Figure 13: First concept in context

2.11. Concept 2 After ingesting the literature and contemplating the segregated form that the post-apartheid city takes, the author explored a conceptual prototype. This prototype is a contemporary cuboid that may be high as three storeys. It is covered in timber cladding as a facade as a sustainable material and consists of spaces enclosed with circular walls reminiscent of South African indigenous architectural forms. These circular spaces are carved out of a rectangular form such that the interior spaces are not visible, and one would quickly realise after entering the space that it is an African building. Figure 12 shows the concept in diagrammatic plan and section.

The intention is to represent how the Africans today are contemporary in how they live in the city yet come from and define themselves internally through the African beliefs and the cultures in which they were birthed. It would be a monolithic building that takes as much space on-site as public open space.

Figure 13: First concept in context

THE JOURNEY OF. . HEALING, 3

Chapter 3

3.1. Introduction As a follow-up, this chapter deals with African social healing as a journey; a response to the previous chapter’s discussion on the trauma that came from the segregation caused by the apartheid government.

3.2. Literature Review 4

Path, Healing is my

Healing in South Africa has been transformed by the country’s diversity for a long while. The healing and therapy systems have acquired different patterns of diagnosis and treatment of health and diseases through the adoption of other cultures and beliefs, influenced by the political and economic forces that shaped the country's history. (Feierman, 1985: 73) When speaking about healing, we must also touch on those who provide it. Traditional healers, commonly known as Sangomas, have changed what constitutes their provided services. They are known to cover counselling divination/diagnostics, medical amongst a few. This progression in which they have acquired new traditions over time, taking within themselves new cultures and languages that include both pre-colonial and post-colonial techniques, has allowed them to see themselves as members of a profession with a distinct intellectual tradition. This tradition is still changing critique and modification, acquiring more specialised skills to serve new issues and experiences. (Thornton, 2009: 17) The variety of services that the healer provides, including the life cycle rituals, may require time. This is especially true for the urban South African, who may have had little exposure to these indigenous knowledge systems that are healing focused. They would have to continuously meet with the healer and be a part of rituals and traditions that form part of the journey that is South African healing. This idea that time plays a role in the healing process can be used to facilitate a healing journey within architectural interventions.

3.3. Autoethnography Part 3

Healing, A need for. Gqeberha, 2006

The boy had never seen that much blood before. He had, but only in the action movies, his uncle collected for the VHS player. The wound he was staring at was on the girl’s forearm. She stayed in the house in front of theirs. They had gone to play with one of their friends who stayed a street away. He was the only kid we knew of in the township who had a fish tank with actual fish inside. Somehow while they were playing, she had tripped and stumbled face-first towards the tank and had raised her arms to protect herself on impact. The result Is what they were all staring at now, a 20 cm triangular piece of glass lodged into her forearm folding skin inwards.

There were four boys there, including the boy; one of them, the boy’s cousin, came to his senses first. He told her they needed to take her to her grandfather, helping her walk down the street to her home. After knocking for a few seconds, an older man opened the child’s grandfather’s door. His eyes went wide at the girl's injury, and he called for his wife while tentatively looking at the wound. The four boys stepped to the side while the grandmother who had quickly come to the door, also looked at the wound. “We need to take her to my sister,” the elderly woman said, guiding the girl to the gate. The older man looked at the boy and motioned him to follow.

As they walked down the street, the boy’s cousin, sibling, and friends watched from behind while standing in the middle of the street. The older man asked the boy to explain what had happened. The boy told the story, fear making him stutter as he quickly ran through it. This situation was not good; it never ends well for those involved when a girl gets hurt while playing with boys. They walked for about a minute into an area a few streets away and entered a yard with a collection of animals. The yard had a strong scent of goat, chicken and sheep mixed with the scent of plants. The group walked to the back of the yard to a square building with a closed-door that the older woman knocked on. After a minute or two, the door opened, bringing the boy out of a trance that had begun while he was waiting from staring at the blood drops forming on the soil where the girl was standing. A raspy voice told the group to come in, and the boy followed in at the back.

They entered a room filled with various herbs hung on the wall, rugs on the floor, and a collection of tools, books, and other objects the boy could not identify. What are we doing here? Doesn’t she need the doctor? The two sisters sat on the girl's side, constantly crying, while occasional pained groans escaped her lips. The boy noticed that the woman they had found there had face paints and dreadlocks, a sangoma. After looking at the wound and gathered tools, the sangoma stood up and placed them next to the girl on the floor. She also began to mix herbs while her sister switched the kettle. Some of the tools were familiar to the boy, like ones his father had at home being a doctor. The sangoma gave the girl a few leaves to chew on and water to drink in the meantime. The boy sat on the floor next to the older man and watched the sister’s work. The wound was cleaned, the boy cringing as he watched the healer pull the glass out and check the wound. The girls had screamed bot has that happened and when the healer had unfolded the skin out. She had given her more leaves to chew on after. The room had filled with a strange scent of leaves and smoke from incense burning on a stool. The two worked for what felt like an hour in silence, and when they were done, they guided the girl out to the house. They told the older man that she would need to sleep for a while. In the silence, the older man turned to the boy and asked, “How has your father been? I have not seen him in a while.” The boy replied, “He was here in the morning, grandfather, when he dropped us off. He is fine.” They sat in silence for a few seconds before the elder spoke once more. “My wife’s sister used to study medicine with your father when they were both in university. They were good friends before your father moved to the suburbs. She was also a freedom fighter like him, and when they both left for the struggle during their studies in their third year, she chose to learn traditional healing instead of going back to school.” The boy looked around after nodding in reply at the plants and other instruments all over the room, including the bloodstains on the clay floor. It kind of smells in here. He thought to himself.