Ephemeral [Re]Urbanism : A Vacant Automobile Dealership Adapted to an Urban Informal Market

Abstract

Observation of Pretoria’s current urban condition has revealed a network of vacant automobile dealerships left in the wake of a national decline of new vehicle sales. Among which are two vacant dealerships that occupy an entire urban block within a socio-economically active district of Arcadia. With prolonged vacancy and an indefi nite future, the onset of ‘Urban Decay’, wherein former functional city segments descend into decrepitude, is inevitable. Furthermore, dealership building typology is mono-functional, dictating diffi cult appropriation and costly retrofi t, inhibiting the potential for alternative tenant occupation and use. This factor, together with the current economic climate, results in vacant dealerships contributing signifi cantly towards a ‘negative’ urban condition. As a strategy towards restraining urban decay, an intervention is proposed in the form of the ephemeral adaptation of one dealership into an urban informal market. The informal market is in response to the fi eld research observations. The site is situated along a high frequency pedestrian corridor, which revealed a dynamic informal trade economy that is present on the dealership’s Western edge. A set of design criteria and guidelines inform the markets’ design. The criteria and guidelines are primarily informed by fi eld research and the conclusions drawn applying guidance towards the secondary informants. The secondary informants are derived from theories of urban decay and renewal, semi-permanent adaptive reuse and developing urban informal trade, along with international precedents and a local case study. The intention of the urban informal market is to sensitively support urban informal trade by providing the minimum infrastructure for trade to occur, allow and promote growth, fl exibility, and appropriation. To convey the ephemeral nature of the intervention and, in turn, render a once mono-spatial pragmatic structure sculptural, scaffolding is employed as a design medium to ‘sculpt’ space. The aim of the impermanent intervention is the reintegration of the vacant dealership into Arcadia’s fabric, contributing towards a positive urban condition.