Abstract:
Architecture without Land postulates the role
of architecture without the promise of the
ownership of land. It investigates the provision of
land, secured with land tenure, as a development
strategy in critical neighbourhoods, specifi cally
Westbury, Johannesburg. It is situated within
the urban land question and opportunity of land,
characterised by continual redevelopment within
strict urban boundaries and multiplicity of use,
and addresses the fragments of apartheid city
planning, particularly the question of ownership
of land.
Title deeds are not always practical or
appropriate solutions. Fixed ownership could
stagnate the process of continual redevelopment
of land and hence of the social development in
a low income neighbourhood. The opportunity
of land tenure, as opposed to ownership, aids
fl exibility and appropriation by tenants including
the continual redevelopment of a site. Tenure of
land, allows the tenant organisation to expand,
insert or subtract their built manifestation
in relationship to their economic conditions,
reducing ineffi cient land use.
This approach responds to change in mainly two
ways; internal changeability (Architecture host to
change) and external changeability (Land host
to change). Land host to change; orders the
permanent (stable) built fabric, predetermining
structure, service and external space. Tenant
dependency on stable built fabric (architecture as
method) is articulated in a scale understanding
of facility and connection (service point). This
interaction is expressed in use of space, fi t-out,
infi ll and/or insert with the condition of easy
removal at end of use.
Access to land and space are vital to the project
as poverty is deeply spatial and ownership of
land intertwined with the legacy of apartheid.
This dissertation will focus on the appropriation
of land, tested with social infrastructure such
as early childhood development, mothers
training, shisa nyama, a medical unit supported
by affordable rental housing, hosted in a 66m
by 36m land parcel, supporting compact city
development and densifi cation in the suburb of
Westbury Johannesburg.
