RE[CREATE]tion : revealing the agency of recreational spaces in the township of Mamelodi East through architecture as a 'dispositif' for the everyday

Abstract

In South African townships, the realities of the scarcity of public spaces or poorly maintained and derelict recreational sites, are a continuous phenomenon. Additionally, the scars left from the apartheid spatial planning resulted in a perpetuated fragmentation in the urban fabric engendering further issues of public facilities’ accessibility. This research-led dissertation, aims to rethink the function of public spaces in townships by acknowledging their multi-layered facets and their transcendence beyond mere services. Through a mixed-method of enquiry and a pragmatic approach, the study takes on a contextual discovery of the narratives and networks emerging from the sites; linking to the importance of socio-cultural sustainability in design. The results are then used to generate a “dispositif”-architecture as a set of architectural explorations, using the polyvalence of the notions of the in-between and twin-phenomena to articulate recreational spaces at different scales (urban to human) in a holistic manner. The scope of the research is to explore ways to reveal the agency of recreational spaces in townships and their contribution towards urban cohesion. The study turns towards the regeneration of neglected existing cultural and recreational sites to transform them into places with meaning for people rather than afterthoughts of development schemes, so that they not only fit within their context but also showcase the diversity and values of the community using them.