House/Home: Dwelling in the New South Africa

HOUSE | DWELLING IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA For a country that endured decades of racial segregation, cultural freedom has a particular poignancy. Iain Low of the University of Cape Town takes his cultural barometer to the new South Africa to measure up the challenges of broadening ‘the new mix’ within a housing landscape that only 10 years ago was dictated by the politics of separation. 38 South Africa is experiencing its 'new moment' in architecture, one in which many cultural values are competing in the transformation of apartheid's legacy of homogeneity and inequity. The collapse of the artificial boundary that racially defined a society of 'two' cultures has made space for the flowering of a heterogeneous society. Ten years into the country’s democracy, this emerging tendency has begun to broaden the mix and extend the range of possibilities for dwelling in the 'new' South Africa. Not necessarily reliant upon evocative forms, this 'newness' is predicated predominantly by the economic necessities of survival. Architectural innovation is therefore more evident from the production of new living arrangements that attend to the contemporary needs of ordinary people that 'freedom' has presented.1 Prior to 1994, the divisions dictated by Afrikaner Nationalist government policy ensured a divided society characterised by radical extremes. One of the most effective extremes arising from such policy was that of separate development. Evident in the spatial and formal manifestation of different architectures for the country’s black and white people, it impacted on the nature of dwelling. Whereas the predominant aspiration of white people was the three-bedroomed suburban house, the black equivalent was the NE 51/9.2 The result of research by the state's National Building Research Institute (NBRI), the NE 51/9 was designed as an existenzminimum for members of the black population who qualified for residence in urban areas. | HOME Cohen&Judin, House Gibson, Parkview, Johannesburg, 2004 The new children’s (below) and parent’s (above) accommodation frames the rear court against the original dwelling to the left. House|Home The first decade of the post-apartheid era has been characterised by the struggle of the African National Congress (ANC)-led government to redress this apartheid heritage. The goal of delivering a million houses within its first five years of governance effected a quantitative approach to the problem of housing. A shift in macroeconomic policy realised the abandonment of the ANC's Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)3 in 1994 and minimalised the value of housing to a utilitarian investment. This reductive approach has effectively served to marginalise the production of difference that reflects South African society.4 Despite the change effected by the events of 1994, the settlement landscape of the past maintains and ensures separation between people of ethnic difference. Evidence of spatial dynamism is, however, an emerging phenomenon within the confines of these historically constructed categories. Architectural solutions consequently respond to the exigencies of the cultural conditions that inform the lived experiences of these (two) constituencies. Typically, whites have located themselves in suburban mansions or gated communities. Extending the boundary of the private realm beyond the individual unit, these developments reflect little desire to construct and interact with the public realm. Social interaction and respect for commons is all but absent. The complement to the gated community is the gated household. Fortified architect-designed homes present compelling edifices to a public that maintains elitist designer lifestyles. Notwithstanding this withdrawal to the security of privileged environments, the responses to black communities from government, NGOs and social-housing organisations, along with a few private initiatives from whites, is more complex and contextual. 39 Row-attached units form a street edge with a generous trading sidewalk at Mansel Road. Typical unit showing crosssectional response with dwelling units mediated by an interior courtyard. Typical plan configuration showing courtyards mediating the public/private spaces and the articulation of street frontage to afford formal and utilitarian resolution. Dwelling 40 Courtyard Shop Sidewalk They present a richer set of configurations informed by two primary influences that produce their difference: economic necessity and traditional practice. These forces are interrelated, essentially expressed by accommodating the extended family through the extension of an existing dwelling, to include a rental component or a new functional space to house a small business. Consequently, such changes necessarily play themselves out in a variety of formal configurations to effect very situated architectural responses. MANSEL ROAD, DURBAN Architects and planners: Harber, Masson and Associates Client: Durban City Council Design: 1993 Implementation: 1994 Rodney Harber and his architectural practice represent a singular force in the architectural profession where there exists a consistent attempt to engage the project of transformation through all dimensions of architectural production. This endeavour has been realised through persistence and a dedication to the social dimension of architecture that appropriates the exigencies of the everyday in a productive and imaginative way. The result has been an oeuvre of problematic projects that are diseased with the difficulty of operating in this manner. A response to pressure from the influx of chartered buses of rural shoppers who had begun to establish semipermanent sidewalk homes for their weekend shopping sprees, the Mansel Road project is rich in appropriate design solutions and innovative arrangements. These are evident in the cross-programming of a public bathhouse with a commercial shop, and the shopping/dwelling units with their interior courtyard to mediate the public and private life of the family. The project realises the opportunities inherent in urban problems, particularly in relation to empowering marginalised people and providing viable inner-city housing for poor families. By reusing wasteland, urban renewal has generated activity for both dwelling and trade. Despite its formal and design resolution, the benefits of a creative design process can be hijacked when the local authorities opt out of facilitating local/community management and delivery systems for these new structures. Though Mansel Road demonstrates the possibilities of recognising and redirecting urban conditions unique to African cities, it is evident that the process needs to be managed creatively. Though Mansel Road demonstrates the possibilities of recognising and redirecting urban conditions unique to African cities, it is evident that the process needs to be managed creatively. WELTEVREDE VALLEY LOW-INCOME HOUSING SCHEME, CAPE FLATS, CAPE TOWN Architect/client: Department of Housing, Provincial Administration of the Western Cape (PAWC) Design: 1999 Implementation: 2000 This small greenfields insertion in Weltevrede Valley on the Cape Flats represents a thoughtful and informed experiment in housing design. Diverting from standard planning regulations, it presents a dense living environment in which vehicle usage has been marginalised, to the benefit of its users. It relies on two complementary strategies that contest the traditional RDP approach: a reconfigured urban layout and multi-expandable core dwelling units. Keeping vehicles at the periphery provides for a pedestrian-friendly interior, an environment where children, the elderly, families and general users can find comfort in their everyday living. The individual dwellings are arranged in attached rows, and consist of duplex units that have the potential to expand both vertically and horizontally. The fixing of the interior front edge establishes intimate streets/walkways, with kitchens fronting onto public/play areas. The 'rear' expansion, in fact, suggests the potential for economic units that will eventually establish public street frontages. This small greenfields insertion in Weltevrede Valley on the Cape Flats represents a thoughtful and informed experiment in housing design. Diverting from standard planning regulations, it presents a dense living environment in which vehicle usage has been marginalised, to the benefit of its users. Urban neighbourhood configuration with parking at the street edge and pedestrian/play areas at the interior. Typical interior-street configuration with pedestrian-scaled unit access. Back-street elevation with first tentative rear extensions. Plan/section layouts Left: Ground-floor plan with public communal/living and service functions. Right: Section showing mezzanine sleeping deck and rear expansion wall. Ground-Floor plan Section A-A Scale 1:100 Scale 1:100 41 ELANGENI SOCIAL HOUSING, ALBERT STREET, JOHANNESBURG Plan and setting. Architect’s storyboard showing the scheme in the context of Johannesburg inner city. Architect: Savage + Dodd Architects Client: Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC) Design: 1998 Implementation: 2000 Though some 1.6 million houses have been delivered in 10 years, national government housing policy has still failed to deliver both the quantity and quality of housing that meets not only the expectations of its citizens, but, more importantly, the needs of an urbanising environment. Imagination here is not a strong point. Despite ambitious policy shifts, it seems that, although there have been momentary breakthroughs, the government lacks the capacity to engage with the speculative thinking that fuels the imagination necessary to produce new living arrangements commensurate with the transformed society. The Elangeni housing project is the result of a socialhousing initiative. It presents a workable example of the integration of living and working that complements the South African urban and social conditionalities. If space is to be transformed, then so, too, must be the (government) agencies that implement change. If the Afrikaner Nationalist government could establish a spatial research institute devoted to fulfilling its political vision, then a similar response is required postapartheid. Like the NE 51/9, Elangeni, in downtown Johannesburg, presents an alternative that is worthy of examination. It is a mixed-use, urban infill, medium-rise building that manages to achieve both diversity and densification. This in turn affords a number of real opportunities and choices that benefit occupants and the greater city alike. Interior parking court with interactive access stairs and balconies 42 Apartment layouts demonstrating various unit options. Live/work dwelling units at the outer edge forming an interface with the inner-city regeneration. HOUSE GIBSON, PARKVIEW, JOHANNESBURG Architects: Cohen&Judin Client: Angus Gibson, Fiona Rankin-Smith Design: 2003 Implementation: 2004 The adaptation of this suburban home in the leafy suburbs of Johannesburg contests the autonomy of the ‘freestanding pavilion at the centre of the site' configuration perpetuated by suburban homes all over the world. Through a considered and careful incorporation of additional accommodation, the site has been transformed into an interactive domain, somewhat reminiscent of a traditional African kraal (village/hut). This reconfiguration has established ground for the comfortable coexistence of five competing occupants of the home: the parents, the children, the domestic worker and her family, the home/work space and guest accommodation. The outdoor space between provides the glue and mediation between what might have been conflicting arrangements on such a relatively tight site. The reactivated site plan showing the grain of subcourtyard spaces that help to create a fieldwork of interconnection. Original dwelling with minor amendments and a new entry, guest house and accommodation insertion to the left. Reflective of emerging cultural practices, these few architectural expressions are not repudiations of the past, but, rather, attempts to contribute to change via careful and considered transformation of the reality that confronts South Africa. Ultimately, the task is to develop an architecture that values a located or critical heterogeneity and thereby comes to reflect the incredible diversity of the human creative. Considering the miraculous political change for which South Africa is renowned, there is an almost universal expectation that the country should be a leader when it comes to change, especially in the field of housing. However, while it has been reasonably easy to effect change through legislation and a new constitution, the spatial legacy of apartheid presents a greater challenge. This is a condition that is further weighed down by the gravity of radical global destabilisation as well as local cultural conservatism. The limited group of architectural practitioners contributing to the challenge of broadening the cultural landscape of housing includes fringe or counter-movements of creative individuals and collectives who are marginal to the mainstream. Pursuing strategies reliant on social thinking together with observations of cultural practice, they operate at the interstices of society. Relatively ignored by the mainstream and market, they may operate in academies, social-housing foundations or local government, as well as in private practice. Such creative thinking and making requires more support, knowledge, agility and a greater capacity to engage the contingent reality. Reflective of emerging cultural practices, these few architectural expressions are not repudiations of the past, but, rather, attempts to contribute to change via careful and considered transformation of the reality that confronts South Africa. Ultimately, the task is to develop an architecture that values a located or critical heterogeneity and thereby comes to reflect the incredible diversity of the human creative. In attending to housing, this seems to be firmly situated in an interpretation of the home as both a social and an economic entity that supports the complex dimensions of contemporary dwelling and transcends the simplicity of a pure investment. 4 Notes 1 DM Calderwood, Native Housing in South Africa, University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg), 1953. 2 I Low, ‘Space and transformation/10 years – 10 buildings’, Digest of South African Architecture, ‘Space and Transformation: 10 Years of Democracy’ issue, Picasso Headline (Cape Town), 2004/05. 3 African National Congress, The Reconstruction and Development Programme: A Policy Framework, Umanyano/ANC (Johannesburg), 1994. 4 JA Scott, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1998. 43