Alrode train terminal: mobilising the invalid landscape
Date
2016
Authors
Grobbelaar, Jessica
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Abstract
In this dissertation I explore the notion of how space
relates to human and place identity within the context
of the buffer zones established under Apartheid. By
exploring spaces remaining as political remnants
the concept of the invalid landscape is investigated.
Twenty-one years after the ! rst free elections these
invalid landscapes still exist in South African cities, as
open wounds on the democratic landscape. Historically
divided communities remain residentially segregated
facing each other uneasily across these buffer zones.
This dissertation is a collage of theoretical and
experimental discursions and case studies relating to
identity, borders, and architecture.
South Africa continues to grapple with myriad urgent
practical problems while at the same time trying to
de! ne a new national identity. Despite the gains of
democracy, our nation is still faced with signi! cant
challenges of which limited access to public transport
remains a pressing urban issue. This thesis attempts
to revalidate the spatial divide that continues to cleave
the landscape of Alberton and Thokoza by proposing a
train terminal that is in line with the vision of the National
Development Plan of 2030.
The project is focused on the translation and articulation
of the landscape through an architectural language
that is posited as an urban cicatrisation. By situating
the proposed Alrode Train Terminal (ATT) within the
invalid landscape, a bridge and operating connection
between these two polarized communities is offered. An
exploration of the idea of identity and the effects of the
invalid landscape can take place while simultaneously
addressing a practical challenge for our rapidly
developing city.
Inspiration for the project derives from the unprompted
informal culture that has arisen within Johannesburg.
Here life plays out alongside passing traffic made up
of pedestrians, taxi ranks, streets,roadside activities
and commerce. A social network aggregated by
mobility where we see people starting anti-authoritarian
movements, reclaiming and re-appropriating public
space to meet their everyday needs. This de! ance
of authoritarian space-making lays the groundwork
for revalidating the invalid politically constructed
landscapes.
Traditional models of division are characterised by
the vertical plane. The architecture of the ATT aims to
collapse the vertical to put forward a new mediation of
the horizontal plane and its architectural possibilities.
The ATT acts as a bridge that affords its visitors
the opportunity to transcend physical and cultural
boundaries. By crossing between the polarized
communities, visitors may potentially experience
acculturation and in this way expand their identities
Description
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 2016
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Citation
Grobbelaar, Jessica (2016) Alrode train terminal: mobilising the invalid landscape, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, < http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/20576 >