A void in networks, break in connections, closed-open space and unsafe terrain – an epicentre of paradoxes and opportunities. As topographically and topologically dynamic landscapes, landfills exist as a unique paradox of public space which is not easily accessible or visible to the public which created them.
The final resting place for most refuse/solid waste, landfills, have become underappreciated and often an overlooked form of public space. The contemporary perception of landfills, and refuse disposal, is that these landscapes should be concealed from public observation. This perception removes the link, and subsequent understanding, of where the waste that they create goes to ‘die’.
The four day intensive workshop with Prof. Astley was centred around healthcare and well-being. However, the principles involved in this were extracted and reinterpreted into out current projects, under their respective topics. Many principles came out of this workshop, with the most relevant to my work being:
Scenario Planning
Structure with apparent Chaos
Planning Networks
Integration of existing networks and services
Interim projects on site
Using art for ownership
Project definition
User paths
Stakeholders vs. Users
Soft Processes
Complexity Theory
Reflexivity Theory
De-centralisation
Urban Agriculture
User Paths
Factors of Change
Factor Timeline
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)
Pecha Kuch Presentation
(turn pages from any corner/click and use arrow keys)
From immersion in Jeppestown to the capacity analysis of a base building, various themes have formed part of my architectural process and progress, thus far. Networks, beginning with Transient versus Temporary, exploring how people use open, green, public space in conscious and subconscious manners. This translated into Transient Infrastructure, Network Infrastructure (Hard and Soft) and Networks (existing systems). Furthermore, how Stitching Networks through architecture can create place for spaces that are successful for both individuals and higher level orders. Open Building Stitching, examines where Transient/Temporary capacities (relative to the base building) are stitched into an existing building. This theme then cycles around to the first theme, and illustrates how every project builds on its predecessors.
From contexts rooted in Johannesburg, to the hypothetical, each site has presented its own challenges and opportunities. A night in Jeppestown instilled the value of immersion within a context, while a desktop study of Denver highlighted the information that can be gained from a more objective point-of-view. Context, forms an integral part of architectural study – a notion which has been carried through from my first project. While every brief has requirements, every context equally presents its own requirements, which work in conjunction with the themes in the research phase of every project. A particular context of interest, to myself, is Fordsburg. This is due several reasons, most significantly of which is the fine grain nature of the urban fabric which is juxtaposed by the large block of the Oriental Plaza.
Working with every brief, set of themes and context, one develops a response to, and through, this research. Initially responses were more research/exploration based, where I would question ‘Why?’, specifically related around the idea of ‘Transience’ and the related subconscious actions. The next step was a hypothetical/speculative response to infrastructure, wherein the notion of ‘Transience’, evolved into ‘Transient Infrastructure’, still questioning in terms of themes and context, but more related to an infrastructure that integrates into existing networks and temporal systems. This evolution continued into a more holistic analysis and engagement with networks, in several forms.
In response to the context, these networks begin to reveal opportunities for architecture, which is rooted in existing functioning systems.
The progression of projects, and respective outcomes, have encouraged a progression in the process of architecture, rather than the object of architecture. This process was founded on the immersive mapping and understanding of Jeppestown, where I implemented a simple intervention to challenge the ‘subconscious transient users’ of a park. It continued through the proposal of innovative neighbourhood transient infrastructure, then through the stitching of fine grain and large, block grain urban fabric, with response to existing networks - principally a local network of curtain manufacturers.
My semester, and process of architecture, is currently constructed of everything done thus far, inclusion of what was good and the exclusion of what was not - and I believe this leads to a process where the whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts.
Agency is the capacity of an agent - a person or entity - to act. This capacity does not imply a specific moral dimension to the ability to make the choice to act, therefore moral agency is a distinctly different concept. In sociology, an agent is an individual that engages with a social structure (Wilson and Sphall 2002). Looking at agency in infrastructure, within a neighbourhood scale context in Johannesburg, one could see the prevalent Trolley Pullers as infrastructural agents. These agents are also transient as traverse the context of the neighbourhood collecting recyclable goods. If they were provided with the necessary tools and incentive to collect the fallen leaves as they walk their daily routes, one would be integrating a new infrastructure into an existing one - thus increasing efficiency.
Infrastructure is the elementary physical and/or organisational system required for the functioning of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. It could be generically defined a system of interconnected elements that provide a framework for the support of a structure of development (O'Sullivan and Sheffrin, 2003:474).
Infrastructure is typically referred to as the technical structures which support a society, namely roads, bridges, tunnels, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, telecommunications, etc., and can be further defined as "the physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions" (Fulmer 2009:30).
From a practical perspective, infrastructure promotes the production of goods and services, all the way through to the distribution of complete products to markets. Rudimentary social services, such as schools and hospitals, also benefit from infrastructure.
'Hard' infrastructure refers to the physical networks necessary for societies/neighbourhoods to function, whereas 'soft' infrastructure refers to institutions which are required to maintain the economic, health, and cultural and social standards of a country, such as the financial system, the education system, the health care system, the system of government, and law enforcement, as well as emergency services.
