School of Architecture and Planning (ETDs)

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    Communal Equity: Reimaging Educa4onal Infrastructure in Soweto
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Pillay, David Jonathan
    In defining the urban environments of modern-day South Africa, the remnant history of separate development has so deeply disrupted the equality between our communities that they remain a challenge today. While there are efforts towards seeking a balance between communities, identified in the City of Johannesburg’s nodal development schemes, the approach through which they are carried out may be exhibiting limiting results. Equal development can often be implemented by replicating rigid templates of the ideal infrastructure across communities. These infrastructure which perform essential functions neglect the opportunity to adapt and evolve to the context and history of the populations they serve. Within this research report, the City of Johannesburg’s development of Jabulani, Soweto, will be assessed and their need for improved facilities and access within primary schools will be highlighted and addressed through an architectural intervention which reimagines educational space around the principle of equity.
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    Healing from the Past, into the Future: Socio-Cultural & Health Remediation for a Holistic Wellness Facility in Riverlea Township (Extension)
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) McCulloch, Claude Martin; Jivan, Sundeep
    The Witwatersrand Mining Basin has been in existence since 1852, which is astonishingly more than a century old. It is the world’s largest gold and uranium basin and has created extraction from over 120 mines stretching from the East to the West of Johannesburg. It is an integral part and the backbone of Johannesburg’s economy. However, regardless of how much mining has boosted the economy, it has not played a sustainable role with the health of the citizens of Johannesburg. This is largely because of radioactive chemicals within the pyrite basin, holding 600 000 tons of uranium, amongst other chemicals as well (Liefferink, 2022). These radioactive chemicals are spread from the mining basin into the surrounding environment via windblown dust (Coetzee et al., 2008). Monitoring of these occurrences have shown that this dust is inhalable due to its structure and particle size, that being either PM 2,5 or PM 10. These happen at residential settings and have exceeded the levels of occupational health standards. A link is suggested from (Nkosi et al., 2015) between the respiratory issues amongst residents that live in communities next to mine tailings & waste facilities. These communities are exposed and have an increased prevalence of ‘chronic respiratory symptoms’ compared to other communities (Van Wyk, 2013). There are currently 585600 people living in communities next to mine tailings according to the 2011 census. (Kneen et al., 2015). The community I will be conducting my research will be in the Township of Riverlea, located in the South-West of Johannesburg. Riverlea is in close proximity to industrial areas and mine dumps. Research has shown that harmful pollutants can from these areas can have negative effects such on the respiratory system, as the particles are airbourne (Makene, 2007). Built in 1963 during Apartheid, ‘coloured’ residents were forcibly removed from other parts of the city and given new homes by the government. The township is conveniently located 500m away from the mine dumps, thus making it a high exposure zone to airborne dust pollution (Kneen et al., 2015). The respiratory diseases in Riverlea are caused from environmental problems. To relate this Architecturally, I research that social and cultural problems may be a symptom towards the residents being unhappy about their environment. This unhappiness and deals with the ‘Sense of Place’ for the resident’s and I believe, alters their social and cultural behaviour, hence many of these communities suffer from poverty, drugs, and crime (Najafi et al., 2011). This can be done using the design methods of Salutogenic design, which promotes healthy living and creates better places that can reduce stress, encourage physical activity, and afford opportunities for socializing, enhancing the general daily health and wellbeing of people (Cushing et al., 2020). I aim to design a holistic wellness facility that remediates the social, cultural and environmental problems which contests the current narrative of the context - that being poverty and respiratory disease.
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    Future Living: Exploring decarbonization in a mixed-use development for Waterfall Cit
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Tsang, Chun; Van Rensburg, Ariane Janse
    In this human-dominated ecosystem, the intensive use of fossil fuels is increasing carbon emis- sions. The environmental implications have emerged as a worldwide concern. Despite extensive research on the reduction of carbon emissions, this issue remains a persistent dilemma, with energy generation for transport and built environment sectors being the largest contributors. Cur- rent solutions, such as using batteries for energy storage, introduces additional sustainability problems. In built environment, sustainability is often overlooked in comfortable lifestyle develop- ments. This research explores alternative approaches through qualitative methods and proposes a mixed-use development at Waterfall City as a creative outcome. The study investigates the viability of integrating green hydrogen technology to create a comprehensive development that addresses living, working and transportation needs. Through this research, developers will be made aware of the implications of prioritising commercial gain and market appeals over a healthy environment. The outcome is to offer an innovative model that appeals to client and developers seeking forward thinking, sustainable solutions.
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    Gendered strategies and aspirations of black women inhabiting borderland spaces: a case study of Musina local municipality
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Muzanenhamo, Chido Anna Maria; Harrison, Philip
    This research focuses on how black femininity is constructed and embodied in an African borderland at the intersections of rural-urban and transnational interfaces. Conducted in Musina local municipality, this study posits that a double borderland identity – an identity formed through the spatial overlaps of transnational, rural, and urban existence – shapes how black women are caught in-between idealized conceptualizations of black femininity and the processes of dislocation and adaptation that accompany pressures of assimilating into a borderland society. Utilizing qualitative research methods, including a case study analysis, reflexive photography and journalling, and 43 semi-structured interviews, this study explored the concepts of intersectionality, liminality, and borderlands. The findings suggest that black femininity is an ideal constructed largely of three components: selfhood, wifehood, and motherhood. These ideas frequently mirror the perception that certain categories – like gender, geography, and nationality – are fixed and unrelated. However, the study shows that gender identity in the municipality is performatively intersectional, leading to diverse liminal experiences. Identities in an African borderland can be fluid, hybrid, invisible or visible depending on the context. This study provides a more nuanced understanding of identity formation in borderland spaces. The double borderland identity is particularly important because it subverts and transforms commonly perceived notions of black femininity, being the catalyst for the experiences and embodiment of intersectional identities, often leaving many women in a permanent state of in- betweenness.
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    Fetching fietas: Reclaiming memory through Urban Design
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Kalla, Zakeeya; Makhubu, Jabu Absalom
    This Project aims to bridge the gap between an urban context that acknowledges the past with a constantly evolving urban fabric through the lens of memory. The objectives are to understand Apartheid planning and its consequences in terms of forced removals and the impact thereof on the current urban fabric of Fietas Johannesburg. This project will also study the city of Johannesburg’s initiatives thus far and intended, for renewal and upgrading of Fietas to enable a strategy to assimilate the current and evolving urban landscape of Fietas with the memory of its past. The project will be focused on Fietas in Johannesburg, south Africa. The research will focus predominantly on site analysis and overall observations gained from site visits and secondary sources of information such as previous projects, frameworks from the city and existing data such as zoning and land uses etc. This information together with interviews with previous community members (5 interviews in total) will help guide the design development towards a framework that incorporates the past memory of Fietas with its current and con- stantly evolving urban fabric.
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    Ruins as Record: Reconstructing narratives on a former miners' compound in Germiston
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Morkos, Verena
    Post-apartheid South Africa contains within it the embedded and residual pain of an oppressive regime. Untold narratives are contained within its scarred landscape. Hidden amongst an overgrown landscape, dilapidated concrete and brick walls protrude, presencing forgotten narratives. Once a miners’ compound, owned by Simmer and Jack, these material fragments contain traces of the past. They are archives of erased memories and bodies. One walks amongst the grass-enshrouded ruins as an architect, archaeologist and archivist. Through the lens of architecture and archaeology, the ruins are not seen as static remnants of the past but as a means to understand the past lived experiences of the miners who inhabited the space. The absences among the ruins are a dynamic void within a spatiotemporal realm, bridging the past and the present. This liminal space allows the viewer to interpret the past in a continually evolving manner, allowing for the reconstruction of counter-narratives. The ruins tell a story of the everyday living conditions of thousands of miners on the Witwatersrand. The compound was a machine of oppression and control. In many ways, it acted as a panopticon; it made prisoners out of labourers. The compound barely had the bare necessities to keep the miners alive enough to work. They lacked basic amenities, freedom and were not given the chance to have a voice. Looking at the present-day context of the site, it is central to many industrial factories with blue-collar and precariat workers. They face various challenges in their everyday lives, such as commuting times, inadequate amenities and the need for representation. Their everyday lives are considered and are further explored in terms of ‘tactics’ and ‘strategy’ as written about by Michel De Certeau. Strategy is a system of control imposed on a group of people, and tactics are a way that the ‘everyman’ escapes the control in their daily lives. Looking at the past with the current context of the site raises the question: How can a site of control serve as a canvas for the reconstruction of forgotten memories and the inscription of present-day workers’ counter- narratives? This thesis looks at juxtaposing the site’s history by transforming it into a site that stimulates dialogue between the past’s traumas and the present-day workers’ counter-narratives. The architectural intervention gives control back to the worker, opposing the past conditions where workers were oppressed and controlled. The main programs include a workers’ centre and a counter-archive. This represents the narratives of the present-day worker and the forgotten narratives of the miners. It is an ever-growing archive of the past and the present. Additionally, there are exhibitions representing the everyday life of a mine worker; this leads to the representation of the modern day worker, which takes place amongst the ruins. This allows for the intertwining of new narratives with the old
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    Exploring regulatory systems of informal economic activity in a dense settlement: The case of Extension 2, Ivory Park, Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Nzimande, Thabisani
    Informal economic activities are a crucial component of most economies in the global south. They are easily accessible as a tool for poverty alleviation and to fight against unemployment, due to easy entry requirements and no extensive processes to start a business. Home-based enterprises in particular offer a unique ability to minimise overheads and save on costs such as traveling expenses for business owners as economic activity occurs in the residential area. The growing number of home-based enterprises in housing settlements has made it impossible for the government to ignore them and has necessitated the need for government to recognise and regulate them. This study explores the regulatory systems of home-based enterprises in Ivory Park, Extension 2 on 29th September Drive. Ivory Park is a housing settlement located in Region A in the City of Johannesburg. The area of focus is a stretch of a busy street located in between the main taxi rank in Extension 2, and Busy Corner Mall making this one of the busiest streets in the settlement. The area hosts a number of home-based enterprises located on the side-lines of 29th September Drive such as hair salons, spaza shops, clothing shops, fast-food outlets, internet cafes/ printing shops, furniture shops, and carpentry, plus a number of traditional medicine shops. The main objective of this study is to ascertain what are the systems which seek to regulate and facilitate home-based enterprises/ informal economic activity in this area. The findings were made after consultation with literature, documents about the study area, and interviews with business owners, homeowners, a community leader, and a municipal official. This study revealed that the formal regulations set by the City of Johannesburg are largely informed by land use and planning development objectives and are very rigorous to adhere to by most homeowners and business owners. This combined with a lack of knowledge of the regulations has resulted in low levels of compliance, with most business owners relying on informal regulatory systems to manage their operations and affairs. Furthermore, this research report makes recommendations that programmes should be created to educate business owners and homeowners on the regulations which apply to them, and to revise the current regulations which seek to protect the integrity of planning and development objectives without any consideration for practicality for, and the economic development of the informal sector
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    Groundwork: Exploring architecture-environment reciprocity in the Karoo
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) De Fine , Tammy Ohlson; Dörmann, Kirsten
    Groundwork locates architecture in the midst of the environmental crisis and calls on architects to intervene in ways that improve or enhance the condition of the natural world. This project is an architectural collaboration with nature in the Wolwekraal Nature Reserve in Prince Albert, South Africa. The design of a biodiversity research facility refers to existing but siloed theories and research to develop a cohesive approach for the insertion of buildings in sensitive environments. The research framework served as the launchpad for a qualitative analysis that incorporated social, historical, economic and ecological data, ground truthing and multispectral imagery. The building engaged a particular combination of materials, systems and construction methods that allow it to touch the ground lightly while still providing a state of the art, multi-functional research facility that responds to the needs of the multiple communities it is serving. The work challenges the buildings relationship to humans, plants and animals; and aspires to work in harmony with nature by eliciting cues from the environment that point to an architectural intervention the land can tolerate.
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    Envisioning Empowerment: Crafting a Realm of Learning for Visually Impaired Scholars in Mondeor
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Van Heerden , Stefan
    To address the critical need for more inclusive schools in South Africa, this project focussed on designing a school for visually impaired learner in Mondeor, Johannesburg. Currently, only three of these schools exist in Gauteng, which limits the opportunity for children with visual impairment to access quality inclusive education. My proposal aimed to change this, by making education accessible to the visually impaired . According to the White Paper 6 model, children between the ages of 7 and 15 need to be in school. This project placed the building where it would likely have maximum impact in terms of assisting the communities in the chosen area. The location of the school should not dictate who can attend. Anyone who is able to enroll will be able to do so, with preference being given to the visually impaired. The research and the building design aimed to create an inclusive building and to question what an architectural design for the visually impaired would entail. The research delved into experimentation and architectural precedents. The experimentation involved a sensory analysis, during which I spent time blindfolded to get a better sense of what it is like to be blind. The outcomes of these experiments informed the design of the school. The project examined various design precedents for these types of buildings and used the human body as an important design concept. I envisioned the classrooms as the centre points or nodes of the design, similar to the core of a human body, branching out, like limbs, into the different services that the building will offer. The building design aims to engage with the community by having a percentage of its site allocated to public space. This will hopefully ensure that the public can be involved in the inner workings of the school, creating a sense of place and belonging. The building presents opportunities for prototyping a circular economy, thereby enriching the residential context. These combined concepts and ideas strengthen the connections between the research and design development for a building of this nature. I can briefly conclude that the integrated research methods did assist in creating a design proposal that places itself into the context.