This study forms part of the discourse that critiques the current state
of colonial museums in a post-colonial, post-apartheid city. The project
focuses on a proposed urban vision for the precinct of Joubert Park in
Johannesburg and responds to themes of memory, identity, reflection,
art and public space.
In the process, strategies are investigated to enhance identity in the
area using the Johannesburg Art Gallery as a starting point. The gallery
is integrated into the public realm, making it more accessible and
transparent to its context by introducing pavilions and art installations to
the park. These pavilions perform a variety of functions with the main
design taking the form of a photographic urban archive. The pavilion
archives the city and the people of the park by harnessing one of the
current skill sets of the park photographers who are present on site.
The project takes the form of a working camera using the principals of
pinhole and wet plate photography to tangibly capture and display the
happenings and changes of the site and the people who frequent it, over
time. Once the pavilion has archived the desired changes in the city it
will be dismantled and relocated to a new site to begin its life cycle once
more. The movability of the structure acts as a critique on the static
nature of buildings situated in cities that are always in flux.
By introducing an architecture that allows and facilitates public
activity while using people as the subjects for the creation of art by
documenting a changing city, the scheme hopes to enhance the public
realm by encouraging a collective identity to form.
Hierdie werkstuk is gebaseer op deurlopende gesprekke wat kritiek lewer
oor die huidige stand waarin koloniale museums (na die Apartheid era)
hulself bevind. Die intrinsieke waarde van hierdie museums het oor tyd
verlore gegaan.
Die projek het ten doel om op hierdie verwaarlosing te fokus en
terselfdertyd die publieke omgewing met betrekking tot identiteit, kuns
en sosiale aktiwiteite, op te hef.
Voorstelle word gedoen om die vervalle Joubert Park in Johannesburg
op te gradeer in n buurt waarop inwonders trots kan wees en sosiaal kan
verkeer, terwyl die geskiedkundige verlede terselfdertyd bewaar word.
Die Johannesburg Kunsgallery is geidentifiseer as die belangrike spilpunt
vir hierdie projek. Hierdie Gallery is sentraal gelee wat dit maklik
toeganklik maak vir die publiek. Die oogmerk is om n verskeidenheid
kunswerke te installeer asook kamera/beeld-strukture. Hierdie kamerabeelde
kan dien as n stedelike fotografiese vertoning van die stad en
sy mense. Veranderinge in die stad oor n tydsvlak kan vervolgens so
geargiveer word.
Die projek se eind doel is om met argitektoniese toepassings, die ou
verlede, die hede, en die mense en sy sosiale omgewing, tot voordeel van
almal, te integreer. Die sukses van die projek sal bepaal word deur die
kollektiewe indentitiet en sosiale integrasie wat bereik gaan word.