MMA

SPECIAL REPORT: MMA

On time.

To specification.

Within budget.

Archway Projects was project manager on all of the urban upgrades around the Ellis Park Stadium.

Each project tackled was brought in on time, to specification and within budget.

Leaders in Project Management (t) +27 (0)11 608 3108

(e) archwayprojects@inx.co.za (w) www.archwayprojects.co.za

BUILT ENVIRONMENT >

Providing platforms for cultural engagement

By Bev Hermanson

An acute awareness of cultural differences and the need to nurture social cohesiveness has been an underlying motive that has inspired Mphethi Morojele and the members of MMA Architects to pursue projects that benefit humankind.

In the past 12 years, MMA Architects has completed an impressive line-up of architectural and urban design projects, winning awards for its work on the South African Embassy in Berlin, the Cradle of Humankind museum and boutique hotel at Maropeng and its collaboration on the development of Freedom Park’s Garden of Remembrance on the outskirts of Pretoria (pictured above). With offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Berlin, this home-grown practice is making an impression on the world.

The founder of the practice, Mphethi Morojele, started out in architecture in 1995 after completing his B.Arch Degree at the University of Cape Town. Three years later, he founded MMA Architects along with three partners, with the intention of becoming one of the leading architectural practices spearheading Africa’s and South Africa’s socio-spatial and cultural transformation.

Growing up in Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Italy and Ethiopia, (due to his father’s work commitments) Morojele gained a broad perspective of different cultures in different countries. Racial tensions inevitably left an indelible mark on his consciousness, although, as he points out, that hasn’t been entirely negative.

“When you’re young, you almost take for granted that everybody sees life exactly the same way that you see it. But people across the world think quite differently,” says Morojele. “It became more obvious as we moved around. I gained a different perspective of how people react to the spaces around them.”

Simply chatting about the ‘old days’ in and around Johannesburg was quite a revelation in understanding the tensions that he and his siblings experienced in public spaces. “During my childhood moving between Soweto and the city with my parents to do shopping, I often felt that the city was a hostile place. We would arrange a rendezvous point and we went and did what had to be done, but we didn’t feel comfortable enough to linger. We did what we needed to and left. Once we were home again, we could relax. For us kids, the parks in the city were frightening because we always felt that we were being watched. This, of course was during the Apartheid era. The experience made me very aware of the different perceptions that people have of open spaces. You can feel for yourself, even, whether public spaces make you feel that you belong, whether you feel secure, whether people feel you to be a threat, or whether you yourself feel threatened.”

BUILT ENVIRONMENT > This poses the question – how do you design to make people feel that they belong? “If you design to anticipate violence, you will get violence,” Morojele elaborates.

“The way the schools for ‘non-whites’ were designed in the old days – they were actually designed to anticipate violence. Everything was stark. They weren’t nurturing places that had been created to encourage learning.”

This design mindset, in some cases, still continues today and this is what we have to change.

Ellis Park Precinct and Braamfontein regeneration The decay of the Johannesburg CBD and surrounds has presented many challenges to those who have enough belief to work on the city’s rebirth. Amongst the many regeneration initiatives, MMA Architects has been involved in the urban design of the Braamfontein and Ellis Park Precincts. Here, Morojele’s study of Behavioural Sciences stood him in good stead as he contemplated the implications of various spatial layouts on the behaviour of crowds and residents in these areas.

Painful memories of the deaths caused by the stampede of spectators at the Ellis Park Stadium in April 2001 and other incidences of violence that have often flared up after soccer and rugby matches spurred the designers on to look for appropriate solutions to the need for a new urban fabric in and around the city. “It actually takes a leap of faith to design for the public,” he says. “There will always be vandalism, but you have to take a risk and create a beautiful space. You have to be optimistic and hope that people will behave appropriately. For example, in Braamfontein, if you put beautiful parklands behind fences, people become stressed. If you open the parks up, people become much calmer and less anti-social.”

Another aspect that has to be considered is what the vision is for the future of the precinct. “If you design purely for mass events, such as international sporting occasions, and not consider the community that lives there, you are again making people feel excluded.”

Taking into account that there are two stadia in close proximity to each other, as well as nodes used for light

A view of the Braamfontein regeneration project.

A dramatic view of the Ellis Park Precinct at dusk.

industries and educational institutions that attract masses of students, the Ellis Park Precinct has been developed to make allowance for high volumes of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Roads and pavements have been upgraded, several parks in the area have received makeovers and the lighting has been improved.

A new cricket oval has been built, with secure parking that can double as VIP parking for the stadia during high profile functions. “Bringing cricket to the inner city is also a way of enticing the youth off the streets.

Cricket is something that they can become passionate about and it could eventually lead them to a career in the sport.”

BUILT ENVIRONMENT > The BRT system (bus rapid transit) has also been accommodated and for cultural enrichment, a public art programme is being run along pedestrian routes. “In African cultures, public spaces are used for all sorts of functions including religious gatherings, so we have taken this into account as well. We have further planned the spaces so that part of the parks can be hired out for launches and other corporate events.”

SciBono Discovery Centre Another project that has sprung out of the inner city regeneration project is the SciBono Discovery Centre.

Conceptualised as an edutainment centre initiated by the Gauteng Department of Education, this centre is located in the old Electric Workshop building in the cultural node of Newtown. The three main subjects to be explored at the centre are mathematics, science and technology.

The SciBono Discovery Centre.

“A lot of schools don’t have science labs,” Morojele explains, “so the SciBono Discovery Centre will be made available to classes on a timesharing basis.” Tackled in 3 phases, this centre offers the full range of facilities to learners keen on understanding more about mathematics, science, technology and related disciplines.

Phase 1 was the renovation of the Electric Workshop building, that now has a canteen, reception, office space and extensive exhibition space, with walkways and ramps taking students to an auditorium and classrooms housed in the new building that forms Phase 2 of the project. Phase 3 incorporates a career centre, where students can learn about careers and will be able to undergo psychometric testing.

Typical of educational institutions, where a wide variety of age groups and children from different cultures congregate, this facility has to be vandal-proof, yet inspire a spirit of learning. The quadruple volume of the main exhibition area creates a sense of drama, while the

Advoco AD

BUILT ENVIRONMENT >

Exterior and interior views (blow) of the FNB Homeloans and Wesbank Buildings.

concrete and steel detailing conveys an industrial, yet contemporary flavour to the facilities.

Other educational and child-centered facilities tackled

by MMA Architects include the Student Enrolment Centre at the University of Witwatersarand, the Jabavu Regional Library in Soweto, the Rooipoort Creche in Carltonville, the Buhlebemfundo Secondary School in Tsakane, the Ubuhlobolwazi Secondary School in Lothair and the Asibambane Youth Village in Cape Town.

FNB Homeloans and Wesbank Buildings, Fairlands Designed by a consortium of four architectural practices, this corporate project has already received much recognition and acclaim. MMA Architects collaborated with CNN Architects, Fairbairn Architecture and MDS Architecture.

Accommodating over 5000 employees, this high profile development, which has become a landmark on the N1 west’s skyline, is perched above a two-storey parkade.

The building, which represents a fundamental shift in the approach to financial services office space, away from the big block-shaped office complexes, was constructed in six chapters. It is characterized by organic shapes, earthy colours and enormous open volumes in the shared public areas. Designed to be barrier-free, it shows great sympathy for the visually-impaired, disabled and handicapped members of the staff.

The R1-billion project incorporates many green building features, such as solar water heaters for the kitchens and office ablutions, dimmable switches for the lights, double glazing for the windows, insulation in the walls and roofs and exoskeletal screens to temper the sun’s rays at various times of the day. These active and passive measures collectively contribute to an estimated 20% energy saving compared to conventional buildings.

From a site that was previously a wasteland, a highly productive and distinguished building has evolved to supply a much-needed facility in the western suburbs of Johannesburg.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT >

Freedom Park MMA Architects was chosen to join a consortium, along with GAPP and Mashabane Rose Architects, to determine the character and structure of Freedom Park.

The site itself is strategically located on the outskirts of Pretoria, within clear view of the Union Buildings.

An amphitheatre overlooking a waterfeature and an eternal flame add atmosphere to this very spiritual place and The Garden of Rememberance provides a safe place for adults and children to gather and learn in a supervised environment.

Resolving that this memorial had to encompass many different struggles throughout the country’s history, the developers undertook to consult a wide spectrum of society, from youth organisations, political parties, historians and anthropologists, to traditional healers and members of various church groups. The struggles weave through the era of slavery, wars of resistance, the Anglo-Boer War, colonial wars, the First and Second World Wars during which many South Africans of all colours and creeds perished fighting for the country’s allies, and, more recently, the struggle for liberation and the abolition of apartheid.

Elements of Freedom Park that are particularly notable are: Isivivane, the resting place for the spirits of those that died in the struggles, many of whom were ‘missing in action’. To enter this area, visitors are requested to remove their shoes as a gesture of respect. Nine boulders from the nine provinces across South Africa encircle a water feature – each boulder symbolising a province was brought to this space as a gesture of cleansing and healing.

Sikhumbuto is the memorial that commemorates the major conflicts that shaped South Africa. Part of this memorial is the Wall of Names, where the names of people who died in the struggles are etched, each on their own brick in the wall. //hapo is an interactive exhibition space, where the 3.6 billion years of the history of humankind will be told in visual displays and narrative form and the Gallery of Leaders is an indoor exhibition area reserved for tributes to the achievements of local and international leaders in the struggles for humanity.

Freedom Park encompass many different struggles throughout South African history.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT >

Embassies

South African Embassies in Berlin (above) and Ethiopia (below).

One of the most prestigious projects to be tackled by MMA Architects was the construction of the South African Embassy building in Berlin. This project earned the practice an Award of Excellence from the South African Institute of Architects and prompted the opening of offices in Berlin.

This was the first embassy built by South Africa since the election of the new democratic government. Opting for a fusion of German and African design philosophies, the architects designed the main structure to blend with the other buildings of the district, but allowed large expanses of glass and skylights to bring a typically South African indoor/outdoor feel to the building.

Clad externally with natural sandstone and granite from South Africa, it is embellished with bold African colours and patterns in the interiors.

A more recent embassy building designed by the firm is the South African Embassy building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that was completed earlier this year. As Addis Ababa is the seat of the African Union, this embassy is of particular importance. The 5000 sq metre complex not only houses offices for the embassy staff, it also has a recreation centre and some staff accommodation.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs wanted the building to signify South Africa’s commitment to Africa,” Morojele explains. “Ethiopia is very rich in culture as its history stretches back many centuries. This time, we didn’t go for as much structural transparency, because Ethiopia is on the equator and the light there is very intense.

Instead, we added a massive screen that shields the building from the light and doubles as extra security.”

Designed in collaboration with Ethiopian architects, the building has an almost church-like quality and is built from a mixture of materials and finishes from South Africa and other countries that traditionally supply Ethiopia, such as Dubai, China and Italy.

Prospects for the future MMA Architects has roughly 20 staff members, including architects, technologists and support personnel. The staff are encouraged to pursue continued engagement with academic and research institutions to keep up-todate with continuing developments in their professions and the practice prides itself in keeping abreast of current trends in the built arena.

“We look forward to contributing to the cultural and economic development of South and the rest of Africa in the future,” Morojele concludes. <