"To a land of priests and petrol-heads": the Jeppestown motor ministry

Abstract

The new motor-car has acquired systems that give it memory, intelligence and senses. Modern motorcars are taking on human attributes and have a religion and following all to themselves. In parallel, Jules Street, in Johannesburg’s original motor district is the place where the motor car goes to, post motor-plan. It is far departed from the glistening showrooms that are scattered over the rest of JHB- it is a place of vacant lots, workshops and passionate petrol-heads. Jules Street is however not a place of the past, the industry of this place is the future of every brand new car being built today. It is a place of necessary after-market vehicle service, although it is struggling to adapt to the evolving technology of the modern motorcar. Jules Street is also the home of a diverse, growing community. This new public has inspired the refurbishment of disused workshops into religious institutions, 11 on the Jules Street motor strip alone. These adapted places of worship provide an opportunity to view this fragile industry from a new perspective; that of a soul. The motor car, from a pristine assembly line to a filthy scrap-yard, has one continuing relationship, with people. This becomes the point of inquiry for this thesis, the life long relationship between cars and drivers, machines and people, industry and culture, beyond the assembly line and showrooms that it is often associated with. The people who design, build, drive, fix, recycle, pimp, admire and inspire cars over their lifespan are the basis for designing the architecture of the ever-enduring motorcar. The conflict between the hi-tech and low-tech, the sophisticated and the raw, define the challenges associated with automobility today, and the opportunities in investigating the auto-tecture that it requires.