Zandspruit: maker culture Makerspace for 4IR skills in waste salvaging

Abstract

4IR has arrived in South Africa and our workforce is struggling to grapple with its opportunities due to our lack of skills. The technological world will increase the inequality gap and those that will suffer the most are within marginalised communities as they are currently still feeling the long-lasting aftermaths of the apartheid system. The aim of the project is to explore the potential of bridging the gap between the marginalised unemployed youth within the settlement of Zandspruit and the emerging world of 4IR digital technology through a makerspace that focuses on digital skills development and learning for the pursuit of sustainable social innovation. This research report investigates the Makerspace as an architectural response for alternative learning of 4IR skills and waste salvaging within a marginalised community, which is based on learning culture, as opposed to the privatised traditional post schooling education systems. The makerspace typology within an informal setting will be theoretical explored through the understanding of maker culture and context-based learning. The intent of the research report is to design an architectural intervention based on interactive creative process which will entail the keys stages of understanding and analysis of the context and its built environment and the skills and knowledge of the community and youth based on salvaged materials. The key issue is understanding how the makerspace typology can enhance the existing context-based learning with access to digital technology in creating sustainable learning and skills for sustainable work. The author utilises the Zandspruit settlement due to its characteristics of creativity, inquisitiveness and adaptability of its people, which is evident within the autonomous built environment (commonly referred to as shacks).The makerspace is proposed within this thesis to democratise the access to knowledge and information through an alternative learning in response to the existing contexts issues of education and spatial socio-economic disintegration. Knowledge, information and resources should not be a privatised commodity but should be available to all. The way we are learning needs to change within the 21st century as traditional schooling systems have failed us. The makerspace can provide an alternative access to 4IR skills and at the same time empower the youth and its community through sustainable social innovation, networking and entrepreneurship