Me[a]ting the beef bar : a butchery, meat market and informal restaurant as catalyst for socio-economic opportunity and permanence

Abstract

This dissertation will investigate Marabastad's resilience and how its loose urban fabric and informality has enabled it to survive despite the continuous strain placed on it by physical, social, economic and cultural change. Its autocratic domination by transport and retail networks has resulted in its transitory nature. Marabastad's connection between Tshwane city and its surrounding informal settlements has been the reason for its existence and success as a transport node and retail hub. The increased growth and establishment of informal settlements has resulted in the development of mini economic, social and cultural nodes on the outskirts of the city and this decrease in economic reliance on Marabastad as a transport node has placed strain on its economic viability. The dissertation will investigate how architecture can be used as a tool in generating catalysts within Marabastad -reducing its transitory nature and encouraging its permanence. Through the spatial and functional observation and investigation of existing networks and the potential of these, architecture can provide variety and permanence within Marabastad, strengthening its urban fabric and enabling it to sustain itself and be resilient in the future. Marabastad, rather than being a place of temporality, should be a destination and an anchor point, ensuring its relevance and necessity by identifying and activating new opportunities and in doing so strengthening existing networks. Independent from that of the CBD and the surrounding informal settlements