Resisting Erasure: addressing hidden cemeteries and pristine grasslands through the significant reflection of Sizwe Tropical Diseases Hospital, Johannesburg

Abstract

The controversies surrounding the redevelopment of old cemeteries located on prime real-estate initiated the research of this paper. The project investigates the Rietfontein 61-ir (the vacant land adjacent to the Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital). The site analysis explored the following primary categories: medical, historical, ecological, and economic layers. These categories were selected as they consider various parameters of the site and inform a suitable architectural intervention. Additionally, the analysis assists in answering the research question: how can the relationship between development and conservation be reconsidered in order to address historical and ecological landscapes appropriately ? This exploration was conducted using the methods of research, analysis, speculation, and proposition. It is deduced that the site is of ecological and medical importance with a salient historical purpose. The graves found on the site belong to anonymous patients from the neighbouring Sizwe hospital who died from various diseases between 1895-1957. Additionally, the rare Bankenveld grasslands plays a key role in the overall biodiversity conservation of the site. Today, the site is at risk of erasure as there have been multiple propositions to demolish and redevelop the cemetery land. The paper emphasises the necessity of proposing an appropriate architectural intervention with the purpose of preserving the importance of this site. The intervention is a proposed low scale landscape project that offers remembrance to a forgotten landscape and revival of ecology. This is achieved through a detailed design scheme that is informed by the social understanding of the sensitive issues found on site. The goal is that the intervention addressed these issues as the theory, design parameters, and design resolution are seamlessly integrated.