Reflections on architecture

As you may have noticed it’s taken some time to post anything about the trip to South Africa. To the credit of the British Council and Creative Scotland - we squeezed so much into a very short timescale that it’s taken me a while to digest it all. If you missed what this is  about - see my last post.

So, to keep you from falling asleep I'll post lots of pictures and split into three sections, First up - Johannesburg.

1 / Intro

All I knew of Johannesburg was what I'd seen on Sky One’s, Extreme World and on arrival, you can understand where the reputation comes from. Clearly security is a big issue. However I was determined not to be influenced by preconceptions and quickly learnt that Johannesburg is the largest city in the world not situated by the sea, a lake or on a river. Moreover, it has only existed since the late 1800’s, largely it seems due to gold and diamonds.

(Internal Image of Ponte Tower provided by SoulProviders.co.za)

2/ Dokter & Misses

 

Our first visit was to the studio and showroom of Dokter & Misses at CO-OP in Braamfontein in central Johannesburg. They design and make furniture, lighting and other objects predominantly using steel and timber.

The set up is very impressive, with a contemporary gallery/shop on ground level and basement workshop underneath. The joiners & welders were happy to answer our questions and discuss their work and processes –surprisingly, almost all of their timber is imported.

 

3/ Gavin Rooke

(Image by Lottie Gerrard)

We then headed to the Maboneng District and lunch with Gavin Rooke – an inspiring entrepreneur with plenty of energy and a very enthusiastic, “just do it” attitude towards his work and Johannesburg. So to cut a very interesting long story short, here’s a summary of what he does:

(screenshot taken from www.visi.co.za)

With a background in advertising and photography, he’s also curator and owns the Rooke Gallery which formed a collaboration with the “experimental” magazine IJusi.

He recently designed and built a house for about £15k! which was part of  an experiment called Stand 47 in how to build sustainably under restrictive means (image above).

He is also involved in Dutchmann,which is an informal guild of master craftsmen collaborating with contemporary artists and designers.

Further discussion focussed on the differences between Johannesburg and Cape Town and whilst I’m not going into it any further it did remind me a little of our own Scottish city divide.

4/ Jonathan Liebmann

Next stop was a meeting with Jonathan Liebmann at Arts on Main in the Maboneng Precinct - the first of his 35 odd developments (predominantly live/work units) in the local area. It’s a bold and vibrant regeneration of a post-industrial factory space which houses; studios, galleries and creative offices for approximately 100 residents.

You can’t help but admire his ambition and achievements at such a young age. He firmly believes in the role that a creative community can play in transforming an area which reminded me of the area where our old office was in James Morrison Street, Glasgow. Incredibly, he’s managed to regenerate an entire district of Johannesburg with little, if any government funding. Already we’d seen another example of the determined attitude of young entrepreneurs in SA with interests spanning the design sector. Perhaps worryingly though he also has to employ his own police.

5/ Trinity Session

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We then met Marcus Neustetter, in his to studio in Maboneng and went on a tour to local townships. He’s a cultural artist who’s primarily interested how art can help local underprivileged communities.

Amongst other projects, he presented Hillbrow/Dakar/Hillbrow – a project which involved navigating Dakar using memory maps drawn by the local Senegalese community in Hillbrow. Amazingly, he was not welcomed in the area during the project and treated like a tourist even though he was born 5 minutes away.

(Image above by Lottie Gerrard)

We then visited a Muti market (shown above)  in Faraday where you could literally buy anything. The market is where you go for spiritual healing and had a cautious but generally friendly atmosphere. It was regenerated through a successful collaboration with artists (including Trinity Session), architects and other designers.

6/ David Krut

On the ground floor of Arts on Main, David Krut is a gallery and printworks located in Arts on Main (see above). There we met David who introduced us to a young local artist who’d escaped trouble through his art. David also works in New York but is committed to promoting young artists in Johannesburg.

7/ Parts & Labour

(Image courtesy of Parts & Labour)

Still in Arts on Main, Parts & Labour is a small scale 3D printers owned and run by Brendan Copestake. He develops the ideas of printers, architects and artists to make something tangible. The studio is still at an exploratory stage but had been involved in some very large public art in the city which plays on visual perception. It was encouraging to see yet another relatively small scale company doing big things.

8/ Museum Africa

Our next visit was to Museum Africa which began as a fruit and veg market. The tour guide explained, Johannesburg is a young city and missed the movement towards establishing the importance of museums. As a result there is a general lack of knowledge and education about the museum, characterised by the overpowering smell of bleach and lack of visitors – it was early though. This disinterest was further emphasised by the fact that the gable dome was removed from the building to make way for the motorway extension. The car in Johannesburg is definitely king!

The highlight was the camera obscura which only makes use of mirrors, lenses and natural light but projects a far clearer image than any digital output I’ve ever seen.

9/ 26’10 South Architects.

Our first visit an architect’s office was 26’10 South Architects. Formed by Anne Graupner & Thorsten Deckler and located in their home in Brixton, a historic suburb of Johannesburg.

(Internal image by 26’10 South Architects)

We were shown a vast array of very interesting projects, from football pitches made of beer-crates for the 2010 World Cup to the regeneration of entire communities,  most if not all had clear social agendas looked at to solving various problems in or around the townships.  As seen elsewhere, there was a keen interest in collaboration and willingness to share expertise and resources. What a great house/office it was too!

10/ The Smarteez & Chris Saunders

(Image by Lottie Gerrard)

Without doubt, the most animated group me met were the Smarteez - a DIY fashion collective who design and make their own “street couture”. Predictably this meeting was the most eventful and included a walk through the fashion district of the CBD. Let’s just say this was not for the faint-hearted. They were keen to show us how they worked and were very proud of their background in Soweto (a township of Johannesburg). They have an infectious passion for their work, are very serious about their beliefs, often staging gorilla events at fashion shows. They are unpredictable, edgy and reject the media and marketing which of course contributes to reason they are fashionable.

(Image by Dazed Digital)

Chris Saunders is a photographer and yet another creative with genuine optimism about design in SA. He’s been documenting the Smarteez for three years and is recognised as one of Johannesburg’s best.

Summary

As mentioned, the built environment is designed around the car and it’s the only city I’ve been to where as a tourist you can’t get a taxi. To me the system was unusual, with each only serving a specific township. This combined with the over-reliance on the car and the desire to live out with the city may have contributed to a lack of pedestrian amenity and interest in public space within the town centre.

Johannesburg is certainly complex however there is a strong sense of place and optimism about the future. Everyone we met was friendly, happy to talk about their work and took a keen interest in collaborating with us.

Their love of  their city and townships and all the cars and the fly-overs reminded me of my home city of Glasgow ...... only bigger and busier and more proud.

Next up - Cape Town