A degree submitted for the requirements of Masters of Arts in Geography School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies / Mary Fitzgerald Square is an iconic public space in Newtown, Johannesburg. In spite of its iconic status, prolific social history and commercial role in the city, there is very little that is known about it and its users. In 2009 and 2010 I undertook an ethnographic exploration of the public space using Henri Lefebvre’s (1974/1991) conceptual spatial triad, the Right to the City and Elements of Rhythmanalysis frameworks. Through informal interviews, unstructured participant observation and exploration of archived newspaper articles, public space governance by-laws, published urban literature and research, I managed to situate this public space in urban geographical discourse as contested public space. By means of conceptual analysis, this research found Mary Fitzgerald Square to be an important public space that is dominated by neoliberal politics that create struggle for inhabitants to use it meaningfully in the context of everyday life. The proliferation of neoliberal relations of urban governance have led to a situation whereby the public space is subjected to private management practices that encourage its elitist uses and thus prioritizing its commercial exchange-value over its use-value. This process as the research uncovered, undermines the public space’s use-value and consequently leads to a subliminal marginalization of ordinary inhabitants who require and desire it for their varied practices in the context of everyday life. Urban management strategies like human surveillance, Public Open Space by-Laws, architecture and planning design, public-private partnerships, and the removal of the television monitor, discourage creative African youths, skateboarders, the urban poor and elderly in the city from appropriating Mary Fitzgerald Square. Inhabitants using Mary Fitzgerald Square manage to do so by overriding and transgressing existing spatial prohibitions by conducting their social practices in the contested space outside official policing times. Other inhabitants, through play and creative expression, have devised alternative means to challenge their marginalization in and uses of the public space in spite of existing by-laws, changing architecture, and visible human surveillance including law-enforcement that are conceived in an effort to deter their social uses of it. This research proposes a return to Mary Fitzgerald Square that warrants a critical discourse analysis of the public space in an effort to gain a better and deeper understanding of inhabitants’ everyday life experiences and their political situation in the current city through the public space. This should enable a sound critique of the production of Mary Fitzgerald Square in the African metropolis where the abstract struggle between private interests and public need for the public space materializes. Key words: Mary Fitzgerald Square, Henri Lefebvre, Johannesburg, Geography, South Africa.

M. Tech. Architecture (Applied) / The aim of the thesis is to design a public swimming pool that re-connects street and river within a particular urban condition. The ground plane of the selected site is manipulated to facilitate a physical and visual connection with the river. Wetlands form part of the landscape surrounding the facility and on urban scale to assist in the cleaning and re-use of water from the canal. The proposal includes two pools accommodating different human interactions with water. The buildings are designed as a transitional space between inside and outside. The site was carefully selected based on the mix of current educational facilities, offices and residential accommodation. The site was developed using various layers namely: Private swimming, public swimming, spill out spaces, as well as spectator and passer-by contact. It is envisioned that the proposal will form part of the larger Tshwane 2055 framework aiming to revitalize the Pretoria CBD, although canalized, the Aapies River forms an important life giving artery adjacent to the Nelson Mandela Corridor. As part of the design proposal, it is envisioned that the canal be used as a floating walkway in future with follies linking specific sites and the river at strategic points. The proposed lap pool adheres to international standards. Both the pools step towards the canal, providing a different spatial and sensory experience. The design may serve as a guideline for future proposals along the canal. URBAN SWIMMING must inspire social growth and promote swimming as both a sport and a recreational activity.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / This dissertation deals with the exploration of turning a distant memory into a functional reality. The project focuses on architecture's potential to connect. The aim of the design proposal is to re-establish the programmatic exchange and confluence of commuters between South Africa and Mozambique on the so-called Eastern Railway Line. The proposed site (Mbombela Train Station) forms a comprehensive construct of history and decay. Currently, the site hosts an almost forgotten domestic train station, numerous unused office buildings and sheds. Established in 1895 as a railhead, it occasioned the development of Nelspruit (now known as Mbombela). The project investigates the typology of the train station: the spatiality and materiality of the current Eastern railway line prompts the architectural response. As a result, heritage incorporates and complements the vernacular (universal) language of the coalesced commuter. The proposed programme explores the threshold between the commuter and the city. The perceived spatial permanence of the platform mediates arrival and departure. An international railway station to act as a gateway between Mbombela and Maputo is thus proposed.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / The aim of the thesis is to design a contemporary art centre in the inner city of Pretoria in the museum district of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, to provide space for South African artists to exhibit and to expose more people to the arts.

Urban areas have become strategic locations where many throng to for a better life. However, wealth and economic opportunities are not evenly distributed in these urban spaces. South Africa is a fairly young democracy whose urban landscape has been largely shaped by the colonial apartheid system. The apartheid system segregated and relegated the black majority to the fringes of the cities into crowded communities characterised by poor living conditions, exclusion from the mainstream economy and limited urban amenities. Townships epitomise the harsh reality of the urban poor and how underdevelopment has been perpetuated. South Africa came up with different policies to redress the historical imbalances and inform urban development strategies. Urban renewal has been implemented as a development strategy in various cities across the world in an attempt to revive and improve the social, economic and environmental state of derelict urban spaces. Townships in South Africa have been the target areas for urban renewal with 8 presidential nodes having been initially identified for such in 2001. Eventually, Helenvale was added to the mix as a prime node in 2006 and the Helenvale Urban Renewal Project (HURP) was birthed - Helenvale and HURP being the identified site and project for this research respectively. An evaluative approach was adopted in assessing the socio-economic impact of urban renewal in South Africa townships and more specifically the socio-economic impact of HURP. Helenvale, like most townships in South Africa, is characterised by a high density settlement pattern, poverty, high unemployment, high rate of violence and crime, drug trade and substance abuse as well as a high rate of school dropouts. The Helenvale Urban Renewal Project (HURP) was implemented by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) and eventually the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) with the intention to rejuvenate the community on the social, economic and environmental front. The study findings showed that Helenvale, like all urban renewal nodes in South Africa had a number of socio-economic issues which prompted HURP. These include high unemployment (was 53.5% in 2013); alarming levels of violence and crime; drug trade and substance abuse and high rate of school dropout. Between 2007 and 2014, different projects were implemented under HURP, focusing mainly on physical development and community building. Study respondents had mixed reactions and perceptions of the impact of HURP. On one hand, the project saw the community benefit from the constructed public facilities like recreational parks and resource centre as well as capacity development and created employment opportunities. On the other hand, unemployment has persisted with only a small proportion of the population benefiting from the created jobs; crime remains unabated; drug trade has persisted leaving parents fearing for their young and gang violence has rendered the provided safe public physical features ineffective and the housing challenge has also not been resolved. By and large urban renewal and in this particular study, HURP has made great strides in improving the social and economic standing of the township community despite the challenges that are still lurking. A number of recommendations were proposed for similar studies and for urban renewal initiatives in South Africa. For the latter the study recommended having a robust policy that speaks to urban renewal directly and informs such. Other propositions include allowing the community to own and be stewards of urban renewal initiatives; allocating enough resources, both human and financial; and tailoring the project to respond to the needs of a particular community and not a one size fits all approach. In terms of similar studies the study recommends using a mixed methods approach to evaluate the impact of such ventures as well as evaluating more than one urban renewal initiatives for comparison and to allow for the generalizability of the findings.

M.Tech. (Architectural Applied Design) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / This dissertation is structured to mimic or represent my design project, which was developed in conjunction with theoretical readings and research. The aim is to provide a comprehensive representation of the project’s development from theoretical beginnings to architectural detail. This dissertation attempts to uncover, explore and understand the fragile relationship between man, nature and architecture, stemming from a deeply personal interest in the rehabilitation of political wastelands through ecological restoration. The aim of this study is to pursue a holistic design approach, which understands the architectural discipline as an interrelated profession in which buildings cannot be designed in isolation. Broken down into three main parts, this document illustrates the development of my theoretical and contextual interests into design. These papers are presented in their entirety of this document as Part A (starting point and research influence), Part B (process and discovery) and Part C which introduces a narrative program developed for the architectural discovery of K-206 (nestled within ‘jungle’ in Alexandra). A series of abstract drawings and model building experiments initially framed the investigation, allowing for chance, exploration and the unexpected, valuable experiments in the development of an architectural language and vocabulary which were refined over the course of the year

Urban Renewal which originates in the concept of Local Economic Development (LED) has in recent years gained much global acceptance as a strategy to improve certain areas that are poorly developed in order to improve the quality of lives of the local residents. South Africa have adopted the Urban Renewal approach and ever since, a number of national centres have been targeted for urban renewal activities. The Buffalo City Municipality (BCMM) implemented the Mdanstane Urban Renewal Programme (MURP) which is essentially the case study of this research. Despite the government instituting the Integrated Development Planning (IDP), Buffalo City still remains one of South Africa’s poorest metropolitan areas, with a relatively high unemployment and crime rate compared to other metropolitan cities in the country (Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality,2012). The study, therefore, sought to empirically analyse the effectiveness of the URP as an initiative of Integrated Development Planning (IDP) particularly on how it has addressed socio-economic pathologies such as poverty and inequality rampant in the area of study. The Mdantsane Urban Renewal Programme was used to monitor and evaluate the impact it had on the communities and the municipality. The study used a mixed methods or triangulation approach as both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used in determining the effect of the MURP on local development as well as in exploring the different perceptions and challenges facing the programme. The data that was gathered was analysed both quantitatively using frequency tables and graphs, and qualitatively based on the key themes that emerged. The research established that whilst the MURP has scored some gains in refurbishing the area of study, there are still various challenges inherent in the MURP such as its non-inclusiveness, lack of transparency, accountability and the lack of real benefits accruing in the local communities. Thus, this research recognised a need for a more inclusive and pro-poor urban development framework that promotes local citizen participation, accountability, sustainability and equity in resource distribution and allocation, in order to improve the livehoods of the local people in Mdantsane.

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / The architectural intervention proposes an urban redevelopment along the mining belt of the city of Johannesburg through the treatment of acid mine drainage. The design research includes a network of selected sites located along the Johannesburgmining belt to address the problem of acid mine drainage,as well as to provide solutions for future urban environments. The main solutions to eradicate the acid mine water problem are infrastructural, which in most cases is associatedwith inhumane environments. A design question addressing the marriage between harsh infrast ructure and humane environments is therefore dealt with ,in an attempt to create a self-sustaining architecture in which infrastructure can have an integrative urban function for the future . The dissertation aims to achive a design intervention that will thread the traces of a mining century into this contemporary African city, through an architecture that will grow into the future of the ever-changing and continuously emergent Johannesburg.

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional) to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / A consumable seed bank, market and food theatre that challenges the relationships between formal and informal and creates a solution to the need for food and encourages a healthier lifestyle through digesting architecture and walking urbanism in Johannesburg’s in between space. From the watershed above the river of gold, the Braamfontein Spruit flows towards the suburbs. Natural meanders and formal canals move with the winding bends of avenues, through golf courses and out into bird sanctuaries and parks to join the Jukskei river on its journey. This 50 km of between unbuilt space is the landscape in which this exploration takes place. At the beginning and end of this connection sits Dale Lace Park, divided by Barry Hertzog and united by the topography and spruit. The three-part theoretical essay focuses on natural processes and their relationship to people and architecture. By creating a compact theory for walking in public space, we can begin to understand how people react to space both positive and negative. This metaphor can be analysed through DNA and gene editing to create the desired space. Identifying DNA is achieved through a process called electrophoresis. Current moves through the gel in which DNA is injected. Certain strands move faster while others move slower. Is this not the same as the movement of people through public space? As we move up the plant through the stem, it becomes clear that the plant’s core is its roots. The permanence of this and the temporary nature of the leaves can link to the above and below ground of programmatic design. The second part focuses on nutrition and food in architecture. Modernism and its functional programmatic approach to design are used to emphasise the importance of functional planting in architecture. And as the plant escapes the soil, the light causes the adapting nature and evolution of the plant in its circle of life. Life and light and the purity of life will be used to analysis light and research space in buildings along with adapting to seasonal change. This third and final part will explore the combination of planting and people in space and architecture’s role in the human and social interaction. The deconstructed landscape will be explored. Through Architecture, the thesis aims to unearth the importance of seedling cultivation for consumption in an urban farm and research centre. Akin to the market it is a space of engagement and public identity. / GR2017