Project 02: APRIL 2014
NETWORKS|CONNECTIONS
EVERYDAY MOBILITY HUB
INTRODUCTION
As an extension of project 01 [topography|topology] “Johannesburg now can be read as a resultant
palimpsest of early forces of formation and development - traces of a city...” this brief looks at resultant
leftovers and disconnections (disconnected-ness) evident in the city, at an
urban scale. The process of investigation should take on a more physical
understanding, of the consequential urban fabric of Johannesburg, by exploring
notions of engaging with particularities of city-ness, the somewhat separated
and fragmented user experience of the everyday. Although this brief will call
for first-hand and empirical understandings (mappings), students must maintain
a concept-focussed direction toward contemporary, contextual and relevant
responses within a specific context.
In her text “Post-apartheid urban geography: a case
study of Greater Johannesburg’s Rapid Land Development Programme” Lindsay
Bremner quotes: “ ‘The African Renaissance is a
life to be lived in which emergent forms of successful social practice are
recognised and helped along through innovative, purposeful and relevant means
that are political, economic, scientific, artistic and professional’ (Ndebele,
1998: 58).”
Bremner expands on this - “The social-spatial geography of South African cities is largely the
legacy of apartheid. which will probably remain with us for a long time to
come. While its characteristic forms - residential segregation, buffer zones
between races, peripheralisation of the black population and long distances
between residence and workplace (Smith, 1992: 8) - Have to some extent been
blurred since 1994, this can be attributed more to market forces, the pressures
of rapid urbanisation and upward black mobility, than to design or
administrative intent. Few efforts of the newly elected government in the
country can be said to have set in place policies or practices which have chall
enged apartheid
geography or have come to terms with the changing social patterns of
post-apartheid South African cities.” (Bremner 1999)
enged apartheid
geography or have come to terms with the changing social patterns of
post-apartheid South African cities.” (Bremner 1999)
While contextually this citation sits freshly in the
wake of a new era of governance, there is a strong resonance with current
conditions of how many people experience multifarious parts of the city today
and everyday. In many instances the legibility and navigation of Johannesburg
is disrupted or cut-off by misaligned roadways, kinks in the grid and other
anomalies. Likewise there is evidence of disjunctive social conditions where
various people groups live and move disconnectedly in this fragmented physical,
social and political urban landscape.
Abdoumaliq Simone elucidates this sentiment of African
cities with the following “Here what we may know conventionally as legality and
illegality, war and peace, the corporeal and the spiritual, the formal and the
informal, and movement and home are brought into a proximity that produces a
highly ambiguous sense of place…”. (For the City Yet to Come: Remaking Urban Life in Africa.
Simone 2003).
These references to urban life; officially hidden but actually well known, speed and ease of economic activity, multiple roles and stakeholders, cross cutting and subversion of governance are useful lenses to begin reading mapping and understanding complex physical and social arrangements in Johannesburg.
Simone continues - "To be able to make something out of being a city resident, for many [Africans] today, means you have to find ways to NOT consolidate, to not defend, to not have your secure little niche, which you hold onto. It means … taking the chances to move through the city, … to deal with walks of life that are unfamiliar to you, because within those kinds of unexpected or unanticipated chances, some new opportunity and possibility might ensue." (AbdouMaliq Simone at, Radio Netherlands Worldwide).
Toward this impression of urbanity (or more converse to…?) - strategies and governance - the City of Johannesburg (COJ) is underway with the implementation of significant urban strategies and interventions to “re-stitch” the dislocated fringe regions to the inner city and to each other. Mobility, equality, accessibility, public-ness, interaction, integration and economic nourishment are at the core of this endeavor. The draft report for the Louis Botha Avenue Development Corridor begins with this introduction: “Johannesburg is a city which is an amalgamation of complex layers that require multiple readings and interpretations. It is made up of diverse inhabitants with changing needs and who navigate the city both in both informal and formal patterns. These overlapping and entangled networks converge in critical places in the city, such as the Louis Botha Corridor. The broad approach to the project is premised on the understanding that the Louis Botha development corridor is a critical spine which collects, and connects, some of the most diverse uses and users of the city. The project team therefore recognizes, firstly, that there are important quantitative layers to the study area to be addressed in order to deliver a robust and sustainable framework.” [Louis Botha Avenue Development Corridor Strategic Area Framework (DRAFT 2 - 30/11/2013)]These references to urban life; officially hidden but actually well known, speed and ease of economic activity, multiple roles and stakeholders, cross cutting and subversion of governance are useful lenses to begin reading mapping and understanding complex physical and social arrangements in Johannesburg.
Simone continues - "To be able to make something out of being a city resident, for many [Africans] today, means you have to find ways to NOT consolidate, to not defend, to not have your secure little niche, which you hold onto. It means … taking the chances to move through the city, … to deal with walks of life that are unfamiliar to you, because within those kinds of unexpected or unanticipated chances, some new opportunity and possibility might ensue." (AbdouMaliq Simone at, Radio Netherlands Worldwide).
PROJECT BRIEFYour task is to design an interchange, an urban intersection-a public connector. A space/place that is grown out of the observation of people, ideas, routes, etc. Your scheme must interrogate the existing nature of this part of the city (as a fabric and landscape in flux), its context and the relationship to the city through various ‘connectors’ and ‘networks’ that will be uncovered through mapping and analysis. Through your analysis you must identify programmatic concerns to include in and influence the design. Among these you must include; a taxi stop/lay-by that deals with the current informal system, a link to surrounding infrastructure – institutions, schools, places of work, and other activity nodes, bicycle routes/lanes and pedestrian “places”. Your design need not be limited to the identified site however it must remain a connected system that unifies/relates/interconnects multiple modes, nodes and speeds particular to Johannesburg and specifically this micro context within.
The theme of Network|Connections being the 2nd
of this series of related project briefs forms the focus of this project. You
must however incorporate your expertise of approaching Topology|Topography from
the previous project when approaching all aspects of this brief – mapping,
analysis, concept, design and making. Your scheme should be seamlessly stitched
to the context, allowing for existing systems to develop and intertwine.
SITE
SITE
Studio ‘offices’ will be assigned a focus Local Area to serve as the specific locale for this project. Within each Local Area Sites will need to be independently identified through research, reading and mapping. A ‘site draw’ will happen in studio following the briefing session.
PROJECT SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
- Investigate
existing networks in and around the ‘spine’ through intensive architecturally
focused mapping.
- Document observations and distill data into visual
communication of findings.
- Through identifying and analyzing design generating
networks and systems begin conceptual design.
- Programme should develop into a complex arrangement of
interconnected systems from informal to formal generated
from focused mapping and process.Programatic
components could include:Cafe,
library, media centre, news stand, bike routes, pedestrian routes, drop offs,
points of gathering and rest.
- Design ‘connectors’ to the surrounds – movement,
cultural, infrastructural, civic and public.
- The design must engage with and respond to existing
networks of opportunity and aim to generate a space that ‘connects’ in terms of poetry, reality and
materiality.
DESIGN TOOLKIT
Layering
Inner city islands
Connectors
Informality
Density
Growth
Public amenity
Route
Identity
Hierarchy
Visual connection
Networks of opportunity
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
- Context mapping and analysis (hand drawings, photo-collage, video)
- Demonstration of observed
networks and connections (montage, line drawings, data)
- Precedents and extraction of
principles (poetic and applied)
- Process (intensive mapping,
drawings and models)
- Final rendered drawings and
presentation model:
Site
plan (city 1:5000, context 1:500, site 1:200)
Plans
of all levels 1:50/1:100
Elevations
(all @ 1:100)
Sections
(Through site demonstrating ‘connectors’ and complexity) minimum 2 of each
Models
1:200 working to final model
OUTCOMES- To develop an understanding of networks and connections at varying scales and focus; urban, cultural, infrastructural, spatial, human
- Introduce urban scale projects and begin to develop an
approach to urban design and architecture in the context of cities
- Initiate an engagement with a contemporary design methodology
and approach related to a URBAN context
- Introduce mixed programmes and integrated spatial arrangements
focusing on urban and architectural ‘connections’
- Develop an understanding of hierarchy within spatial
arrangement; public to private, personal to universal, public vs. civic
EVALUATION CRITERIA- Demonstration of analysis, process and communication
of design relevant data from the context
- Relationship of site, architecture, people and
infrastructure
- Implementation of architectural and urban connections
and networks and development of existing
- Hierarchies of experience/use – public, semi-public,
private, personal – Formal to informal
- Response to and interrogation of ‘boundaries’ and
edges
- Physical representation (models & drawings) of
site and building complexity
PROGRAMME
PRESCRIBED READING
LOUIS BOTHA AVENUE DEVELOPMENT CORRIDOR
STRATEGIC AREA FRAMEWORK (DRAFT 2 - 30/11/2013)
HANDOUT
STRATEGIC AREA FRAMEWORK (DRAFT 2 - 30/11/2013)
HANDOUT
RECOMMENDED READING
Bremner. Writing the City into Being: Essays on Johannesburg 1998-2008
Jimenez Lai. Citizens of No Place: An Architectural Graphic Novel. 2012
Bacon E. Design of Cities (1976) PenguinJacobs J. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House. 1993 [1961]
Kempf P. You Are The City (2009) Lars Muller Publishers
Hadid Z. Ubiquitous Urbanism, Total Architecture (1994) Columbia University
Simone A. For the City Yet to Come: Remaking Urban Life in Africa. (2003) Duke University Press
from Guy Trangoš
ReplyDeleteResearcher GCRO (Gauteng City-Region Observatory)
Comments towards development and upgrading:
Part 1:
In principle, high density development along a major public transport corridor is essential. Johannesburg cannot continue to expand outwards uncontrollably and unsustainably. High density living means that more people get better access to the likes of education and employment, and city investments into public transport, parks, social services and infrastructure benefit more people. It is however essential that development occurs in a respectful and responsive manner, enhancing neighbourhoods earmarked for change and in continued consultation with communities. It is also essential that affected communities realise the need for increased densities in Johannesburg and engage meaningfully and not stubbornly in the process.
Johannesburg has a clearly articulated long-term vision for the city that aims to promote development while uplifting the poor. The Corridors of Freedom project falls within this mandate. It is however essential that the city sticks to its plans and closely controls development ensuring the right mix of uses and densities. Development must remain oriented towards public transport - and the Rea Vaya specifically. Pedestrian infrastructure including sidewalks, parks and street-side shops are essential to a functioning high-density corridor and if implemented correctly would ensure the success of the development.
Part 2:
ReplyDeleteThe project, as I understand it, would be largely developer driven. Developers would be incentivised to build along the corridors within a framework set out by the city. Increase fuel prices and E-tolls will make living closer to Johannesburg's urban centres more desirable and as long as there is a residential and commercial demand in the older inner-suburbs developers will continue to invest. It is essential though that developers buy into and understand the importance of public, mixed-use and mixed-income corridors. Fighting the public nature of the corridor with tall walls, an oversupply of parking and the under provision of public squares and parks would be detrimental to the success of the corridors.
Cities are never static, they grow and evolve. The Corridors of Freedom project must support this flexibility, and allow for change to happen over time. Similarly the project must continue to provide a space for the city's socially and economically diverse residents in a variety of configurations that includes both rental and bonded housing. Cities like Berlin and New York provide us with a glimpse of the success of mixed-use higher-density living.
Part 3:
ReplyDeleteWhile Johannesburg aspires to be an African New York or London this cannot be at the cost of the city's strong informal economy and entrepreneurial spirit, as violent inner-city informal trade evictions have recently shown. The new Corridors of Freedom should resonate with and support all of Johannesburg's residents.
Anchoring hundreds of thousands of new households and billions of Rands of investment in the Corridors of Freedom offer a number of opportunities which include, social inclusivity, socio-economic mobility, low-carbon development, new forms of sustainable infrastructure, and new economic opportunities. The challenge is now to implement the corridors in the most effective, responsive and appropriate way possible. The focus should be on quality, getting things right - as opposed to racing to completion, and intense stakeholder engagement.
Architects and design professionals have a great role to play here by mediating between the city and communities, but also through demanding that the quality of our future urban environments is placed high on the development agenda. Architects have a responsibility to their clients and the public, and should ensure that the needs of private developers never trump those of the public. We all too often completely forget the leverage that architects and city officials have when negotiating with developers and should look at the multiple synergies between city and developer, harness these and create well funded urban environments that while creating enough stock for developers building a responsible, equal and democratic city.