Reviving the Capitol, contemporary cultural production in left-over spaces

Abstract

The city of Pretoria can be likened to a blanket stretched thin, where previously urban programs shift to the expanding periphery leaving gaps in the city fabric. It is essential to investigate ways in which these urban “left overs” can be re-imagined within the contemporary context. This complex urban condition is investigated with the focus on conservation of abandoned buildings of heritage significance. In South Africa, state funding cannot be relied upon for conservation of individual buildings. Thus the conservation of leftover and abandoned heritage buildings should happen not through singular museum projects but through the everyday usefulness of the building. The role of art and the artist has long been linked to the reuse of buildings which have become difficult to inhabit in conventional ways. Thus the introduction of cultural programs to derelict heritage sites and “left over” spaces is pertinent to their reuse. One such site is the Capitol theatre in the Pretoria CBD. It is undoubtedly a place of cultural richness and expression, having been a place of daily gathering as well as formal entertainment throughout its history. It is a natural point in which to reintroduce culture into an extended public realm at the heart of the city. Originally a space of introverted and exclusive cultural expression, curated cultural artifacts (films and occasional shows) were displayed to a limited audience in a highly internalised experience. However, it is proposed that this condition be inverted through external display of the processes of cultural production on the exterior of the theatre. The intention is to broaden the sphere of cultural influence into the public realm of the city and simultaneously invite the existing communities to engage with the building. Thus the focus shifts from internal event space to external production space which becomes part of the public everyday experience. Reviving the Capitol The Capitol Theatre complex was never completed and no exterior facade was ever design for the auditorium. This creates the opportunity for a new inhabitable facade to be designed which fulfills the role of both a supportive and expressive element. The new element incorporates spaces where people and processes of cultural production are expressed externally while curated cultural artifacts and events remain housed in the auditorium. Ultimately the concept is one of support. The physical support of a failing structure being the starting point which necessitates an intervention; the functional support which allows the building to become useful again in a contemporary context with new cultural meaning; and the social support of the everyday rituals which make up the daily cultural experiences through the extension of the sphere of cultural influence of the Capitol Theatre.