The creative conservatory : a community media & creative arts centre

Abstract

Johannesburg was built on the discovery and exploitation of gold, but the gold mines are depleted, and a new resource is driving the city: human capital. The ingenuity and aspirations of the dense and diverse population sustain Johannesburg as the economic capital of the country, but the City has lost its golden meaning and is striving for a new identity: to become the Cultural Capital of South Africa, an embodiment of diversity, creativity, and cultural expression. People and cultures of the City mix and spark ideas in public space, so Joubert Park, the central, largest, and oldest park in Johannesburg and home to the Johannesburg Art Gallery, should play a role in Johannesburg's transformation into the Cultural Capital. The Joubert Park Conservatory is a century old ornamental greenhouse, once spectacular, it now lies abandoned and in disrepair. The Conservatory and its precinct currently provides no significant contribution to the public of Joubert Park, but its iconic design and position indicate its potential to be rediscovered as an important public space. This dissertation investigates how spatial interventions can be mobilised to re-establish the forgotten significance of the site, and introduce a programme that will respect and enhance the heritage of the Conservatory and its cultural landscape to contribute to Joubert Park as well as the greater urban environment as the Cultural Capital. The proposed programme is the Creative Conservatory (CC), a community media and arts centre driving universal media accessibility and providing an enabling environment for the cultivation of artistic and cultural expression and development. The CC serves the community, mobilising the arts for social and economic development, thus supporting the creative economy and cultural landscape of Johannesburg. The architectural intervention of the CC is designed for the present, while inspired by and responding to heritage, so as to create places that will remain relevant in the future.

Johannesburg is gebou op die ontdekking en ontginning van goud, maar goud resereves loop nou leeg en 'n nuwe hulpbron kan die stad vorentoe dryf: menslike kapitaal. Die kreatiwiteit en aspirasies van 'n diverse bevolking onderhou Johannesburg as die ekonomiese spilpunt van die land, maar die stad het sy goue betekinis verloor en streef nou na 'n nuwe identiteit: om die Kulturele Hoofstad van Suid Afrika te word - 'n vergestalt diversiteit, kreatiwiteit en kulturele uitdrukking. Mense en kulture in die stad meng en nuwe idees word in publieke ruimtes gegenereer. Joubert Park is die stad se grootste en oudste park en huisves die Johannesburg Kunsgallery, hierdie ruimte kan 'n belangrike rol speek in die stad se transformasie na kulturele kapitaal. Die Joubert Park Konservatorium is 'n eeu-oue en eens indrukwekkended onrnamentele kweekhuis, nou verlate en onversorgd. Die Konservatorium en sy omliggende ruimtes dra nie tot die park by nie, maar sy ikoniese form en posisie hou potensiaal in wat herontdek kan word as 'n publieke ruimte van belang. Hierdie verhandeling ondersoek hoe ruimtelike veranderinge gebruik kan word om die vergete waarde van die terrein te herstel. 'n Nuwe program wat die erfenis van die terrein repspekteer kan dit terselfdetyd verbeter om as kulturele landskap by te dra tot Joubert Park en tot die stedelike omgewing daarom by te dra as kulturale kapitaal. Die program wat voorgestel word is die Kreatiewe Konservatorium, 'n gemeenskapsentrum vir media en kuns wat universele media toegang dryf en 'n omgewing skep vir die kultivasie van kuns en kulturele ontwikkeling en uitdrukking. Die Kreatiewe Konservatorium bedien die gemeenskap en mobiliseer die kunste ten einde sosiale en ekonomiese ontwikkeling te bewerkstellig en soedoende die kreatiewe ekonomie en kulturele landskap van Johannesburg te ondersteun. Die projek is ontwerp vir die hede, ge?nspireer deur en in reaksie tot erfenis, om plekke te skep wat relevant sal bly in die toekoms.