Published by the University of Cape Town (UC) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UC by the author. This neighborhood has a history of forced relocations as many of the residents were once residents of Die Vlakte. Stellenbosch Town located north of Cape Town contains remnants of the aftermath of the apartheid regime.
POSITIONALITY
Die Vlakte was the name of the multi-racial, majority colored neighborhood within the historic core of Stellenbosch. These individuals were artisans, tailors, tailors, teachers, builders and furniture makers who held the core of Die Vlakte's cultural activity of music and entertainment and the spatial activism of the street. In this way, the notion of neighborhood is not only based on the arrangement of streets and houses, but simultaneously on the continuous practical and discursive production of people's imagination (Du Toit, 2011).
INTRODUCTION
This denudation of land in urban Stellenbosch is not only the tangible loss of built form, but it is the intangible memories that are lost along with the sense of place enveloped Die Vlakte. This will expand on the theoretical knowledge behind spatial and intangible context informants. This framework includes the “threads of place” – the thread of access, the thread of movement, the thread of history, the thread of memory, the thread of protest and the thread of commerce.
DESIGN PROCESS
UNDERSTANDING STELLENBOSCH
33 Onderstanding Stellenbosch Threads of Place 34 Understanding Stellenbosch Threads of Place Map Displaying Building Footprints: Stellenbosch Central.
SHAPED BY HISTORY
THE NATIVE LAND ACT OF 1913 AND THE GROUP AREAS ACT OF 1950: HISTORY, THE TANGIBLE AND
REFLECTING ON SPATIAL INJUSTICES
RECONCILIATION AND WHY DESIGN MATTERS
Reconciliation can therefore be understood, as Ruth Hall mentions, as an act of remembering, acknowledging and recognizing wrongs from the past. The purpose of this research project is to understand the concept of reconciliation and what it means in the present context and for the future. This resulted in a large population of colored individuals who began to make their homes in the center of Stellenbosch.
DIE VLAKTE
The history and memory of Die Vlakte dates back to 1838, when slavery was abolished. Often religious, cultural and recreational celebrations brought the entire Stellenbosch community together (Du Toit, 2001). Although Die Vlakte was considered a colored neighborhood, individuals of color resided throughout the city, within Dorp Street, Ptic Street, Herte Street, and Meul Street (Hendrich, 2006).
KAYAMANDI
CLOETESVILLE
IDAS VALLEY
SOCIO-POLITICAL ART PRACTICE
VISUAl ANALYSIS AT SCALE
This sculptural installation is located on the grass of Die Rooiplein, within walking distance of the controversial Jan. Almost in conversation with The Circle and Flight, he refers to the nuanced immaterial value that socio-political art practice has when trying to understand the spatial complexity of Stellenbosch. Despite being an inanimate installation, the depiction of the 11 women is human-scale and appears to be sitting with students.
The circle encapsulates this through conceptual communication of the need for conversation and to have representation within all facets. The preamble in front of the old main building, Strijdom van der Merwe, 2019 The three bronze posters outside Ou Hoof Gebou have the engravings of the preamble in three different languages. The engraving of the words casts a shadow as the sun passes through, creating an installation that engulfs the viewer.
Ou Hoof Gebou has a long controversial history of being a place of learning for the main orchestrators of the apartheid regime. Until recently, it had bronze posters of Verwoerd within the walls of the building, almost commemorating the lineage of an apartheid thinker. Van der Merwe's installation stands as a symbolic sign of the recognition of the injustices of the apartheid regime.
This blends somewhat with the colonial aesthetic of the building, but on closer inspection it reflects a decolonized view of the law – a building used to educate about such issues.
SPACE AND PLACE The Case of
THREADS OF PLACE
This is compared to Luckhoff High School on Banhoek Street and the University on Merriman Ryneveld Street as a thread of memory due to the tangible spatial aspects as many still existing houses are a reminder of Die Vlakte. Banhoek Road and Merriman Avenue as a transit hub from the Adam Tas Corridor to the Idas Valley. Aleksandr Street as a historical street, named after the Aleksandër family who lived in Die Vlakte after the forced displacements.
Andringa Street as a street that has commercial activity both in the present day as well as during the time of Die Vlakte. Parking spaces in the Die Vlakte area were once home to the Die Vlakte community. The frame further shows the important buildings that lie along each strand, this informs how each tread will be explored in the design process.
87 Threads of Place and The Street Threads of Place 88 Threads of Place and The Street Threads of Place.
THREADS OF PLACE AND THE STREET
89 wires of place and street wires of place 90 wires of place and street wires of place. Andringastraat gets its identity from being a main street both during Die Vlakte and in the present. This is interspersed with various religious and cultural buildings that are in cover with the opposite rim.
The open space that lies near Kayamandi is used as an informal trading area, while it extends into a main access corridor connecting Kayamandi and Cloetesville to Stellenbosch centre. Due to its extensive length and width, there is potential to widen the sidewalk to allow pedestrian access. The street can be broken up into segments that allow pause points for gathering and engagement.
Currently there are residences that share the same venacular architecture that was once present in Die Vlakte. There are several religious buildings that line the street that many community members who were forcibly removed still return to. Ryneveld has a memory and cultural essence to its presence that is used as inspiration to think about possible design interventions along the street.
SHADOW MAPPING
SITES OF INTEREST
DESIGN PROCESS: TESTING
PAUSE POINTS
Understanding the path allows to understand the ways of intervention with the selected break point. The elements in the toolbox present at each point will anchor the framework and create a network of spaces that relate to the concept behind Threads of Place. However, in South Africa's history, this complicated relationship has been repeatedly and deliberately damaged.
When attempting to understand place and its identity, it is critical to examine how a place is intrinsically connected to a sense of self and how a particular place is incorporated into who we are and our understanding. Krupat eloquently expresses the importance of place and the intangible aspects that influence its understanding and experience. This process is iterative and this process of exploration will continue to grow, change and expand.
This process is not defined by a fixed solution to all the complexities of Stellenbosch. It constantly evaluates and re-evaluates theory and how this can be applied in practice. Despite its complexity and limitations, Threads of Place begins to think about social change and the meaning of place.
More work will go into the design intervention, the practical and conventional aspects of design processes that will land the project as a feasible reimagining of place.
Re-spinning history: Helen Levitt, Jansje Wissema, Burning Museum Collective and photographs of children on the streets of New York and Cape Town. THE NATIVE LANDS ACT OF 1913 AND THE GROUP AREAS ACT OF 1950: HISTORY, TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE.
INTERVIEWS
It's working with the history of Deflector, because I don't know if you, you know, but there is, it's quite, it's also quite political. Because very often this kind of project is kind of, you know, you do it and then it kind of ends. Different classrooms or principal's offices or whatever, you know, kind of different spaces in this building.
So it wouldn't necessarily be people coming all the time, you know, kind of coming to the university. You know, it's called his aop, you know, kind of brainstorming and you know, stuff like that. You know, people traveling all the time to meet, to meet, it's, yeah, it's, yeah, it's not in a way.
Expecting people to come to the university, it's almost that hierarchy again, you know, we have to, they have to come into our space. It makes a lot of sense because the ma statue is so visible, you know, on the right plane and they have to engage a lot around it. You know roughly by looking at who's invited, who you know, so, unfortunately, it's an incredibly long process.
More society, you know, because by just building a road, you know, some sort of building, a bridge and so on, it's, it's by bringing these processes into the social, political spaces mm-hmm.
The Intangible Memories of Space and Place. The Case of
RESEARCH QUESTION
UNDERSTANDING STELLENBOSCH Broader Context
UNDERSTANDING STELLENBOSCH The Divide
UNDERSTANDING STELLENBOSCH Locating Place, Connecting Place
UNDERSTANDING STELLENBOSCH Reconciliation
UNDERSTANDING STELLENBOSCH Forced Removals of Die Vlakte
DIE VLAKTE What is Left
THEORY
RETAIL
RELIGIOUS
CULTURAL
EDUCATIONAL
THEORY TO PRACTICE The Street and its “Personality”
EDUCATIONALRETAIL
CULTURALRETAIL
CULTURALRELIGIOUS
DIE VLAKTE STELLENBOSCH CBD
SOCIO-POLITICAL ART PRACTICE Spatially Expressing The Intangible
SOCIO-POLITICAL ART PRACTICE At Scale
INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO DESIGN Testing…
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
MEMORIALS That recognise, remember
NAME CHANGES Highlights intangible
STREET FURNITURE
PLACE-MAKING TOOLBOX
Symbolic Restitution has meaning
Flexible and Interchangeable
THREAD OF ACCESS: BIRD STREET FRAMEWORK EXPLORED
FRAMEWORK EXPLORED
Remembrance thread: Ryneveldstraat as a place that had remnants of Die Vlakte due to its built-up form. Thread of History Thread of Protest Thread of Commerce Thread of Access Thread of Memory Thread of Movement Parking lots Green.
THREADS OF PLACE Sites of Interest
CONNECTION SITES
ANCHOR SITES
THREADS OF PLACE Pause Points
Creates a network that holds sites of interest through social housing project approvals and community involvement. Pause points using the placemaking toolbox For fine-grained interventions to generate interest.
THREADS OF PLACE FRAMEWORK
PLACE OF MEMORY
PLACE OF HISTORY PLACE OF PROTEST
An area in the west connected to the mosque that supports the Friday prayer, which can be performed outside. Building footprints allow flexibility within the city – they can be transformed into buildings, pergolas, paving. As a place for sitting and expression, the edges of the path frame the edge of the road, allowing visibility for those. Programming - public transport drop and go connected along bird street Open space connected to.
As Die Break lies along bird street - a strong assessment thread - (re)imagine it as a drop-and-go area that enables access. The edge is defined by a series of plinth-like structures that are flexible and can become places for expression or. Social housing project strategically placed within the center due to its connection with the framework.
Along the trade thread to allow for an activated retail/commercial ground floor to allow for economic opportunities.
