its symbolic contents have been addressed. The symbol- ism of the creation of a new forward looking fu- ture that is made possible by the re-imagining of previously negatively conceived images and materials is an important principle. The Trial Block staircases are retained and integrated into the new court?s design. Historical meanings within the site are retained by the subsequent juxtaposition of the staircases which showcase the scrawled graffiti of historical detainees. (Le Roux 2004:40) The new paving of the Consti- tutional Square is a subtle reminder of the tri- al blocks original footprint. The court does not deny the past but converts the negative energy into something that is positive. Various strategies were employed to invert the strong associations through events and instal- lations. Le Roux (2004:40) explains that the former prisoners of Prison Number 4 were in- volved in a workshop to share memories of their incarceration. This valuable information shifted the content and strategies of the displays. Non- textual and textual displays confront the visitor. Non-textual artefacts all serve as new narratives to break the historic silences left by the gaol?s suppressive past. The interactive element of the notice boards al- lows visitors to record and transcribe their ex- perience throughout the tour of the court. The notice board enables messages to be pinned to the board and other visitors to respond. How- ever there is no time during the tour to contem- plate ones thoughts and record them onto the notice boards. Messages are however added to the archive and are selected for permanent display. The messages are etched onto copper plates and strung up in the square. These el- ements are not central to the courts? everyday functioning and add little significance. RELEVANCE TO THIS THESIS: The Constitutional Court shows an attempt to confront the past and use the knowledge gained to create a positive outlook towards the future and what it means to be a South African. Re-interpreting the urban landscape in such a way as to eliminate boundary fences and therefore creating an institutional building that is accessible and open to all. (Sachs:2003) The recycled use of materials such as the re- use of the prison bricks reconfigures previ- ously negatively concieved images into a forward looking role. JOHANNESBU RG ?S SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY Le Roux believes that the future success of the Constitutional Court lies in its ur- banity and the ability to relate to the ?harsh realities of its context or risk becoming a ghetto in which the inversion it stands for would be ironic.? Le Roux (2004:40) (Bremner 2001:32) (Bremner 2007:29) 26 The Apartheid Meuseum was completed in 2001 by a collaboration between Mashabane Rose Architects, GAPP Architects, Britz Roodt Association and Linda Mvusi Architecture and Design. The 6000 sqm linear museum, semi-buried in the landscape, traces the origin, development, implementation and triumphant conquering of South Africa?s apartheid system. The brutal nar- rative is experienced along a linear route that consists of video-footage, audio interviews, huge images and artefacts. The visitor is over- powered and therefore forced to confront the human rights violations. The Apartheid museum as interpreted by Lind- say Bremner (2003:34) as the intersection of two discourses-those of collective memory of the traumatic experiences of apartheid and of the poetic in architecture. APARTHEID MEMORY The project is a confrontation between the past and the present. It is necessary to cast lifelines back to our past in order to construct a vision for the future as well as the notion that histories are not retrospectively written but rather constructed on a daily basis and are to some extent individu- alistic. These histories of apartheid are complex and require a variety of media and discourses. There is a danger that by institutionalising mem- ory it is distorted and frozen into ritualistic imag- es. Institutionalised memory is inevitably partial memory, a formalised agreement between past and present, which creates a fluid state that is never permanent but always under reconstruc- tion. The Apartheid Museum sets up a dialogue between the past, present and the future, which enables us, as individuals and societies, to con- struct and anchor our identities and envision our future. ARCHITECTURE AS RHETORIC ?The building?s success as a memorial to suf- fering lies in the ability of its very structure to express and excite feelings.? (Bauer 2001:24) ?The building is a well designed prison, which fills one with claustrophobic panic on enter- ing.? (Matshikiza 2001:19) Bremner believes that these comments allude to a particular state that is achieved by the ar- chitecture of the Apartheid Museum. Buildings are material objects housing human activity and representations of those activities as well as social or mental values that are expressed onto them by society. The material form con- veys information or represents certain things about the social, cultural or economic status of its occupants. The Apartheid Museum accord- ing to Bremner (2001:38) not only presents a narrative of apartheid?s history through a range of media but we also re-live the numbing horror every time we move through it. We ?dwell poeti- cally? (Norburg Schultz 1983:67) in apartheid all over again. The building has become the poetic medium, an expression of life under apartheid, constructed through a number of metaphors in which meanings are condensed and overlap. The materiality of the museum also suggests separation: materials are not mixed or inter- changed. The off-shutter concrete, red brick and grey plaster provide large blank surfaces from which the exterior materiality projects the interior exhibition. MUSEUM AS A NARRATIVE The Apartheid Museum is structured as a narra- tive, from between a spine of regularly located fin walls an undulating outer skin and raw con- crete ceiling, a series of figural and linear ele- ments define movements and notate spaces, structure the narrative of the exhibition. Three historical narratives coincide and over- lap. The first is related to Johannesburg?s histo- ry. The entrance ramp is populated by life-sized images of people whose families migrated to the Witwatersrand and whose histories are rep- resented below. THE APARTHEID MUSEUM MASHABANE ROSE ARCHITECTS, 2001. JOHANNESBU RG ?S SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY (Bremner 2003: 34) (Bremner 2003: 34) (Bremner 2003: 34) (Bremner 2003: 34) 27 The ramp is in a sense mimicked early migra- tions to the city of gold by ascending the ramp. The view of the Johannesburg skyline is a re- minder of the destination of the migrations. The second and third narratives of the muse- um overlap and take visitors on a journey of apartheid?s establishment, entrenchment and undoing. These narratives provide a rhetorical or ideological relationship between the history of apartheid and the current political discourse of nation-building. It suggests that the past has been conquered by the present. Lindsay Bremner questions the extent to which it has been subdued and reconfigured and maybe in the future it will lead to the rewriting of its his- tory and the reshaping of its memory. JOHANNESBU RG ?S SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY RELEVANCE TO THESIS: The Apartheid Museum does not simply pro- vide spaces in which apartheid?s particular history is told. The materiality or the ?thingness? of the build- ing has exemplified metaphorically the con- ditions and experiences it represents. ?The building has become poetry.? (Bremner 2001:43) The Apartheid Museum shows an awareness and sensitivity to the landscape. The exhibi- tion confronts and questions our past and in- cludes previously marginalised histories. However Sarah Nuttel warns against drown- ing in the past. Nuttle reiterates that the fu- ture is the only thing we share and that which we all relate to and that South Africa has the fortunate potential to reshape its future. (Spier Panel discussion) The narrative is the stage from which we can begin to make sense of the apartheid archives. However the retrieval of archival information or histories can be subjected to distortion in the process of extraction. (Bremner 2003: 34) (Bremner 2003: 34) (Bremner 2003: 34) (Bremner 2003: 34) (Bremner 2003: 34) (Bremner 2003: 34) 28 THE YEOVILLE MARKET Rockey Street, Johannesburg. URBAN SOLUTIONS, 1999. The appearance of informal traders on the pavements of the inner city is generally not an ac- cepted phenomenon and many Yeoville residents complain that they do not leave enough space for pedestrians to walk by, the sidewalks are left cov- ered with waste and the display of goods is unhy- gienic. It is the view that ?hawkers? markets? would make trading much more viable. The local government and the city council believe that by at least partly formalising street trading, formal businesses in the inner city will be protected and minimise further loss of customers in Johannesburg?s inner city and minimise the possibility of it turning into a slum. The Rockey Street Market in Yeoville, was the first of the eight planned ?hawkers? markets? in Johan- nesburg. Completed in 1999, it was designed by Urban So- lutions Architects and Urban planners. It is situ- ated on a former parking site on Raleigh\Rockey Street. It accommodates three hundred traders, with stands rented per square metre, small lock- able shop units, and kitchens for rent. Cosmetics stores, music traders, hair dressers, grocery stores, tailors, cobblers and cooks are found to be well established in the market. Howev- er many street hawkers with a low turn- over can- not afford the rentals that are required for the stalls and are back on the pavement. There is a long waiting list of traders to rent space which demon- strates the demand for legal trading space. The design of the market is as flexible as possible to allow the space to be adapted or reorganised differently and for some areas to become more for- malised over time. The market required a robust design with an open plan trading area with as few walls as possible so that areas do no become specific. JOHANNESBU RG ?S SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY (Schnaid 2000:48) (Schnaid 2000:48) (Schnaid 2000:48) A trader selling vegetables at a stall in the Yeoville Market. 29 JOHANNESBU RG ?S SEA RC H FO R IDENTI TY RELEVANCE TO THESIS: DESIGN PRINCIPLES TO LEARN FROM: ? Built up along street edge so that the edges are activated by pedestrians. ? The design is a thoroughfare between the taxi rank and Rockey street. ? The light open plan structure allows people to filter through the market at multiple points. ? The open courtyards are collective gather ing spaces. ? The clear zoning of the market faciltates the particular needs of the different trading areas. The market edge on Rocket Street. Street frontage activated by allowing for spontaneous activites. The buttress walls create an interesting street edge. The light open roof structure of the internal walkways. The open courtyards created in the market. PICTURE URBAN PUBLIC SPACE ANALYSIS Joubert Park Beyers Naude Square Pompidou Centre Mary Fitzgerald Square Yeoville Park 4 32 Dewar (1972:54) highlights that the primary structuring elements that create positive environments are public institutions, public spaces and movement patterns. These places assume positions of high access and dominance and are celebrated through the use of public spaces. They assume defined positions in relation to each other. There is a dynamic relationship between the public spaces of a city and this determines the functional pattern of movement and gathering within the city. In turn these patterns generate responses from other surrounding activities. (Dewar 1972:56) Johannesburg is lacking in successful and imaginative public space. The dynamic relationship between the Mary Fitzgerald Square, Beyer?s Naude Square and Joubert Park are inhibited by the distances between them and the current fear that is created by the high crime levels that is preventing people from utilising these spaces to their full potential. The general lack of a responsible programme that addresses the needs of the everyday users of the city also contributes to the lack of dynamic relationships between the public spaces and the people that make use of them. ?Positively-made and celebrated public spaces are the essential social infrastructure of successful urban environments.? (Dewar 1972:56) People experience the city and engage for- mally and informally in its collective life through these public spaces. The quality of a city as experienced by all people is affected by these primary elements. The role of public space is important for all but critical in the lives of the urban poor. Public spaces can represent the foci of an entire community?s energies and re- sources. (Dewar 1972:57) These are the places where people meet, chil- dren play, lovers court, teenagers read and study and so on. When public spaces are rich social spaces, the surrounding environment is a positive one. These spaces according to Dewar (1972:56) also play an important role in housing informal and periodic activities such as public meetings, spontaneous theatre and entertain- ment and periodic markets. Additionally they have an important economic function by pro- viding the primary vehicle through which infor- mal commodity traders and producers can gain access to central trading and producing areas. Public spaces can act as a catalyst for greater social integration. Urban spaces, movement and public facilities as Dewar describes are the primary city builders and should be seen as such. (Dewar 1972:57) URBA N PU BL IC SP AC E AN AL YSI S URBAN PUBLIC SPACE ANALYSIS 33 Context: During the Post War boom large scale development such as high-density blocks of flats were introduced into Hillbrow. By the 1960?s Hillbrow was described as one of the most densely populated areas in the southern hemisphere with a density of 530 people per hectare. (Beavon 2004: 50) Joubert Park forms the most prominent public space for Hillbrow?s inhabitants. Programme, scale, occupancy: The Johannesburg Art Gallery and The Green House Project are the only programmes that exist at Joubert Park and are subsequently fenced off and isolated from the park. The park is very well attended during the day as there are large grass banks and many shaded areas that are widely used with a central focal water fountain that is also fenced off to prevent people from entering it and possibly using the water for amenities such as the washing of taxi?s that surround the periphery of the park. Joubert Park is surrounded by a palisade fence and has three access points to the east and west as well as to the north of the park. This fence ensures that the activities such as the informal markets and the taxi drop off and pick up points do not spill into the park. The scale of the Johannesburg Art Gallery does not intimidate or dominate over the park. JOUBERT PARK, HILLBROW, JOHANNESBURG. Group and individual usage: Public gatherings are prevented by the city parks regulations. Individuals using the park comfortably is enabled by the abundance of trees on the large grass banks, as well as many benches and low walls. Size of Public Space/population density: High density urban flats surround Joubert Park. The result is a high population of peo- ple that live in close quarters and often share rooms with each other, and therefore an open relaxing green space is very important in the daily lives of the inhabitants of Hillbrow. URBA N PU BL IC SP AC E AN AL YSI S After www.joburg.org.za cited June 2007) 34 Context: Beyers Naude Square is the remaining piece of the Johannesburg Square. Programme, scale, occupancy: The immediate boundaries are formed by President Street to the north, Market Street to the South and the Library and the Govern- ment Legislature building to the west and east respectively. During the day the Johannesburg Library ac- tivates the west end of the square. The library keeps office hours and the result is the square is vacant a night. During the weekend the square is used by skateboarders and people doing their weekend shopping. The square is fairly run-down with the built form of the underground parking ramps be- ing vandalized and dilapidated. The park- ing ramps form barriers to the site limiting north-south pedestrian movement across the square. However they do provide a suitable and successful scale to the square. The retaining walls create the symmetrical gardens which make up the majority of the site and provide seating under the mature trees which are widely used. The retaining walls prevent movement through the centre of the site. The library steps provide the opportunity for natural surveillance of the square. The south- ern edge of the square is exposed to sunlight for most of the day and results in this edge being heavily populated. BEYERS NAUDE SQUARE, JOHANNESBURG. URBA N PU BL IC SP AC E AN AL YSI S Group and individual usage: The square?s centrality within the city has resulted in its use as a departure point for many public marches and strikes. The elements of sculpture, planters, stairs and low walls under the shade of the trees results in it being heavily populated. Size of Public Space and surrounding population density: Beyer?s Naude Square is surrounded by high density office blocks. The result is that the park is mainly frequented by people working in town during the week. The park is virtually abandoned over the weekend as the residential population to inhabit the park at the weekends is non existent. The park is dissected through the middle by the road and the effect is the scale of the park is reduced. After www.joburg.org.za cited June 2007) 35 Context: The Centre George Pompidou with its square is situated in the Beauborg district of Paris, France. The building has 25 000 visitors per day. Programme, scale, occupancy: The Pompidou is dedicated to the figurative arts, music, industrial design and literature. The programme indicates that ?culture be given a less institutional and traditional setting? (Piano 1997:38) The square consists of 4.5 hectares of pedes- trian area at street level. The varied programme attracts different users throughout the day and night, and creates an inter-relationship between Beauborg and the Parisian quarter, and be- tween official culture and street culture. (Piano 1997:38) The building provides the backdrop for public events that take place in the square.The square does not hamper the regular pedestrian traffic through the site. The slope of the square aids movement into the building?s entrance. The ground floor is accessible from four separate entrances on the square. The high visibility within the square makes it a safe and secure urban space. The landmark building is visible above the surrounding buildings, thus it is eas- ily identified and located from a distance. The monumentality attracts people rather than in- timidating them. (Piano 1997:41) Group and individual usage: The Pompidou Square encourages per- formers and the gentle slope of the site en- ables people to sit on the cobbled surface. Tall trees provide shade. The spontaneous performances and live events of the street culture gather large crowds in the square. (Piano 1997:41) Size of Public Space/ population density: The Pompidou Square has a large number of tourists and a high density surrounding residential population that fills the space to approximately 25 000 people a day. The 4.5 Hectares of pedestrian space is well fre- quented and utilized. POMPIDOU CENTRE, PARIS. URBA N PU BL IC SP AC E AN AL YSI S (Piano 1997 : 39) (Piano 1997 : 41) (Hertsberger 1991 : 39) Informal performances at Centre Pompidou. (Piano 1997:46) 36 Context: Yeoville is a high-density residential suburb that was founded as a residential suburb for the mining community of early Johannes- burg. Programme, Scale, Occupancy: The programmes that exist at the park are the Yeoville Swimming Pool, the Yeoville Recrea- tion Centre and multi-functional courts as well as the Yeoville Clinic and the police station. The swimming pool creates the west bound- ary to the site and is a heritage site that is isolated by a two metre high wall. The Yeoville Recreation Centre is situated to the west of the park and provides the majority of the activity on the site with the pro- grammes spilling into the public realm. The original two-storey high structure is of a scale that relates to the park. However the cr?che and life skills buildings by turning their backs to the public space of the park and being fenced off do not contribute to the activation of the recreation centre URBA N PI BL IC SP AC E AN AL YSI S YEOVILLE PARK, YEOVILLE, JOHANNESBURG. Group and individual usage: The trees and large green space provide comfortable usage by groups of peo- ple relaxing on the grass as well as a space for children to play safely. There is a lack of seating forcing people to sit on the grass and along the low retaining walls. Size of public space / population density: Like Hillbrow the high-density residential character of Yeoville results in the open green spaces playing an important recreational and relaxational role in the daily lives of the residents. and its integration within the public realm of the park. The recreation centre with the additional struc- tures are lacking in civic scale and do not pro- vide a positive presence in the park. The green areas and children?s playground are very well populated during the day, on weekends and during the week. The high-density residential living conditions make this open, green and relaxing space a very important part of the communities needs. There are well established trees that provide shade to the public spaces and contribute to the green identity of Yeoville. 37 Group and individual usage: The flatness of the square is vast and merciless in the midday heat without the shade of trees. The peripheral seating of hundreds of concrete urban benches removes the pedestrian from the square.The site however has the ability to transform itself for large scale public events. Size of Public Space/population density: The office block to the south and the MusemA- frica to the north do not have a high popula- tion density and the Square is not a destina- tion point for the people using these facilities. The surrounding development is work force based and low density residential. The result is a large paved urban square that besides from large scale events that take place, very little appropriation of the square occurs by local residents. MARYFITZGERALD SQUARE, NEWTOWN, JOHANNESBURG. Context: Mary Fitzgerald Square is situated in New- town at the heart of the Johannesburg De- velopment Agency?s revival drive. Complet- ed in 2002 it is bordered by the M1 highway to the west and the Museum Africa to the north. Programme, scale, occupancy: The square is approximately 195m x 80m, making it suitable for city scale events such as the Annual Divali Festival of Light. New Years Eve fireworks as well as music con- certs and film festivals. The scale of the square lends itself to ceremonial events, concerts and rallies rather than a public space for every-day users. The large scale of the square with the hard urban landscaping with no or little cohesive plan or programme creates a barren public space. There are few trees on the southern edge and none within the square itself cre- ating an uncomfortable setting in the high- veld sun. The square is surrounded by ur- ban concrete furniture and wooden bollards without the people to populate them. Museum Africa is unable to connect and ac- tivate the square due to Bree Street cutting between the two. URBA N PU BL IC SP AC E AN AL YSI S 38 URBAN PUBLIC S PACE ANA LYSI S PUBLIC SPACE MAPPING CONCLUSIONS Public space is a primary form of the city?s infrastructure. Johannesburg as a city is lacking in this form of social infrastructure. By the creation of an appropriate public space that is easily accessible within the city a positive environment is created. The degree to which the public facility may be considered appropriate depends on its ability to meet the real and widely perceived human needs it serves, and in its form, is accessible to the people that need it the most. Successful spaces are a balance between providing spaces for the individual and the public. (Dewar unknown: 59) The attitude towards the provision of facilities should be one of extroversion. The facilities and programmes will be most successful when tar- geting a wider area and not fully embedded and privatized by a local community. A further consideration is the need to promote the integration of the public facilities with other activities. This integration will positively affect the performance of the functions themselves. The sizes of public spaces in relation to the pop- ulation density have proven to be crucial to the functioning of the public space. Joubert Park and The Pompidou Centre Square have illustrated that a high density of population to frequent and appropriate the space is vital to the success and functioning of the public spaces. What size of public space will the population density in Yeoville require? 39 PICTURE MEETING YEOVILLE RESIDENTS Formal Interviews Informal Interviews 5 42 M EE TIN G YE OV IL LE RESIDEN TS INFORMAL INTERVIEWS The Informal interviews took place on Raleigh and Rockey streets of Yeoville and the Yeoville Park in April 2008. The interviews required engaging with the everyday user of Yeoville to gain insight into the daily lives of Yeoville residents and to highlight any common problems and requirements. The interviews were based on a questionnaire so as to accumulate comparable answers. STREET INTERVIEWS QUESTIONNARE: WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YEOVILLE? WHAT DON?T YOU LIKE ABOUT YEOVILLE? HAVE YOU EVER USED THE YEOVILLE PARK AND RECREATION CENTRE? IF SO, WHAT FOR? IF NOT, WHY NOT? WHAT DO YOU THINK YEOVILLE NEEDS TO MAKE IT BETTER? WHERE ARE YOU FROM? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT HOME? WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO COME TO SOUTH AFRICA? WHY DID YOU PICK YEOVILLE AS A PLACE TO STAY? IF THERE WAS A NEW BUILDING AT THE PARK, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO HAVE, IN ORDER FOR YOU TO USE IT? HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO STAY IN YEOVILLE? Imaculate lives in a flat on fourth street. She enjoys the clubs that are within walk- ing distance to her flat. She uses the recreation centre mainly for swimming and to use the ablution and wa- ter facilities. The Yeoville Park needs more playground equipment as the children fight over the use of the swings. Yeoville was her destination in Johannes- burg because she has family that could help her with accomodation and finding employment. Her visa expires in August 2008, when she will try to renew it. Imaculate misses the sense of community and her culture in Malawi. Imaculate is from Malawi and has been in Yeoville for ten months. Euginia lives on Hunter street in a high-rise flat. She feels that the illegal immigrants cause a lot of the crime and contribute to the high crime rate in Yeoville. The street traders cause a mess that they do not clean up and this contributes to the run-down and delapidated perception of Yeoville. She attends church group and ANC meet- ings at the Yeoville Recreation Centre. A stronger police presence and regulations within the area is required. Euginia is a South African who has lived in Yeoville for 13years. 43 M EE TIN G YE OV IL LE RESIDEN TS The Yeoville Park is their favourite place in Yeoville as it is the only safe place where children can play. They make use of the recreation centre for the ablution and wa- ter facilities as well as attending the dancing classes Additional places to play soccer and watch movies or sports matches would be their solution to making the park more attractive. The boys are all South African living in the high-rise flats along Fortesque Avenue. Moses likes the multi-cultural aspect of Yeoville. Prostitutes, crime, overcrowd- ing and illegal shebeens in his view are the biggest problems that Yeoville is ex- periencing. The addition of a shopping mall and skills development centre would help to make Yeoville more attractive and alleviate some of the problems. The community vegetable gar- dens should be re-instated along with recycling facilities that included com- munity education on how to recycle and grow vegetables on balconies in the resi- dential flats. The recreation centre is too small for group gatherings and needs to be made more ?interesting and cool? to attract more users. Moses is a South African who has lived in Yeoville his entire life and is a member of the Yeoville Community Forum. Jube?s wife lives in Yeoville with their four year old daughter. They felt that it was the best inner city place with low-rentals and with a tight-knit community to bring up their daughter. The multi-cultural aspect of Yeoville is what also drew them to the area as well as the fact that it is one of the cleaner suburbs in the inner city. They don not like the crime and drug pushers in Yeoville but feel that in Johannesburg that will happen every where. His daughter and wife use the Yeoville recreation centre. What Yeoville requires in an Aids information or awareness pro- gramme as well as a place to go that has facilities for both parents and children. Jube is a South African from Pietermaritsberg , working in Randburg. Beatrice comes to the park frequently be- cause it is very cramped in her flat and there is no space to relax. It is also a place where she can bring her son to the play- ground. The aspects of Yeoville that she would like to see change, is the price and availability of accomodation. She has never used the recreation centre and is not informed about the facilities that are provided. Beatrice would like more seating in the park as well as a creche for her son while she is at work. Beatrice is a Rwan- dan Refugee living in a flat with her 3 year old son on Harrow Road that she shares with ten other people. 44 M EE TIN G YE OV IL LE RESIDEN TS FORMAL INTERVIEWS The formal interviews that were conducted included key representa- tives of the community. The Chairman of the Yeoville Devel- opment Forum, Maurice Smithers was interviewed as well as Marco Gafou the Chairman of the Africa Di- aspora Forum. The interviewees are both residents of Yeoville. The objective of the interviews was to gain insight into the functioning and current situations that the Yeo- ville community are faced with. Marco Gaffou Marco is a South African resident from the Ivory Coast. He is the chairman of the Africa Diaspora Forum and is involved in the Yeo- ville Development Forum. The main focus of the Africa Diaspora Forum is to assist dis- placed people. He escaped the Ivory Coast in 1997 in his second year of studies in food chemistry af- ter a warning that he was to be arrested after starting a Youth League that opposed the Ivo- rian government. He arrrived in Hillbrow and became a street vendor to raise enough mon- ey to begin his studies again. He is currently completing his Masters in Food Chemistry at the University of Johannesburg. Marco believes that the xenophobic violence that the country is experiencing is mainly be- cause of three factors: ? People are fighting to share what little they have. ? People don?t understand each others cultures. ? The language barrier prevents communication between cultures. Marco uses the example of the way Nigerians and Ivorians eat with their right hands and how this is not understood by other cultures which leads to discrimination and xenophobic tendencies. Marco believes that the task of teaching each other about different cultures begins in the streets and everyday lives of the community. The Yeoville Development Forum plans to create a cultural centre which will provide foods from different african cultures and the projection of african art and cultural movies. Maurice Smithers Interview February, 2008 Maurice is a South African who has been liv- ing in Yeoville for twenty-years. Maurice explained that the biggest problem that the Yeoville Development Forum faces is acquiring an office where the community can have direct access to the forum. He be- lieves that the best way to build a community is through communication. By having an office space from which they can be accessible and in turn have access to the community, they will be able to reach their required targets. He explained that the issues being experienced by the communtiy at present are the lack of a sense of belong- ing, disempowerment, feelings of isolation and no way of influencing their environment to bring about positive change in the com- munity. Maurice believes that the anti-social ele- ments within Yeoville, such as drug pushers, prostitutes, illegal bars and businesses are a minority. These elements are present due to a lack of urban management. The Yeoville Development Forum?s aim is to empower the community to have control in the area and a place where the community can express their concerns and be made aware of their rights and responsibilities. The forum is involved in the Yeoville Rec- reation Centre as well as the new Yeoville Library that is currently being located in the heritage Yeoville Tram Shed. The forum plans to open a community information cen- tre in the old library building as well as an immigration centre. The immigration centre would encourage diversity, provide english lessons and contribute to the african cultural experience of Yeoville. Rentable spaces to cook african cuisine would also be offered to contribute to the african multi-cultural experi- ence. 45 M EE TIN G YE OV IL LE RESIDEN TS Interview with Marco Gaffou, chairman of the Africa Diaspora Forum, April 2008. (Olver:2008) Marco Gaffou at a Congolese restaurant In Yeoville. (Olver:2008) Attieke, a traditional Ivorian meal consisting of fish covered in onion and tomatoe, with fried banana and couscous which is squashed in the right hand when eating. (Olver:2008) Yeoville residents at the Ivorian House on Frances Street, Yeoville. (Olver:2008) Eating Attieke at the Ivorian House. (Olver:2008) RELEVANCE TO THESIS: When asked what was required most when arriving in Yeoville, Marco suggested that a space for luggage storage is provided while the new arrivals search for a place to stay, as well as information about the area and universities and educational courses. The Ivorian House was started by Ivorians because they didnt feel safe on the streets. They needed a place where they could meet as a community and preserve aspects of their culture, such as traditional meals and dancing. The Ivorian House provides a place of belonging and is open to everyone including non-Ivorians. Monthly community meetings are held here as well as performances by traditional Ivo- rian dancers. However a bigger space is re- quired for more large scale events, such as weddings and celebratory events. PICTURE EXISTING CENTRES CRITIQUE 6 ZOLANI MULTI-PURPOSE CENTRE YEOVILLE RECREATION CENTRE 48 The centre is located in a typical South Afri- can township that was established in the early apartheid days as a compound to house men who worked in and around Cape Town. The site required a sensitive approach to- wards the man-made conditions that shape the specific built environment as they are guided by social and economic pressures. The observations of the making and occupan- cy of the spaces informed the interpretation of the context. The people who live in the area were a valuable source of insight and their in- put played an integral part of the design proc- ess. The original centre was built in 1951 as a municipal community centre and a bus and taxi rank are located opposite. The township is predominantly low single-storey domestic structures. Double storey buildings are made up of hostels or schools. Carin Smuts writes that transforming the built environment is not only about architecture but is also about es- tablishing viable environments. (Smuts 2003:14) The Zolani Centre forms part of the Zolani Square which consists of the square, de- signed by CS Studio Architects, and the ur- ban design by Piet Louw Architects. The design attempts to deconstruct an apart- heid notion of a community centre into a vi- brant place with a civic scale for multipurpose use. The demand for space was high and therefore the centre had to accommodate dif- ferent spatial requirements. Public and recre- ational space is valuable as people are living in very cramped conditions. The in-between spaces and the street life of the townships provided a new spatial typol- ogy- ?one that allows for space in which to socialise and through which to circulate and where people do their domestic chores.? (Smuts 2003:12) An attempt at providing these conditions ap- pears in the corners to sit and socialize, places to eat and spaces for children to play. Comfort- able places are created to play dominoes and other board games. The spaces are able to ac- commodate different activities and the coexist- ence of functions that allow for the transforma- tion of the build environment to begin. The main design idea is based around an in- ternal street that would join the old with the new and the North with South. The elements of the building are all accessible from the internal street allowing ease of access and legibility. The goal of the designers was to enable the people of the township to value their own ide- as and dreams and only then would they start to participate in and impact on the shaping of the design. The formation of the Nyanga RDP forum facilitated the process ensuring all local organisations were involved in the space plan- ning. The programme consists of an indoor basket- ball hall, a cr?che, workshops, offices and an arts and cultural section that houses a small theatre. There are over 10 000 people using the centre every month. ?The success of the project or intervention re- lies on the ability to provide appropriate con- textual solutions and to create viable environ- ments.? (Smuts 2003:13) The mixing of the young and the old is an im- portant aspect as the old have a knowledge base and experience that needs to be passed on to the younger generation. ?The architecture becomes a backdrop to daily life, which carries on inside it.? (Smuts 2003:13) ZOLANI MULTI-PURPOSE CENTRE, NYANGA, CAPE TOWN. 2002 EX ISTIN G CENTRE S CRIT IQ UE Internal passages of the Zolani Community centre. (Smuts 2003:13) A buchery at the cen- tre demonstrating the adaptability of the spac- es for everyday activi- ties. (Smuts 2003:13) The community art work adorns the walls of the centre. (Smuts 2003:14) (Smuts 2003:14) 49 EX ISTIN G CENTRE S CRIT IQ UE YEOVILLE RECREATION CENTRE, YEOVILLE, JOHANNESBURG. The Yeoville Recreation Centre is situated on the northern edge of the Yeoville Park. It is Council owned and managed. The buildings orientation is east-west and is noticeably set back from Raleigh Street com- pared to the surrounding buildings The entrance to the recreation centre is ac- cessible directly from the park but is very nar- row and not inviting to someone who does not know the building. Language classes is one of the most popu- lar activities provided for, and run through- out the week. Other activities include dance classes and recreational afternoon activities for children after school. Adult educational classes are provided for after hours. The lec- ture rooms are small with poor natural lighting and ventilation. The narrow passages make it uncomfortabe for groups of people to move through the building. The hall and skills centre is mainly used on the weekends for functions and church group meetings. The creche is located in a prefabricated build- ing behind the centre. This provides a day care facility directly accessible to the Yeoville community that uses it. NEGATIVE ASPECTS The centre is open to the public but not many people are informed about the programmes and facilities that are available. Even though the centre is functioning, the skills centre does not function to its full poten- tial due to lack of management. (Maurice Freeman 2008). The centre is located at the heart of yeoville on a main street, but by removing itself from the street edge it does not make full advan- tage of the street frontage. The photographs demonstrate the lack of natural lighting and ventilation. The narrow cramped corridors are not suitable for the large numbers of people that the frequent the centre on a daily basis. ADVANTAGES The centre is in a prime location surrounded by public, social, recreational and institutional facilities. The Yeoville Recreation Centre is well used and has successfull programmes. The centre is well established in the daily lives of the Yeo- ville community. YEOVILLE RECREATION CENTRE HEALTH CLINIC YEOVILLE POLICE STATION VEGGIE GARDEN RALEIGH STREET The exisiting site plan of the Yeoville Park. The entrance to the Yeoville Recreation Centre from the Yeoville Park The dark and gloomy hall with poor natural light and ventilation. The narrow passages make it difficult to move through the building. PICTURE CASE STUDIES7 Sendai Mediateque Yokohama International Terminal SENDAI MEDIATHEQUE Toyo Ito 2002 The Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito was com- pleted in 2001 after being selected the winner of the 1995 international competition. The building is a cultural complex with an art gallery, library, theatre and media communication facility. The Sendai mediatheque is a building without rooms, whose floors are supported by hollow structures called ?tubes?. The thirteen tubes are all different in configuration and size and in some places as big as nine metres in diameter as well as being bent and twisted. (Ito 2001:5) The floors of the building are all different in height, ceiling finish, method and colour of illumination. These differences make each floor seem like ?floors from different buildings were skewered like shish-kebabs on the tubes.? Each floor can be distinguished from outside at night by the differentiating interior illuminations. (Ito 2001:7) The building is part of the urban space, it is liber- ated from the rule of any single power and it is not equipped with a centre or hub. The building houses publications, videos, mov- ies, paintings and computer art. All items are treated equally and are accessible to everyone. It is the space that functions entirely differently from the spaces of most public facilities. (Ito 2001:6) The inside of the building is more like an exten- sion of the street. It is Toyo Ito?s wish to close the distance between architecture and urban space, making the boundary between architecture and the city ambiguous. This is what Ito calls ?Blur- ring Architecture.? (Ito 2001:7) 52 One of the intentions of the building is that the boundary between space with a clear objective and one with shared ideas may seem ambigu- ous. It is Ito?s observation that people conduct themselves more freely on the streets and that it is the aim of the building to give people the same individual leeway inside public facilities. (Ito 2001:7) CAS E STUDIE S (Nishizawa 2001 : 17) (Nishizawa 2001 : 18) (Nishizawa 2001 : 17) The events space used for an exhibition space and a Jazz concert. (Nishizawa 2001 : 17) 53 CAS E STUDIE S Ito has tried to create an entirely new facility without precedent and enable the transforma- tion and dissolution of boundaries to take place. The building is Toyo Ito?s alternative to the pub- lic facilities that have up to now had ?clearly de- fined rooms where we act only in certain pre- scribed ways.? (Nishizawa 2001:13 ) The Sendai Mediatheque is proposed to con- tribute to the reform of everyday facilities and make people question spatial and organisa- tional preconceptions. LEGIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY The Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito deals with the various aspects of transparency. The three principle architectural elements of the building are the plate (slab), the tube (col- umn), and the skin (facade). It is the element of the glass skin that provides the building with the ability of transparency. The glass facade makes the internal workings of the building leg- ible to its users and possible users. The un- derstanding of the building is made even more legible at night when each floor is internally il- luminated. The use of different coloured lighing further exposed the inside to the out. It is this element among others, of legibility that con- nects the service users with the service provid- ers and begins to override the barriers of lan- guage and culture. (Nishizawa 2001:16) The guiding principles of the Sendai Media- theque that are considered important are: It offers the utmost in the spirit of service, responding flexibly to the demands of the users. It functions not as a ?terminal? but as a ?node? taking maximum advantage of network systems. It connects the able-bodied with the disabled, the service users with the service providers, and it overrides the barriers of language and culture. (Nishizawa 2001:16) RELEVANCE TO THESIS: The Sendai Mediatheque is relevant in: The way the building is legible through transparency and flexibility. The attempt to blur the edges between the public level of the street where people move more freely and the internalized private predetermined spaces of traditionally perceived public facilities. The way the building challenges the traditional concept of public facilities as having clearly de- fined rooms where prescribed actions are en- forced. FLEXIBILITY Flexible buildings allow people to live freely as individuals or collectively. People must be given options as to how they move through, experience and use the spaces. This freedom will result in people being more will- ing to access, use and experience as well as feel- ing free to influence the space. The Sendai Mediatheque is a good example of how a public building can provide the user with the possibilities of using the space as they wish. The boundary between a space with a clear objective and shared ideas seem ambiguous and thus the distance between architecture and urban space is blurred. Unpredictable activities are enabled within the spaces of the building. What is brought about is ?something that has never happened be- fore and might be allowed to happen.? (Nishizawa 2001:13) The building is a public facility that is intended to accommodate activities that may arise in the fu- ture. There are many free spaces that are not in- tended to service specific functions. Such spaces exist between the structural tubes and the building perimeter. These spaces will be able to be used by visitors as they would use the city streets for various activities. It is the goal of the Sendai Me- diatheque to become ?a place for thinking about the city.? (Nishizawa 2001:6 ) The ground floor demonstrating the street like quality of the open planning. (Nishizawa 2001 : 17) The 7th floor studio demonstrating the open planning with various functions as nodes within the space. (Nishizawa 2001 : 17) 54 The Yokohama project concept was based around the possibility of generating organisa- tion from a circulation pattern as a development of an idea of ?hybridization between a shed - a more or less undetermined container- and the ground.? (Kubo 2002: 10) From the initial concept stages of the project the circulation diagram from which the circula- tion was organised and from which ?architec- ture? was deployed was challenged. The result is the ?no-return diagram?, which is the attempt to provide the building with a particular spatial performance. It allows the transportation infra- structure to operate less as a ?gate? and a limit- ing element and more as a field of movements with no structural orientation. The ?no-return diagram? is the result of a circulation diagram as a structure of interlaced loops that allow for multiple return paths rather than the limited flow orientation characteristically associated with transport piers. (Kubo 2002:11) The second design strategy was that the build- ing should not appear in the skyline. This was to ensure the project as an extension of the urban ground and prevent the project from becoming a gate on a semantic level. The building was turned downwards into the ground, hybridizing a pure enclosure with the topography. Moussavi highlights (Kubo 2002:11) that an ar- gument of consistency was created between the ?no-return diagram? and the surface as the systematic transformation of the lines of the circulation diagram into a folded and pierced surface, that produces in it?s folded areas, cov- ered surfaces where the different parts of the programme can take place. The rectangular footprint of the building was determined by the requirement of placing straight boarding decks 15 meters from the piers edge along both sides of the building to connect to the moving bridges. To minimize the building mass the maximum area possible within the site was occupied. The use of columns as the structural elements was not consistent with the aim to produce space and organization literally out of the cir- culatory diagram. Therefore a structural system was developed out of a warped and bent structural surface. The structure is comprised of a series of fold- ed metal plates which distribute loads through their diagonal surfaces to the steel piers rooted to pile foundations. The skin of the building and the areas established below become associ- ated with the ramp system linking the different levels of the building. The result is a building without stairs or columns. The association and integration of the circulation and the structure into the form of the building as a whole, effec- tively achieves the primary goal of making the circulation affect the spatial condition directly. (Kubo 2002:15) As opposed to the assemblage between struc- ture and circulation, which blended in a meta- morphic manner, the programme was to be- come integrated in a more sedimentary form. The programmatic strategy can be related to spatiality where the capacity of the space is not directly related to its size, and where the qual- ity of space varies differently, rather than as a discontinuity. (Kubo 2002:17) The spaces are ?differentially flexible? by of- fering multiple conditions in a continuum, in a similar way in which, ?temperature, luminance, pressure or humidity tend to vary across a large room.?(Moussavi 2002:17) The potential is created to set up a degree of specificity without deliminating extensions. An extremely reduced palette of materials was decided on in order to preserve the main fea- tures of the spatial and geometrical determina- tion of the project: the continuity across levels and between the inside and outside spaces. (Kubo 2002: 218) YOKOHAMA INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL FOREIGN OFFICE ARCHITECTS 2006 CAS E STUDIE S (Kubo 2002 : 254) (Kubo 2002 : 21) (Kubo 2002 : 176) 55 RELEVANCE TO THESIS: The Yokohama international terminal is relevant in terms of: The use of materiality and form production which establishes the limits and physical discontinuities of the surface into a po- tentially seamless public space. The buildings role within the creation of the public space and the ability to make- place is considered important. The termi- nal is an urban landscape that can be ac- cessed by anyone at any time. The spaces created are effective when dealing with shifting programmatic condi- tions, allowing programmes and functions to evolve and become spontaneous. The level of flexibility offers multiple condi- tions in a continuous public landscape. The potential of the spaces is to set up to a certain degree of specificity without eliminating any possible extensions of programme and function. The urban landscape that is created by the topographical roof creates places to sit, gather, view the city and shoreline, places that lend themselves for appro- priation. The spaces within the circulatory/struc- tural topography and within the roof- land- scape were designed with suggestion in mind but also with ?shifting programmatic fields? as inspiration. (Moussavi 2002:17) Main urban events such as the Coming of Age, fireworks and the Throwing of the Beans were located in ideal conditions within the roof topography. These created the series of shifting domains that indicated the pre- liminary location of urban furniture- benches, canopies, fences- whose densities, orienta- tion and quantity depend simultaneously on several programmatic conditions. The Yoko- hama Terminal is capable of accommodating spontaneous performance, public events or casual people watching without forgetting its end-user, the everyday commuter. The terminal blurs the line between the land- scape and the building, interior and exterior, public and private as well as blending circu- lation and structure into a seamless gradual hierarchy of spaces. The seamless integra- tion of elements is achieved through the form as well as the choice of materials. CAS E STUDIE S The materials were split into two categories: steel and wood for the horizontal surfaces, and glass and railings for the vertical surfac- es. The steel and wood elements would lend themselves to the geometry, texture and ac- centuation of the horizontality of the project while the glass and railings would tend to vanish and create a verticality which was ide- ally non-existent. (Moussavi 2002:41) (Kubo 2002 : 286) 56 INSPIR ATIONA L PROJECT S INSPIRATIONAL PROJECTS The following projects have inspired a combination of thoughts and ideas and have contributed to the design ideas of the Yeoville Cultural Centre. RED LOCATION MUSEUM PORT ELIZBETH, EASTERN CAPE NOERO WOLF ARCHITECTS 2006 The Red Location is an important site of South Africa?s struggle for freedom, and the home of many cultural and political leaders. The museum is designed deliberately to confront conventional views of museum de- sign. The visitors are treated as active participants within the memory process. The materials are chosen to reflect the sur- rounding areas of the Red Location and New Brighton. The old materials are used in new ways: standard steel windows are used in uncon- ventional ways, the corrugated sheets are intentionally rusted, and the concrete blocks traditionally used in township houses have been used as though they were clay face- bricks. Allison and Peter Smithson wrote about the idea that architecture could act as scaf- folding or a framework that might form the backdrop against which people could act out their everyday lives. The exterior of the Museum has been designed to respond to the different opportunities offered by the surroundings. The eastern side of the build- ing becomes a habitable wall with seating, a play area for children and parking space for taxis. The front entrance is covered by a gigantic pergola, marking the entrance of the building and defining a public gathering space. A grassed outside gathering has a huge screen for an outdoor cinema, and seating for up to 2,500 people. The museum is innovative in the use of the narrative scheme: to offer a genuine alterna- tive to the partisan readings of history in a divided country with an all too recent violent past. It relies on the drama of light and space and on the didactic of assembly for its archi- tectural presence. It is the aim of this thesis to situate the Yeoville Cultural Centre along with its functions and programmes into the daily lives of the community in Yeoville. The building will respond to street edge conditions and the op- portunities that the landscaping and surroundings offer. The ground floor will be designed to attract and draw in the passer-by. Thresholds will be used to ease the transition from the street through the building spaces. The internal spaces of the building will be an extension of the street and this will contribute to the building functioning within the daily lives of the community. The childrens centre demonstrates the kinds of spaces that the Yeo- ville Cultural centre will achieve in the design. The day-care facility demonstrates flexibility in the spaces that are created. The different play and activity areas are demarcated by low walls and play pits that are adaptable to required functions. Natural lighting and spaces that open into gardens are considered important as chil- dren spend most of the day at the cr?che and require natural light and ventilation. The ability for class rooms and play areas to open out into an outdoor space will maximize the flexibility of the use of the rooms as well as allow for maximum natural light and ventila- tion. CHINO?S CHILDREN?S CENTRE Nabuaki Furuya Lab + Studio Nasca (Deckler 2006:42) (Japan Architect Issue 45 2002:51) 57 INSPIR ATIONA L PROJECT S The architecture is driven by the story of human evolution. The intention is to make evolution tangible, and to make this pos- sible a narrative was developed along with the architecture and the interior furnishing. Commissioned contemporary artworks by South African artists serve as provocations to encourage discussion, debate and reflec- tion. Lindsay Bremner comments a follows, ?Forum Homini explores two architectural themes- firstly the relationship between ar- chitecture and landscape and secondly, the relationship between architecture and ico- nography. ? Landscape is reclaimed by architecture, as a site of spiritual meaning and renewal. This is done by blurring the boundaries between the two, by creating habitation in the in-be- tween? Extensive use is made of sculpture and dec- oration to construct the identity of place. The green identity that the com- munity associates with Yeoville is considered an important element that is to be implemented into the design and will contribute to re- taining the identity of Yeoville. The transitional spaces that are creat- ed by openings, sun shading and overhangs will be employed to cre- ate the in-between spaces that en- courage people to engage with the activities. Materials and the scale of spaces are influ- enced by the surrounding context of Yeo- ville. The choice of materials and the scale of public spaces will contribute to the iden- tity of the Yeoville Cultural Centre within the surrounding context as well as creating an overall sense of ?place? within the precinct. Inspiration is drawn from the Yeoville Mar- ket, the Yeoville Swimming Pool, the Yeoville Health Clinic and the new Yeoville Library. The choice of robust materials will be sus- tainable as well as respond to the urban environment and will require low levels of maintenance. CHINO?S CHILDREN?S CENTRE Nabuaki Furuya Lab + Studio Nasca FORUM HOMINI CRADLE OF MANKIND, GAUTENG ACTIVATE ARCHITECTS 2006 MATERIALS & AESTHETICS OF THE YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE (Low 2007:153) (Low 2007:152) PICTURE ARCHITECTURAL BRIEF 8 60 The project brief was derived from the re- sults acquired from the informal and formal interviews with the Yeoville residents as well as the interviews with the Yeoville Develop- ment Forum. The interviews and research highlighted the lack of viable public space within the city and Yeoville. The large major- ity of Yeoville?s population are migrants and immigrants who are faced with feelings of dislocation as well as xenophobia. They do not feel that they are part of a community and are just here to make a living for their families and survive. It is important that the cultural multi-purpose centre creates links with the already highlight- ed public amenities around the Yeoville Park, that have been identitied by the JDA. This will ensure that the Yeoville Park acts as a hub of public facilities on a communal level. The cultural multi-purpose centre, aims to fa- cilitate the exploration of identity and enable the re-discovery, assertion and re-imagining of individual and collective identities within Yeoville and Johannesburg through the im- plementation of appropriate building forms and programmes. The individuals of Yeoville should become positive contributing mem- bers of a wider society through the sensitive design and architectural programme. Historically, as previously mentioned, Yeoville has a strong sense of identity within the city of Johannesburg and it is a space from which identity construction can be nurtured. The aim of the intervention is an amelioration of the programme and facilities that will allow the site to add value to the public spaces of Yeoville and contribute towards Yeoville?s and the city?s identity. The spaces and programmes will allow the interaction, conflict and sharing of the proc- ess of identity exploration that will enable the user to creatively contemplate their identity and contribute to the collective identity of Yeoville and in turn Johannesburg. The intervention will respect the historical character of the site and demonstrate rec- onciliation with the landscape. The interven- tion will facilitate the transition of migrants and immigrants into the city by providing a public space that will allow them to negotiate the city through Yeoville. Public space will be created and imagined where people can congregate and interact on formal and infor- mal levels. The ability to explore and express individual and collective identity will enable a sense of belonging to the community and to the city. A venue for conversation, action, exhibition and reflection will be provided as well as fa- cilities and programmes that will address the needs of the community and in such a way that it will enable the community in the explo- ration of identities -collectively and individu- ally. The facilities that will be provided will specifi- cally reinforce individual and collective iden- ties. The facilities include a mediatheque, a cultural museum, a public information centre, a skills development centre a creche as well as offices. These facilities will aim at enabling the individual and collec- tive identity construction process. AR CHITE CTU RA L BRIE F Architectural Brief 61 PICTURE PROGRAMME9 64 The building needs to provide a viable public space where people from all cultures will feel welcome and catered for. The buildings should provide facilities that will enable the commu- nity of Yeoville to rediscover, assert, reimagine their identity and in doing so feel more ground- ed within and part of the Yeoville community. Therefore the design of a community centre that provides the following facilities and pro- grammes that will enable the creative identity construction process is proposed: PR OG RA M M E THE PUBLIC SQUARE: 780 m? The square will provide an outdoor spill-out space from the multi-functional hall and the main building. The square will also provide space for events to be held separately from the buildings and hall. This would include food kiosks that can be rented out with the goal of having cuisine available from all the corners of the conti- nent. This will allow the recreational and en- joyable experience of food as a means of showcasing different cultures. Cold room, storage and preparation facilities will be pro- vided. THE CULTURAL MUSEUM: 900 m? The cultural museum would capture Yeo- ville?s historic and continuing role as a des- tination for migrants and immigrants into Johannesburg and the contribution that this has had on the identity of Johannesburg as a multi-cultural city. The museum will showcase for instance the experience of the young revolutionary Joe Slovo who arrived as an eight-year-old immigrant from Lithua- nia. The museum will explore cultural ten- sions through stories, videos and pictures dedicated to the immigrants of Yeoville, from Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, to name but a few. ABLUTION FACILITIES: 210 m? The existing public ablutions along Raleigh Road that are currently maintained by local Government will be relocated into the pro- gramme as a means of concentrating the facilities available at the Yeoville Commu- nity Park as well as increasing surveillance. The location of the ablutions will be directly accessible to the public using the Park and those using the building. The ablution fa- cilities must be sufficient for 200 people on every floor of the building, and 600 people in the multi-purpose hall. The Yeoville Cultural Centre will provide spaces for the daily rituals and celebrations of different cultures to take place. This would encourage the daily use of the Yeoville Cultural centre as well as provide spaces that all nationalities and cultures could use. PROGRAMME 65 THE MEDIATHEQUE: 1700 m? The mediatheque will provide the community with new information technology and audio visual materials that will attract new users as well as making information as accessible as possible. It will provide a programme from which the community and individuals can begin to express and explore their identities. The mediatheque will enable the user to ex- periment with new possibilities by making in- formation accessible. The Mediatheque will house computer facilities that will form part of the Yeoville Computer Club. Audio/visual fa- cilities will allow the viewing of documentaries, archive material and movies. Classrooms for adult classes, matric end of year study groups and homework rooms will form part of the Mediatheque programme. The Mediatheque will house lecture rooms, multi-media nodes, homework areas, reading rooms, lounge areas, computer facilities as well as audio/visual nodes. THE INFORMATION CENTRE:160 m? The public information centre will provide ac- cess to the many variations of services and facilities that are available in Yeoville. This fa- cility will be made easily accessible to tourists, newly arrived immigrants and migrants as well as to the existing community of Yeoville, and Johannesburg. It will consist of information touch screen terminals for easy accessibility as well as an information kiosk for more per- sonalised and detailed information. The Yeoville website will be made available by the use of touch screens. The Yeoville website provides information ranging from what shops are available and places for accomodation to the cost of a fine for illegal street trading. Fa- cilities and services available in Yeoville and Johannesburg will be advertised. YEOVILLE OFFICES: 576 m? The Yeoville Stakeholders Forum, the Yeo- ville Development Forum and the Yeoville Community Policing Forum and the African Diaspora Forum as well as community centre management require offices. These organi- sations are formed by concerned citizens of the Yeoville community and will be made directly accessible to the Yeoville Commu- nity and in doing so enable the community to control their environment and empower themselves to be part of instituting change within the community of Yeoville. CR?CHE: 696 m? The existing Cr?che will be relocated within the Yeoville Cultural Centre with security be- ing a high priority. An open green space ex- clusively for the children will be provided as well as offices, a kitchen and ablution facili- ties. ROOF TOP VEGETABLE GARDEN: 276 m? The existing vegetable garden will be relo- cated as a roof top vegetable garden system with sorting sheds. This facility will contrib- ute to introducing residents to the business of trade and generate an income for the in- dividual as well as towards sustaining the centre. ROOF TOP COFFEE BAR: 276 m? The green roof system and height of the roof will provide a location for the sunset coffee bar which will provide a recreational facility that can be enjoyed by the staff and Yeoville Forum representatives as well as the public. The location on the roof allows access to be controlled and it is the aim that a clientele of business people will be attracted. MULTI- PURPOSE HALL & PUBLIC EVENTS SPACE: 1231 m? A multi purpose hall will cater for private and public social, corporate, religious and sport- ing events and thus will be directlyaccessible from the public square. The income gener- ated will contribute towards sustaining the Community Centre. Meeting rooms are located within the hall with sliding partitions to provide flexible spaces for different uses and user groups. The events space will be directly accessible from the hall and will provide for events such as the Yeoville Youth Day, Yeoville Day and AIDS Awareness Day which have historically taken place in the Yeoville Park. When not in use the events space provides a hard surface which can be used for soccer games, bicy- cles, skate boards, roler blading and hand tennis. Private and social events will also be catered for, for example corporate functions, concerts and weddings as well as public viewing of sporting events. This will enable the Commu- nity Centre and the Yeoville Park to become integrated into the everyday activities of Yeo- ville as well as providing for organised activities on a larger scale. EXTENDED PROGRAMME: The historical tram shed, that is to be devel- oped by the JDA, will house the new Library, and along with the existing Yeoville Health Clinic and Police Station will be linked both visually and physically to the Community Centre and thus will create a hub of commu- nity facilities instead of separate unrelated elements operating within the Yeoville Com- munity Park. It is therefore important to design a community hub of public service facilities with buildings appropriately scaled to form outdoor green and hard surfaced spaces. PR OG RA M M E PICTURE FEASIBILITY10 Feasibility Sustainability 68 It is necessary to investigate the feasibility of the Yeoville Cultural Centre which aims to address the dislocation that migrants and immigrants are faced with when relocating to the suburb of Yeoville. The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) has identified the Rockey-Raleigh Street in Yeoville (which includes the Yeoville Park) as part of the Ur- ban Development Zone (UDZ) initiative which ?aims to restore the once trendy street into a secure, well maintained urban environment.? (http://wwwjoburg.org.za/content/view/1084/207/ : cited 06/03/2008 The JDA has expressed their enthusiasm to consider the proposed Cultural Centre for possible funding and development. It is proposed that as it does in the Zolani Multi-pur- pose centre in the Eastern Cape, the department of Social Services will provide funds towards the estab- lishment of the Yeoville Cultural Centre. Provision of office accomodation for customer services at the Yeo- ville Cultural centre will make social services more accessible to the community. The Yeoville Cultural Centre would not only need initial funding but also finance to sustain the redevel- opment. The following organisations have indicated their eagerness to fund viable projects such as the Yeoville Cultural Centre. FEASIB IL IT Y 1. ARC International ? Based in Minnesota, USA, ARC aims to work for the survival, health and well-being of displaced persons and seeks to enable them to rebuild productive lives. http://www.archq.org/index.shtml : cited 20/04/2008 2. VOSESA - Is a Johannesburg based non-profit organisation. www.service-enquiry.org.za : cited 20/04/2008 FEASIBILITY 69 FEASAB IL IT Y SUSTAINABILITY SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY CULTURAL HERITAGE: The Yeoville Cultural Centre seeks to en- hance the conservation of cultural resourc- es, skills and material selection of the local community. COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT: The Yeoville Cultural Centre wherever pos- sible will ensure the participation of the community in the whole delivery cycle from construction to the maintenance of the de- velopment. EDUCATION: The construction process is an opportunity to transfer technology to construction work- ers, staff and the local community. The adult education and training facilties pro- vided in the skills centre and mediatheque will also enhance community empowerment. SECURITY: The Safety and Security Forum will provide information on how best to integrate security requirements and strategies with the local community programmes already in place. ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY: The operating costs of the Yeoville Cultural Centre will be optomised. The income from renting the offices, creche, retaurant, shops and food kiosks as well as the hall for special occasions and events will provide an income to sustain the centre. MATERIAL CONSUMPTION: The selection of materials with the most dura- ble life cycles, the ease of the deconstruction of materials once the life cycle is complete and enable re-use of elements will minimise the cost of maintenance and maximise the life cycle of the building. Materials that are responsive to their envi- ronmental impact will also be used in the construction. The flexibility of the spaces will maximise the efficiency and percentage of the useable floor area. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY BIOIVERSITY: To protect and restore existing vegetation. FRESH WATER & GROUND WATER: The harvesting of rain water from the hall roof will reduce the consumption of water from the municipal system and be used for gardening purposes. LAND: The existing trees in the Yeoville Park will be protected. Soft and hard landscaping will be used to re- duce the amount of radiant energy soaked up during the day. The use of permeable paving and lanscaping to maximise water leeching during rainfall. The South african building industry is entering the international ?green-building? trend. The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) has been created for the assesment of ?green buildings?. The Yeoville Cultural Centre will liase with the GBCSA to obtain knowledge and resources on green building as well as obtain a Green Star rating. ?As we live, so shall we live.? ?As we build , so shall we become.? (CSIR 2008) PICTURE The landmark of Yeoville, the red constructivist Yeoville Water Tower. (Olver 2007) SITE11 Site Selection and Context Site Mapping Site Analysis The Yeoville Market Window tinting being applied to a car along the northern edge of the Yeoville Park, just one of the many activities that occur.72 THE EMERGENCE OF YEOVILLE Yeoville is situated on the northern ridge of Johannesburg. In 1890 stands in Yeoville were advertised for the first time by auction- eer J.Kincaid which appeared in the early Diggers? News. It was laid out as a residen- tial area in1889 by English businessman Thomas Yeo Sherwell and hence named af- ter him. (Norwich 1986:127) Sherwell was also responsible for the build- ing of the landmark of Yeoville, the red con- structivist water tower in 1906. It was built to provide clean drinking water to the growing population of Johannesburg. (Chipkin 1993:51) The Yeoville Square as it was called at the time, was the centre of the suburb and one of the first green public spaces. The first larger building was the Nazareth House situ- ated on Harrow Road, a catholic children?s home built in 1894. During the following two decades the infrastructure was improved by the construction of schools and a cinema. (Norwich 1986:127) THE SITE The site has to offer these four crucial elements. Firstly, the site must be well in- tegrated within the public transport net- work making the site accessible. Secondly, it should be near a public space. Thirdly, it should house a public institution whose char- acter relates to that of identity formation and construction within the Yeoville community. Fourth, the site should be encountered on a daily basis in the everyday activities and experiences of the community. The Yeoville Park fits this profile and contrib- utes to the choice of site by being situated along a main pedestrian and vehicle route through Yeoville as well as the close prox- imity to other public facilities such as the Yeoville Police station, the Yeoville Library, the Yeoville Swimming Pool and the Yeoville Health Clinic. Language students gather outside the Yeoville com- munity centre after a lecture The site?s edge onto Raleigh Road. The suburb of Yeoville with the location of the Yeoville Park highlighted in Green. View from south side of the Yeoville Park. The Yeoville Health Clinic on the east side of the Yeoville Park SIT E 73 THE ARCHITECTURE OF YEOVILLE The architecture of Yeoville is a mixture of styles ranging from art deco to thatched houses and from residential houses to cubist modern and post-modern flats. There is an even spread of architectural styles through- out Yeoville. Jacaranda trees that line many of the streets provide a green identity to Yeoville along with the Yeoville Community Park, Muller- Frances-street Park and three smaller pub- lic spaces. Yeoville was especially known internation- ally as a cosmopolitan suburb during the 1980?s and early 1990?s in which racially im- posed boundaries were overcome. Raleigh/ Rockey Street was seen as the cultural core of Yeoville. (Smithers 18/02/2008) THE POPULATION OF YEOVILLE Due to the relatively small plot sizes Yeo- ville was from its conception a middle-class area. It was declared a ??white? suburb dur- ing Apartheid and accommodated a large number of immigrants from all over Europe, which included a large Jewish community. At the beginning of the 1980?s the ?greying? of the area began when the enforced seg- regation of Yeoville was being undermined. Black residents began to move into the area which is explained by the pull factor of a surplus of dwelling units in the ?white? suburbs and a decreasing demand of such living space by the ?white? market. Yeoville was a popular suburb amongst students, artists, young couples and pen- sioners. The close proximity to the city, the accessibility of public transport and afford- able living spaces made Yeoville a very attractive place to reside. For many of the residents, Yeoville is a transit suburb. Since 1994,with the exodus of ?Whites? many ?Non-whites? moved into Yeoville. Maurice Smithers of the Yeoville Development Fo- rum estimates that Yeoville?s population has almost doubled since 1996. (Meyer 2002:53) SIT E The Yeoville Swimming Pool Entrance on Raleigh Rd. A view looking at the intersection between Raleigh and Kenmere Street. The Yeoville Club House. PIK IT UP employees gather under the trees at the Yeoville Park. An Art Nouveau Mansion on the ridge. The internal courtyards in the Yeoville Market. 74 THE IMAGE OF YEOVILLE Yeoville was known as a liberal, cosmopolitan suburb that attracted artists of many kinds, intellectuals as well as tourists. Maureen Schoenveld (09/04/2008) describes Raleigh/ Rockey Street was the centre of the suburb with health shops, pubs, coffee shops, jazz clubs, restaurants, antique and book shops. Yeoville was often compared to new York City?s East Village and London?s South End. The Afrikaans author Herman Charles Bos- man, and the anti-apartheid activist and lead- er of the South African Communist Party, Joe Slovo, both grew up in Rockey Street. (Meyer 2002:53) Newspaper articles celebrated Yeoville as an ?eccentric, colourful, vibrant and dynamic? and as a ?multi-faceted reflection of the whole of Africa.? (Meyer 2002:57) Yeoville?s transformation in the post-apartheid era was summed up by the term ?grime and crime?. ?Grime? stands for the littering and urination in public spaces, low maintenance of streets and public parks. ?Crime? means crime in general with the main focus on drug peddling and also petty crime. The JDA Urban Development Zone Regen- eration Project is currently focusing on the general upgrading of Yeoville?s streets and pedestrian sidewalks which would make a positive impact on the percieved image of the run down Yeoville streets. SIT E A make shift hair salon on Rockey Street. Informal traders operating on Rockey Street. A block of Art Nouveau flats on the ridge. SITE ANALYSIS: Public Appropriation of the site The site analysis illustrates the everyday manner in which people are currently using and interpreting the site. The majority of the approriation of the site took place along the northern perimeter. It is the study of these spaces that will contribute to the creation of viable public spaces within the Yeoville Cultural Centre. Pavement along Raleigh Street The pavement along Raleigh street is seperated in two by the planted line of palm trees. This creates a division for Pedestrian movement, shop patronage and informal traders. The generous overhang and trees provide shelter and the step up in the paving further demarcates the spaces. Pavement along the Yeoville Swimming Pool North Wall The recess in the north boundary wall of the Yeoville swimming pool along with the trees provide adequate space and shading for traders to be seperated from the pedestrian pathway but still situated along the main path of move- ment. 1 2 3 PEDESTRIAN TRADER S Northern boundary of the Yeoville Park The retaining wall encourages informal trading as well as the informal taxi drop o and pick up point on the corner. The northern pavement is wide with little protection from the elements. The circu- lar retaining walls fail to provide habit- able place making elements. 75 PEDESTRIAN TRADERS TRADERS PEDESTRIAN PEDESTRIAN SIT E (After www.joburg.org) 76 PICTORAL TIMELINE OF YEOVILLE View of Yeoville looking towards Johannesburg in 1916. (Norwich 1986:23) View of Yeoville looking towards Johannesburg in 2008. Nazareth House built in 1894 (MuseuMAfrica Archive:PH2006-987) Nazareth House, 2008. Rockey Street, 1922. (MuseuMAfrica: PH2006-8876A) Rockey Street, 2008 SIT E 77 Nazareth House built in 1894 (MuseuMAfrica Archive:PH2006-987) Nazareth House, 2008. Raleigh Street, 1916. (MuseuMAfrica,Johannesburg, MA2006-4834) Raleigh Street, 2008. The Yeoville Water Tower, 1937. (MuseuMAfrica, Johannesburg, PH 2006-9414) The Yeoville Water Tower, 2008. Bedford Road, 1906. (MuseuMAfrica, Johannesburg, MA2006-4836) Bedford Road, 2008. SIT E TI TL E Figure Ground Figure Ground 78 SIT E Figure Ground Map showing the density of the buildings around the Yeoville Park. Figure Ground Map showing the street grid and block layout of the Yeoville Suburb. SIT E Figure Ground Green Map Map highlighting the public facilities that are situated within the direct vicinity of the Park. Map highlighting the existing buildings of the Yeoville Park as well as the surrounding area. 75 80 SIT E Movement Patterns Road Hierarchy Map showing the road hierarchy, highlighting Raleigh as the main road that provides access to Yeoville as well as a throroughfare to the inner city. Map showing various movement patterns that exist on the site were analysed to gain insight to the functioning and use of the Yeoville Park. SIT E Land Use Public Facilities Map highlighting the public facilities that are situated within the direct vicinity of the Park. Map highlighting the land use of Yeoville, with high- density residential being the most dominant. Green Open Space Schools High-Density Residential Business Taxi points Informal Traders New Library Yeoville Swimming Pool Yeoville Clinic Yeoville Police Station Post Office Yeoville Market Recreation Centre Children?s Playground 82 SIT E DELAPIDATION SIT E 83 LANDSCAPE TEXTURES SIT E 84 VIBRANCY 85 DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND DESIGN CONCEPTS Design Concepts Theory Translated into Design Design Principles 12 ?The future is the one thing that we all have in common, how we share it,is what?s important.? (Sarah Nuttel: Spier panel discussion) Aloerosa Transplant (2006-7) A Room of Her Own. (Law- viljoen, B 2008) 88 DESIGN CONCEPTS The need to redefine diverse cultural identities and the construction of identities are present in the media and other forms of popular culture, as well as in the daily lived experience of South Af- ricans. The most recent work of Leora Farber?s in her exhibition ?Dis-location / Re-location? is centred around South African cultural identity. Al- though the project places emphasis on first- and second-generation Jewish immigrants in South Africa the thematics surrounding the exhibition deal with ?displacement? and the need for Leora Farber to renegotiate her South African identity. The body of work consists of photographic, sculptural, installation, performance, video and sound works that recognises that identities are constructed through multiplicity and difference, and hinge upon the idea that most contemporary South African identities are hybridised in nature. Identity is ?seen as a polyglot, heterogenous and diverse; an unstable construction which is in a constant state of flux and redefinition. ?Transformation is not a threat to the continuity of identity? ( Thembinkosi Goniwe: Spier panel discussion) Bertha Marks is represented as engaged in nee- dlework activities and uses her body as a canvas into which she works forms that convey a sense of embodied ?African? identity such as indigenous plants and beadwork. It is the process of ?graft- ing? a new identity in/onto herself. The bedroom of Bertha Marks wherein she performs the series of physical and psychologically transformative acts is considered as a metaphoric ?transition- al space?, wherein upredictable outcomes may emerge from the grafting of diverse materials and cultures to give rise to new identity forma- tions. ?Taking on new things by no means creates the loss of identity quality.? (Dr.Sandra Klopper: Spier panel discussion) DESIG N CP ONC EP TS 89 DESIGN CONCEPTS IINSPIRED BY LEORA FARBER?S EXHIBITION DIS-LOCATION / RE-LOCATION RE-GROUNDING ? Literally grounding the building into the landscape ? People grounded within histories ? Rooted but not stuck in the past/landscape Where the architecture is rooted in the landscape and histories, as well as providing a space/place where the community can feel root- ed within the landscape and respective pasts. CREATIVE USE OF ARCHIVE ? The archive is percieved in a contemporary context. ? Explore the conscious/unconscious way of self appropriation ? The importance of making the narrative and story telling accessible to contemporary audiences GRAFTING OF INDIGENOUS ONTO COLONIAL LANDSCAPE ? The cutting, peeling back and literal grafting of the indigenous/building onto the colonial/landscape. ? The peeling back and exposing the underneath, opening for new growth. COMPLEX LAYERING OF TEMPORALITIES ? People are configured/conscribed by the temporal landscapes DESIG N CONC EP TS GROUNDED IN THE LANDSCAPE ARCHIVE & NARRATIVE ROOTED IN THE LANDSCAPE & HISTORIES GRAFTING OF THE INDIGENOUS THEORY TRANSLATED INTO DESIGN THEO RY TR AN SL ATE D IN TO DESIG N FLUIDITY / STABILITY ? Fluidity of identity construction & movement vs rigidity/stability of built form ACCESSIBILITY ? Approachable ? Remove barriers ? Remove structures that turn their backs onto public spaces HUB OF PUBLIC FACILITIES ? Link surrounding public facilities = hub of facilities FLEXIBILITY & CHOICE ? Adaptable room sizes ? Flexible spaces - user defined LINKAGE SPACES / PERMEABILITY PROGRAMME / OLD SKIN ? New programmes pop out of old structure 90 THEO RY TR AN SL ATE D IN TO DESIG N ACTIVE INTERFACES ? Enhance interaction between people ? Visual & Physical interaction DETAIL DESIGN / INTERACTIVE ? Experience & Perceptions ? Materials, vegetation & climatic design ? Interaction of users to determine spaces. TRANSITION SPACE ? Inside / Outside ? Mediate between building and street life TRANSITIONS & THRESHOLDS ? Height, level changes used to create thresholds PUBLIC / SEMI PUBLIC / PRIVATE ? Functions & programmes layering and spilling into each other 91 Poverty in the midst of plenty. Gerard Sekoto, 1939. (www.art.co.za/gerardsekoto/default.htm) DESIGN DEVELOPMENT 13 94 DESIGN DEVELOPMEN T CONCEPT SKETCHES The concept sketches demonstrate the progression of thought through the design process. The initial concepts dealt with fluidity and the fluid shift of identity construction. How to deal with the fluidity of Yeoville and the community and how this relates to the buildings rigidity. The sketches deal with the pavement and the major role it plays in the daily lives of the Yeoville community and in allowing the community to express themselves. Scale was explored through sketch sections. Scale is considered an important element. The building must provide a public scale but still provide intimate spaces. 95 DESIGN DEVELOPMEN T The initial design concept focused on the paths of movement through the site culminating at the square. The square was at the center of the design and would be the main transition and activating space from which- everything linked or branched off from.The paths were thought of as a journey into the site. Issues that need to be considered: ? Who is going to use these spaces? ? The outdoor spaces need to become rooms in themselves. ? How are the indoor and outdoor programmes connected and seperated? ? Allow for different events to function simultaneously. CONCEPT A 96 DESIGN DEVELOPMEN T DESIGN 1 The movement of pedestrians and how they would use the building informed the building form. The building thus responds to pedestrians and begins to shape how they would use the spaces. The design focuses on making the Yeoville Cultural Centre accessible to the community within the activities of the daily lives of the Yeoville community. The existing structure of the recreation centre is re- tained. The buildings of the skills centre and the creche that turned their backs onto the public park are demol- ished to make way for a more viable and sustainable solution. The creche is moved down from the first floor to the ground floor. This allows for the children to have direct access to the existing childrens playground in the park. The diagram illustrates the movement of pedestrians through the site. The purple and blue highlight the visual links between the building and the street edges. Building facades that need to be active edges are highlight- ed. Links are established with various activities across Raleigh Road. 97 DESIGN DEVELOPMEN T CRITIQUE The building scale is not appropriate to create the enclosed square. The in between spaces must be explored in terms of allowing for different functions that would add a richer dynamic to the spaces. The hall lacks a relationship with the square. The hall should be turned at an angle so that the lobby re- lates more effectively to the enclosed square. Transitional elements need to be explored and how they contribute to the spatial relationships of the build- ing with the street edge. The lobby edge needs to be further articulated and this can be done with the use transitional elements. 98 DESIGN DEVELOPMEN T DESIGN 2 The entrance to the building is brought closer to the the edge of Raleigh Street. The double doors at the entrance are angled to the green park to encourage pedestrians to enter. The skills centre is relocated on the second floor. The scale of the building is made more appropriate and cre- ates an enclosed square. The multi-purpose hall is angled from the existing grid. The result is the hall has greater dominance over the square as well as allowing the lobby to actively engage with the southern edge of the square. The elevations and sections experimented with lou- vre systems to create comfortable conditions within the building. The green vertical wall is explored on the eastern facade. 99 DESIGN DEVELOPMEN TCRITIQUE ON DESIGN 2 The column grid of the creche and the Yeoville Forum offices creates an awkward plan. The column grid needs to be solved. Two lobbies are created which makes access to the upper floors unclear. One main lobby should be created. The lobby should allow the sec- tions of the building to function independently if required. This would enhance the build- ings ability to provide for flexibility. The exhibition space on second floor shoud be on the first floor. The public level of the mediatheque on first floor will provide more patronage to the exhibition spaces. The shapes that have been created by the movement diagram need to be used to their full potential. The perforation through the northern facade is not functioning as intended and creates a weak security and access control point. The design should take the principle of flexibility further such as enabling the media- theque spaces to function when a mediatheque is no longer required. Services, such as Fire and service ducts need to be addressed. ARCHITECTURAL RESPONSE 14 YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE SITE PLAN scale 1: 500 102 DESIGN DR A WING S SITE PLAN DESIGN The Yeoville Cultural Centre provides an active street edge onto Raleigh Street that engages with pedestrians. The building design maximizes the green landscaped areas of the park while the building form creates enclosed social and rec- reational spaces in the square. The building is accessible directly from Raleigh street as well as from the square. The entrance to the centre reaches out into the street and provides an intimate scale on the busy street edge. The building provides a public scale while intimate spaces are created that would al- low new arrivals to Johannesburg to feel comfort- able in using these facilities. The Yeoville Cultural Centre provides spaces and programmes that will facilitate the transition of migrants and immigrants into Johannesburg and Yeoville - spaces from which they can begin to negotiate the city and begin to rediscover, assert and re-imagine their identities. The building forms create linkage spaces that will encourage formal and informal interaction from organised events and functions to spontaneous everyday activities. The Yeoville Cultural Centre serves all people of different cultures and languages by creating spac- es that allow different people to interact. This is achieved by the following: ? Different interests in everyday life are brought together. ? The building and programmes play a role in the gaining of knowledge which will lead to barriers being overcome, such as accessibility, gender, age, culture and language. ? The gaining of knowledge leads to empower ment and has a positive impact on the welfare of the individual and the community. ? Different public interests are brought together and the nodal role that the building plays allows these interests to develop The Yeoville Cultural Centre will enable the Yeoville park to function as a hub of recreation, social, educational and institutional facilities with the Yeoville Cultural Centre as a node. The nodal structure that is proposed will maxi- mize the networking potentials. The Yeoville Cultural Centre?s nodal structure will enhance activities. The centre will become a node within the Johannesburg Library, universities in South Africa and institution networks, with infinite pos- sibilities of links with other organisations. 103 DESIGN DEVELOPMEN T 104 DESIGN DR A WING S GROUND FLOOR DESIGN The entrance to the information centre is brought as close as possible to the pavement to maximise the interaction with the street and engage with pedestrians. The information cen- tre is located directly from the lobby and made as accessible as possible. The touch screens and community notice board are situated in the public lobby for maximum exposure. The offices of the community forums are di- rectly accessible on ground floor from both the square and the street. The public ablution facilities are relocated with- in the building with access from the lobby. This allows more surveillance over the facilities. The exist changes in level provide differentiations between the pavement and the shaded gather- ing space outside the shops. This creates spa- tial variety and a change from the public street level to a more intimate space. Transitional elements such as the laminat- ed timber pergolas draw people up the level changes and provide a human scale to the fa- cade as well as protection from the elements. The shops and food kiosks aim to attract a di- verse range of user groups. The food kiosks open out onto the square and activate the square?s northern edge. The lami- nated timber pergolas provide shelter, transi- tional elements as well as to demarcate the seating area. The corner of the building provides an oppor- tunity for permeability into the internal square. The creche is situated on ground floor so that the children have direct access to the existing playground in the park as well as enabling the classrooms to open out onto an external land- scaped space. The multi-functional hall lobby opens out onto the square. This allows events or activities to spill out into the square. The hall allows for so- cial functions & celebrations as well as sporting events. The south edge of the hall opens out onto an events space that would be used for stage events such as concerts, Aids Aware- ness Day Campaigns, Yeoville heritage day etc. The rear projection screen enable sporting events and movies to be viewed from the park without the equipment being accessible and vulnerable to the public. The meeting rooms along the eastern edge of the hall have moveable walls that slide open to create rooms that vary in size to accomo- date from intimate business meetings to large church groups. The public phones are relocated to the east edge of the square. This position provides nat- ural passive surveillance against vandalism. YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE GROUND FLOOR SITE PLAN scale 1: 500 105 DESIGN DR A WING S 106 DESIGN DR A WING S FIRST FLOOR DESIGN The Yeoville Cultural Mediatheque is situated on the first floor. This facility offers computer rooms which allows access to the internet, uni- versity websites and the Johannesburg Library. Lecture rooms,, homework areas as well as audio/visual facilities are all open to public use and will be used on a daily basis as well as for booked events. To maximize flexibility the Mediatheque is equiped with access flooring as well as drywall- ing forming the partitions. The access flooring allows the electronic equipment to be moved or changed based on the users requirements as well as easy access to the wiring of the equip- ment. This allows the spaces to be adapted according to the users needs. The internal walls are dry- walling or 50mmx150mm Aluminium and glass infills, allowing for maximum natural lighting to filter through the spaces. Raleigh Road is overlooked by balconies. These provide a social space that along with the sun shading provides a buffer zone between Raleigh Road and the building. The balconies also provide natural passive surveillance of the street below. The large aluminium and glass infill panels with sliding windows that look onto the square again add to the quality of natural surveillance as well as allowing the users of the Yeoville Cultural Centre to make full use of natural ventilation. The lobby on each floor is situated such that each element of the building can function inde- pendantly if in the future this need arises. This adds to the flexibility and sustainability of uses within the building. The ablutions on each floor are accessible from the lobby and are therefore convenient for use by all users of the building. The exhibition space is multifunctional with moveable space dividers for maximum flexibil- ity. The open floor plan was adapted to suit the brief of the mediatheque and encourage the use of the space by all. The offices of the creche are situated on the first floor. These contain teachers ablutions, a common room, meeting room, store room and offices. YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE FIRST FLOOR SITE PLAN scale 1: 500 107 DESIGN DR A WING S 108 DESIGN DR A WING S SECOND FLOOR DESIGN The skills centre on second floor contains lec- ture, homework, discussion, audio/visual and conference rooms. The lecture rooms provide for language lessons. Programmes such as compter skills will overlap with the facilities of the mediatheque so as to share faclities and running costs which creates viable space usage. The offices are proposed to be rented by a gov- ernment department such as social services, which is successfully implemented at the Zolani Multi-purpose centre ( refer to chapter 5). The department will partially fund the project in exchange for office space. The offices being situated within a community building such as the Yeoville Cultural Centre will provide much need- ed access to the community and may lead to be- coming well established within the community. The roof top vegetable garden is situated on the second floor so as to provide sufficient se- curity. The gardens are directly accessible from the lift lobby. The gardens contain sorting areas as well as individual garden lockers for storage of gardening tools. The green roof system used (refer to green roof details) allows the garden to be easily removed for further building additions if required. The roof top cafe is located on the west wing of the second floor. The cafe will be used by the students, employees as well as the general pub- lic. Recreational facilities are considered very valu- able within the scope of this project. They stimu- late the everyday rituals and activities that are important to the functioning of a community. The daily rituals that consist of eating, working, playing, exercising and socialising provide ac- tivities in which people from different cultures can interact. It is also through these activities that an individual or group can express their individual or collective identity. The concrete roof structure of the hall is suit- able to harvest rain water. The water runoff will be directed via a duct to two 5000L tanks on the roof of the changerooms. YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE SECOND FLOOR SITE PLAN scale 1: 500 109 DESIGN DR A WING S 110 DESIGN DR A WING S ELEVATIONS NORTH ELEVATION The balconies on the north facade provide tran- sitional elements that allow the various floors to interact with the street below and provide an active street edge. The well established Plain trees will contribute to the identity of the build- ing as well as providing further protection on the north facade and direct shading on the ground for the shop frontage. The northern facade acts as an active edge to Raleigh Street. A louvre system protects the bal- conies overlooking Raleigh road as well as the large portion of glass infill panels. EAST ELEVATION The vertical green wall cladding system further entrenches the Yeoville Cultural Centres green identity. The protuding glass boxes enliven the facade and interact with the green park in terms of visual connections and passive surveillance. The information centre entrance overhang is cre- ated by the concrete box protruding from the first floor mediatheque. This creates the spatial qual- ity similar to the overhangs of the pavements that is a dominant quality of the streets of Yeoville. This provides for protection from the elements and a human scale to the building entrance. The multi- functional halls east facade is cladded with louvres that allow large span aluminium and glass infill panels while providing security. These louvres reduce the glare and maximize natural lighting into the hall. SOUTH ELEVATION The south facade allows for large span glass facades of the creche from which the children have direct access to the park. The large walls of the multi-functional hall pro- vide space for commercial and community graffiti walls. The large span industrial doors slide open into cavity walls enabling the rear projection screen to be viewed from the park. Movies and sport- ing events will be viewed from the park. WEST ELEVATION Steel framed corten steel vertical louvres are provided on the west facade which allows the creche and lecture rooms to function comfort- ably in the afternoons. SECTIONS The sections highlight the active edges be- tween the street and the building facade as well as between the square and the building. The sections demonstrate the spatial quality that the building scale provides for the square. The open air square allows for natural lighting and ventilation within the building. The width of the building is demonstrated in the sections. The width of the building and the clerestory lighting allows for maximum natural light penetration. NORTH ELEVATION Scale 1:500 EAST ELEVATION Scale 1:500 SOUTH ELEVATION Scale 1:500 WEST ELEVATION Scale 1:500 111 DESIGN DR A WING S GROUND DOC 0 FIRST FLOOR 4420 SECOND FLOOR 8670 ROOF LEVEL 12410 SHOPFOOD KIOSK FFL 4670 MEDIATHEQUE SKILLS CENTRE COMPUTER ROOM LECTURE ROOM COVERED WALKWAY SHADED AREA SHADED AREA BALCONY BALCONY PAVEMENT RALEIGH ROAD SHOP PAVEMENT RESIDENTIAL RESIDENTIAL PUBLIC RETAIL GROUND DOC 0 FIRST FLOOR 4420 SECOND FLOOR 8670 ROOF LEVEL 12410 PAVEMENT CRECHE CLASSROOM LECTURE/ CONFERENCE/ HOMEWORK ROOM ROOF GARDEN PLAY AREA SQUARE FFL 4670 PAVEMENT BALCONY BALCONY BALCONY BALCONY HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL MEDIATHEQUE CRECHE SKILLS CENTRE FORTESQUE ROAD SECTION A-A Scale 1:500 SECTION B-B Scale 1:500 112 DESIGN DR A WING S GROUND DOC 0 FIRST FLOOR 4420 SECOND FLOOR 8670 ROOF LEVEL 12410 COMMUNITY VEGETABLE GARDEN VIDEO BOOTH YEOVILLE DEVELOPMENT FORUM AFRICA DIASPORA FORUM GREEN PARK SQUARE FFL 4670 FORUM OFFICES MEDIATHEQUE VEGETABLE GARDEN DISCUSSION AREA GROUND DOC 0 HALL MEZZANINE 3500 MEETING ROOM MEZZANINE MULTI-PURPOSE HALL CHANGE ROOMS CHANGE ROOMS HALL ROOF 10444 152x152mm x23mm H section s ec ured to conc r ete fundation with 150x8 flats , 2 M12 bolts 152x152mm x23mm H section s ec ur ed to floor slab with 150x8mm flats @900mm centr es , 2 M12 expans ion anc hor s 152x152mm x23mm H-sec tions s ecur ed to walls with 150x8mm flats , 2 M12 expans ion anchor s 38x38 ms sec tions on 120x80x3mm RHS fram e sec ured to H-sections 255m m thic k Re.Conc slab to engineer s details 350x1000mm Re.Conc beam s to engineers details 500x1000mm Re.Conc columns to engineers details 230mm Masonry wall plas ter ed and painted to spec Steel balus tr ade at min 1000mm high, to comply with NBR. Top hung sound ins ulating sliding wall to spec ialis t details 100mm thic k re. concr ete surface bed on dpm on compac ted fill to engineer s s pecs MULTI-PURPOSE HALL SECTION C-C Scale 1:500 SECTION D-D Scale 1:500 113 DESIGN DR A WING S SECTION A-A Scale 1:500 SECTION B-B Scale 1:500 114 DESIGN DR A WING S FIRST FLOOR 4420 SECOND FLOOR 8670 ROOF LEVEL 12410 SHOP FOOD KIOSK MEDIATHEQUE SKILLS CENTRE SQUARE COMPUTER ROOM LECTURE ROOM BALCONY PUBLIC RETAIL GROUND DOC 0 FIRST FLOOR 4420 SECOND FLOOR 8670 OFFICES MEDIATHEQUE VEGETABLE SORTING AREA GREEN PARK DISCUSSION AREAHOMEWORK AREA VEGETABLE GARDEN OFFICES SECTION F-F SECTION G-G 115 DESIGN DR A WING S HALL MEZZANINE 3500 HALL ROOF 10444 EVENTS SPACE MEZZANINE LEVEL LOBBY MULTI-PURPOSE HALL TOY LIBRARY MEDIATHEQUE ROOF TOP CAFE PLAY AREA PAVEMENT SKILLS CENTREKITCHEN CRECHE 116 TECHNICA L DR A WING S TECHNICAL DRAWINGS WORKING DRAWINGS The technical drawings demonstrate the struc- tural design of the Yeoville Cultural Centre and how the design principles have been carried through to detail design. The ground floor plan demonstrates the col- umn grid as well as the construction methods employed in the building. The column grid was determined by the room sizes and movement patterns through the building. The structure consists of reinforced 255mm thick concrete slabs with 345mmx350mm in- ternal down stand beams and 230mmx425mm down stand beams on the edge. Masonry and aluminium and glass infill panels will be used. The service ducts are situated in the lobby and main core of the building. The service ducts are easily accessible for inspection. Ceiling voids are provided for piping, electrical serv- ices and insulation. The access flooring on the first floor of the Mediatheque allows for easy access, installation and inspection of electrical equipment and wiring. DETAILING The facade sections describe the level chang- es and transitional elements, such as the laminated timber pergolas and the aluminium louvres, that provide an intimate scale to the public building. The relationships between the spaces that the pavement, the shaded areas and the balconies create are highlighted in the facade sections. The vertical green wall enables the green iden- tity that is associated with Yeoville to be car- ried into the Yeoville Cultural Centre. The indig- enous vegetation is stitched onto the facade of the centre and contributes to root the building into the landscape. The roof top gardens also contribute to the no- tion of the building being figuratively and literal- ly rooted within the landscape. The green roof structure allows the soil to be removed from the roof with no permanent structures remain- ing. This enables the expansion of the building on the second floor if required in the future. The green roof system is easy to maintain and inspection chambers allow the fulbore outlets to be easily inspected and maintained. The green roof system had beneficial thermal insulation qualities as well as protecting the waterproof- ing of the slab from the elements. (www. Easigreen.com) The detailing is constructed from standard ele- ments which decreases the life cycle costs of the building. 117 TECHNICA L DR A WING S 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 D 6 5 F G H I J KE L M 27 28 25 24 26 15 Laminated timber per gola s ec ur ed to 700mm high c oncr ete ups tand to engineers spec 500 0 500 0 500 0 4985 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 PASSAGE WAY SHOP 1 SHOP 2 SHOP 3 SHOP 4 SHOP 5 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 Floor: Varnis hed Cemcrete, colour to ar chitects specs . Walls : Plaster ed and painted to spec . Ceiling: 600x600 ceiling tiles in suspended Donn T's. KIOSK 1 KIOSK 2 KIOSK 3 KIOSK 4 KIOSK 5 KIOSK 6 KIOSK 7 KIOSK 8 KIOSK 9 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 +100.00 Floor: Varnis hed Cemcrete, colour to architec ts spec s . Walls : Plaster ed and painted to spec . Ceiling: 600x600 ceiling tiles in suspended Donn T's. Floor : Varnis hed Cemcrete, colour to architec ts spec s . Walls : Plaster ed and painted to spec . Ceiling: 600x600 ceiling tiles in suspended Donn T's. RESTAURANT +100.00 STORE KITCHEN +100.00 Floor: Tiles to spec Walls: Plaster ed and painted to spec . Ceiling: 600x600 ceiling tiles in suspended Donn T's. Floor : Concrete pav ers to spec Ceiling: Nutec ceiling boards skimm ed and painted to spec WALKWAY +015.00 SERVICE LIFT LIFT DUCT DUCT LADIES +100.00 MENS +100.00 FIRE CUPBOARD STORE LOBBY +100.00 Floor: Varnis hed Cemcrete with paving detail, colour to arc hitects spec s . Walls : Plaster ed and painted to spec . Ceiling: 600x600 ceiling tiles in suspended Donn T's. Expansion Joint Line of beam overhead Line of beam overhead COVERED WALKWAY +100.00 Floor: Varnis hed Cemcrete, colour to architec ts spec s . Walls : Plaster ed and painted to spec . Floor : Concrete paver s to spec to fall to fulbore outlets D1D4 D4 D3 D3 D3 D2 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 235 2 D1 2 D1 D2 D3 4828 4885 4885 4885 4828 85mm Thres hold 85mm Thres hold 150 0 2490 2382 2382 2389 2389 2385 25102385 47 10 47 10 47 10 47 10 47 10 2344 3669 510 0 510 0 510 0 510 0 510 0 510 0 510 0 510 0 510 0 306 3 Line of cem cr ete finis h 150x50mm alum inium fram e with double door s to s pec ialis t detail. Glass to com ply with NBR. 350x350mm re. conc r ete c olum ns and re. conc r ete s lab with bric k infill panels to engineer s spec s am inated timber per gola s ec ur ed to m m high c oncr ete ups tand to engineers spec 150x50mm aluminium fr ame with double door s to s pec ialis t detail. Glass to com ply with NBR. 1236 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112131415 16 1 1 D2 2 D3 2 D3 5 D3 4 D3 3 3 1 2 6 7 8 STAIRS: 24 Risers @190mm 23 Treads @ 250mm Balus trading @m in 1000mm high to comply with NBR. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 D1 8 9 10 11 1213141516171819202122 landing 1200 12 00 50x150m Alum inium fram e to s ec ialist detail. Glass to comply with NBR. 150x150m steel c orner mullion 1123 70 0 900 500 0 9583 504 8 17 55 1605 10 0mm diam P VC waste pipe to fall min 1:6 0 to main connection 6887 4708 50x150mm Alum inium frame with top hung folding door s to spec ialis t detail. Glass to com ply with NBR. Existing paver s to rem ain Existing tree and r etaining wall to remain Existing tree and r etaining wall to remain Existing tree and r etaining wall to remain. Existing tree and retaining wall to rem ain Existing stair s to rem ain Existing stair s to rem ain Existing stair s to rem ain 20 63 366 8 WALKWAY +015.00 PAVEMENT -500.00 Laminated timber per gola s ec ur ed to 1000mm high c oncr ete upstand to engineer s spec Laminated timber per gola s ec ur ed to 1000mm high c oncr ete upstand to engineer s spec Laminated timber per gola s ec ur ed to 1000mm high c oncr ete upstand to engineer s spec 700mm high conc r ete s eat with lighting under to detail 1489 10 67 2880 66 5 7 2005 520 2010 530 2005 390 2005 559 2015 475 2028 560 2015 575 2005 371 2005 900 350 4275 350 4650 350 4650 350 4650 350 4650 350 4650 350 4650 350 4650 350 85mm Thres hold 85mm Thres hold Folding aluminium and glas s s hopfr ont to spec ialis t Folding aluminium and glas s s hopfr ont to spec ialis t YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE GROUND FLOOR PLAN scale 1: 200 28 SHOP See facade detail A COMPUTER ROOM LECTURE ROOM Existing co ncrete pave rs on compacte d fill to engine ers specs85mm threshold Laminated beam pergola tied to column with metal brace to engineers specs 255 41 65 255 348 5 255 3995 62 5 529 44 5 3500 318 6 300 0 37 40 82 4 342 6 946 230 1948 1115 T.O.C + 12510.00 T.O.C + 8770.00 FFL + 4770.00 T.O.C + 4520.00 T.O.C + 100.00 17 0 17 0 85mm threshold 85mm threshold YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE FACADE SECTION A-A scale 1: 100 118 TECHNICA L DR A WING S Aluminium louvres to specialist detail 255mm Re. Concrete Slab and 230mm x 425mm downstand re.beam to engineers specs 50mx150mm Aluminium frame to specialis t detail. Safety Glass to comply with NBR. Tiles to spec on screed and dpm to fall min 1:40 on 170mm thick concrete slab to Eng's detail 1000mm high balustrade with balusters @ max 100ccs and handrail to detail. 50mx150mm Aluminium frame to specialis t detail. Safety Glass to comply with NBR. 255mm Re. Concrete Slab and 230mm x 425mm downstand re.beam to engineers specs 255mm Re. Concrete roof Slab and 230mm x 425mm downstand re.beam to engineers specs roof drains to fulbore outlets Tiles to spec on screed and dpm to fall min 1:40 on 170mm thick concrete slab to Eng's detail 600x600mm panels Solid feel acces s flooring with carpet tiles to spec COMPUTER ROOM LECTURE ROOM YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE FACADE DETAIL A-A scale 1: 50 119 TECHNICA L DR A WING S Existing 255mm thic k slab 230mm external brick parapet wall with 12mm plaster and painted to architects spec 230mm external brick wall infill with 12mm plaster and painted to architects spec 255mm thick re conc roof slab and 230mmx425mm downstand re.beam to engineers specs. roof drains to fulbore outlet refer to green roof detail C Green wall cladding system refer to 1:5 green wall detail B Intensive Green roof refer to 1:5 green roof detail A 50mmx150mm Aluminium frame to specia list detail. Safety glass to comply with NBR 600x600mm Solid feel access flooring panels with carpet tiles to spec T.O.C + 8770.00 FFL + 4770.00 FFL + 4520.002 55 382 5 255 14 59 398 307 5 250 500 YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE FACADE SECTION C-C scale 1: 50 120 TECHNICA L DR A WING S 76x38x7 galvanised steel channel bolted to wall with M10 stainless steel chemical anchors @ 500 centres Soil substrate in "Easy Green Wall Panel" to min 300mm Galvanised steel gutter painted to spec to collect excess water and redistribute along panels Precast concrete wall coping 170mm Re. Conc. Slab to engineers specs with 15mm drip "Easy Green Panel" bolted to 75x5 folded galvanised m/s hooks with 2x M8 stainless steel bolts and hung on channel YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE GREEN WALL DETAIL A scale 1: 10 121 TECHNICA L DR A WING S 50x150mm Aluminium frame to specia list detail. Safety glass to comply with NBR. Soil substrate in "Easy Green Wall Panel" min 300mm 76x38x7 galvanised steel c hannel bolted to wall with M10 stainles s steel chem ical anchors @ 500 centres "Easy Green Panel" bolted to 75x5 folded galvanised m/s hooks with 2x M8 stainless st eel bolts and hung on channel Soil Substrate min 300mm for vegetables 140mm Fulbore outlet, PVC downpipe cast in column Geo-Membrane Root barrier Insulation with drainage channels 9mm Protection Board Waterproof mem brane on screed to fall min 1:40 on Re.Conc. Slab to engineers specs Metal INSPECTION CHAMBER Sceed to fall min 1:60 to fulbore YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE GREEN ROOF WALL DETAIL B scale 1: 10 122 TECHNICA L DR A WING S Soil Substrate min 300mm for vegetables 140mm Fulbore outlet, PVC downpipe cast in column Geo-Membrane Root barrier Insulation with drainage channels 9mm Protection Board Waterproof mem brane on screed to fall min 1:40 on Re.Conc. Slab to engineers specs Metal INSPECTION CHAMBER Sceed to fall min 1:60 to fulbore YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE GREEN ROOF DETAIL C scale 1: 5 123 TECHNICA L DR A WING S Waterproof membrane on screed laid to fall min 1:40 on Re.Conc Slab to engineers specs. 9mm Protection Board to engineers specs Geo-Membrane root barrier to min 100mm high Brick pavers on sand fill on Easy Green panel Precast concrete interlocking wall copings Precast concrete wall coping 13mm Insulation with drainage channels Min 300mm soil substrate for vegetables YEOVILLE CULTURAL CENTRE GREEN ROOF DETAIL D scale 1: 5 124 TECHNICA L DR A WING S 125 REFERENCES15 PUBLISHED: Alexander,C.(1977). A Pattern Language: towns, buidings, construction. New York: Oxford University press. Alexander, C.(1968). A pattern Language which generates multi-service cent- ers. S/I: Center for Environmental Structure. Bentley, I and Butina, W. (2007). Identity by Design. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd. Borden, I. and Ruedi, K. (2000). 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