Portrait of a city : a narrative of discovery, creation and reflection

Abstract

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.