Manifesto by Tebogo

MANIFESTO

he Missing Link: Towards a Clear Contemporary African Zeitgeist and an African Modernism Manthata T. 1365216 Abstract At the start of this year I began to attempt to interrogate and dismantle the inherent paternalistic nature of modernism by asking people questions: “what is African architecture to you as an African and is there a place for Africa in a contemporary urban, modernist context that has historically excluded us.”, and “Is there room for me, an African, in modernism and do I even want to be represented in it” Generations of people have been trying to ind their own answers to these questions, we ruminate and try to inch towards some sort of tangible meaning but we never even know where to begin. here is clearly a missing link in the chain that might lead us to clarity. he questions themselves might be a misguided starting point, a biproduct of an uninformed historical timeline that lacks the language required to speak about and understand the multivalent and diverse cultural landscape on the continent. Historically the trend has starkly been to create a homogenized idea of “Africa”. he missing link itself in terms of African identity stems from and is perpetuated by the colonial paternalistic mindset that their idea of what the cultures and people of Africa are, are much more interesting/right than the reality itself. he people that actually live the experiences that encapsulate ‘Africanness’ have never had a say in how they are represented, mere muses for the patronizing western world to interpret and use as they see it, the representation that results is disingenuous and inaccurate, a caricature of what truly is that causes even more confusion when it comes to African identity in a modernist context. Indigenous people, however, are oten disinterested in inding an African Identity, they already know what it means to be African. he need to distinguish an African Zeitgeist comes from a new need to explain it to a modernist paradigm that is ignoring its value. he idea of African indigenous innovation is oten relegated to simply nostalgia and ornamentation. Something primitive to be looked back upon fondly but not taken any further; a relic or even something stuck in the dark ages. Pevsner argued that the “African Zeitgeist” is in the visible harmony and primitive state” (Dainese, 2015) and Roger Fry’s Perspective was that dissociating African art, beauty and expression from their colonial background and perceiving them uniquely is imperative. (Dainese, 2015)

Sustainability and Contextual Sensitivity he idea of sustainability has widely originally been centered around the white suburban family, depictions of people a family taking refuge in underground shelters featured nuclear families that oten lacked colour, this means that Africa, in this conversation as well, is pushed aside, omitted and erased. A seat at the table for us is seldom designated when it comes to discussions about the environment despite the fact that we will be equally if not arguably the most afected by environmental crises. Afrofuturism simply posits that “traditional”, “indigenous” methods of building and problem solving (which are comparably the most sustainable) in African contexts should be viewed, not as primitive but as a way to carry us into a better future. Francis Kere’s projects adapt both the European methods he has learned and the traditional building techniques of Burkina Faso to one another to create something unique and speciically appropriate within its context. His design of the Gando Primary School received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for its use of tradition-

al sustainable methods. He utilized clay for it’s construction, which was a cheap, readily available local material on site. He felt it would be more suitable than concrete for the thermal control needs of the extremely hot site of Burkina Faso. He used a giant Tin Roof, raised up over the building to protect the clay from the heavy rainfall that might damage it, and to allow air to low beneath, creating cool environments for the learners at the school. hese implementations of sustainability through thermal control and shading via a raised roof is one which inspired me in my own project. I Covered the Existing library in an elaborate double raised roof to shade it but also to maximize the collection of Storm water falling onto the library to be reused within the library and for irrigating plants and maintaining the garden sustainably. Contrary to Francis Kere’s site mine is in an urban context which raises more complex challenges that are diicult to ind precedents for that are African indigenous in implication.

Accessibility he idea of community and public gathering is one that is inherently, indigenously African. Francis Kere’s original mantra was: “people are the basis of every piece of work”. Colonial/institutional building tends to occupy land to create monuments that distinguish or represent certain structures within the society whereas Indigenous architecture tents to be arranged to accommodate the rituals and movement of the people that occupy it in conjunction with the land; It gives way to people and physical buildings are oten organized around a public courtyard or communal space. In Francis Kere’s Schorge secondary school there is complete access to the public space given to people in the community and there are even public spaces around the built forms. It is accessible on multiple fecades and is completely permeable. In the Johannesburg public library on the Beyers Naude square the ground loor is limited in accessibility and permeability as it is lited above ground and cut of from the street. In my intervention and insertion of a 21st century library I wanted to cut through the ground loor and give it back to the public, making the ground loor more accessible and more permeable as it should be by refurbishing it with indigenous techniques as basis.

Legibility In African Indigenous building, speciically homestead typologies, the legibility of the building arises from the way the spaces are arranged around the central courtyard. he spaces and paths are organized hierarchically in accordance to strict farming rules and cultural beliefs. “From public through semi-private to private. Sleeping arrangements are also based on a strict age, gender and kinship division, and rarely require large spaces” (Steyn, 2005). he house is not one unit but a harmonious merger of all the spaces in the homestead. he precedents for this are the Homesteads of Lamu, Kenya and Arab courtyard homesteads that they are derived from. In my SODA building design, the main concept is to create a multi-story open to sky public space that acts as the main connector between spaces as well as a more legible way to interpret the building’s vertical circulation. In the way that all the program is arranged around this outdoor public space, a hierarchy is formed that is like that of African homesteads resulting in a clearer building.

he Poetics of space In South Africa Speciically we can ind that the conventions of what makes a space African, are very complicated and embedded in a narrative of colonialism and integration. he precedent of the swazi homesteads that was studied by Hilda Beemer Kuper in ‘he architecture of Swaziland’ is one such example of African space typology. Kuper described the traditional Swazi building in terms of “three key structures in the architecture of local homesteads: the cattle byre, the great hut, and the bachelors’ quarter.” (Dainese, 2015) How these nomadic/modular buildings are constructed is: “he tribe built each circular hut out of grass tied into bundles and covered with thatching mats. Together, men and women worked for days to clear the site, cut the logs for cattle fencing,” (Dainese, 2015) which emphasized improvisation and public interaction. In my own projects for the migrant imaginarium center I used the idea of modularity. he immigrant center was based around the idea of organizing multi-purpose blocks around a public gathering space that would serve as a reprise from the ritual of each separate space.

Manifesto Revisited Finding a distinct African identity that its within modernism is perhaps not as urgent of an exercise as it seems; African identity is not monolithic. It is Diverse and ever changing (which is a good thing) and whether we deine and integrate it or not does not diminish it or sway it. he more pressing thing is that we empower indigenous Architecture beyond just its aesthetic value, through implementation of its planning, environmental and materialist techniques in urban settings and modernist projects. We as the future of African architecture should stop looking at indigenous architecture nostalgically, we should strive to strengthen its value within the modern and future landscape of architecture and uphold it as a hallmark for a more sustainable, decolonized and subsequently eicient Africa of centuries to come. In doing so then perhaps the missing link for a clear African Zeitgeist will come into clear view. References Dainese, E., 2015. Histories of Exchange:Indigenous South Africa in the South African Architectural Record and the Architectural Review. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians , 74(4), p. 449. Steyn, G., 2005. African courtyard architecture: Typology,. Pretoria: University of Tswane.

lekgotla

Lekgotla on African Architecture – 22 March 2019 Meeting called to order at 10:30pm by meeting chair Tebogo Manthata. Members present: Chair Tebogo Manthata Stash Gomes Rodwin Malinga Erik Prinz Carina Cristavoa Daniel Hartwell Paballo Leburu Mvelo Mahlangu Bibi Malinga Jead Stehr Members not present: Reading of Agenda • Motion: To approve the agenda for 22 March 2019 Vote: Motion carried Resolved: Agenda for the meeting on 22 March 2019 approved without modiication Approval of Minutes Business • Hand out sheets so members can ill out what they would like to discuss. • Motion from Tebogo Manthata: To discuss what is African Architecture? -is it for a speciic group or is it for everyone and how is it diferent from other types of architecture? Resolved: Motion carried; Discussion Held dissected and resolved. • Motion from Luna Stanford: To discuss What makes a space inherently African? -What is authentic African Architecture -Where do we ind representation of this kind of architecture? Resolved: Motion carried; Discussion Held dissected and resolved Amendment: Erik Prinz volunteered to repair the table at no cost • Motion from Tebogo Manthata: To Discuss where do we start? -Old fashioned? Classical? Vernacular? Traditional? Do we destroy and rebuild colonial buildings? -How to look forward to and African Future. Motion carried; Discussion Held dissected and resolved: Meeting adjourned at 11:45 am.

Ukutshala Planting THE SEED

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venue: The giant bluegum tree, west campus law lawns. date: 22nd March , 10:00 am -12:00 pm

What is African architecture?

JOIN OUR DISCUSSION ON what it means to be african At this LEKGOTA

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Tour

The Layers of Turffontein Turffontein, Johannesburg

David Pillay - 1665494 Daniel De Sá Santos - 1442149 Tebogo Manthata - 1365216

Turfontein

Rebecca Potterton - 1098533

The Layers of Turffontein Turffontein, Johannesburg David Pillay - 1665494 Daniel De Sá Santos - 1442149 Tebogo Manthata - 1365216 Rebecca Potterton - 1098533

Turffontein is an ever changing suburb that has been the host to many different cultures, people and tragedies. The area was originally Turf Farm, turf meaning heavy clay, but with the discovery of gold, the land was divided and sold. This is when the town as we know it began to take shape. The original town plan of Turffontein corresponds with the plan called ‘Casey’s Township’ which is dated 1890. This essay will take the form of the tour through Turffontein. 1886 -The discovery of gold, Robinson landfill site. Turffontein makes up part of the Goldreef. The discovery of gold in 1886 was instrumental in the formation of Turffontein. This is why it's appropriate to start our tour at the top of a mine dump, the very thing that shaped this town. The top of the mine dump also gives you the opportunity to look over Turffontein.

1899 -1902- The 2nd anglo boer war. While looking over turffontein it's hard to imagine that in 1900 this area became the site for a concentration camp. During the boer war Lord Kitchener set up concentration camps which Afrikaaner women and children were put in.The concentration camp was originally on the mayfair school grounds but they ran out of space and moved to Turffontein. The concentration camp in turffontein had 5000 people in it and there were 700 recorded deaths in this concentration. The concentration camp was situation on the race course land and so the inmates could watch the races which carried on through the war. If you look across turffontein towards the horizon you can see the Klipriviersberg koppies this is the site of the concentration camp memorial. The memorial is closed off to the public but you can see that the typology of the memorial is the same as the other memorials for the concentration camps seen across the country such as the Bethulie memorial in the Karoo.

1910- The fire station. The original fire station was built opposite the race track. It had a 30m tall watchtower which allowed the firemen to watch for smoke as well as watch the races. The watch tower was made of two gum trees. In 1980 the fire station was rebuilt where it is currently found, not far from the original station.

1970-Portuguese hall. During the late 15th century, the Portuguese explored the coast of Southern Africa while simultaneously claiming land as their own. A notable mention of this is Vasco da Gama’s sighting of the ‘Cape of Good Hope’ (Cape Town). The spread of Portuegese colonies into African land lead to the colonisation of some lands, such as Angola and Mozambique. The influx of portuguese settlers was triggered by said colonies becoming independent in the year 1975. This caused most portugese settlers to return home to either Portugal or Madeira, but a significant amount stayed on african land and made their way to South Africa turning South Africa into the home of the largest Portuguese African population at a population of 300 000. Turffontein much like Rossentenville has a large portugese community. Turffontein plays an interesting role in the portuguese diaspora. However there was a lack of sense of community and culture amongst portuguese people in the 1950s and so S ome institutions began to work towards forging a broader national identity in the late 1960s and 1970s. And so places like the portuguese hall

were a way for portuguese immigrants to commune and take pride in their heritage. 2008, 2017, 2019- Hay Street. Hay Street is one of the main streets in Turffontein. This street is bustling with shops and street traders and the hum of many people going about their days. In the 2000s many African immigrants moved into the area. Many of the shops along Hay street are owned by immigrants and contribute significantly to the local economy. In the last 11 years South Africa has witnessed a series of xenophobic attacks. The population of Gauteng is made up by 7.1% ‘non-citizens’ making it the province with the highest percentage of immigrants in the country. Turffontein became the site of terrible violence in 2017 with residents looting and attacking immigrants. Residents said that the ‘foreign nationals’ were criminals as they “hijacked houses, sold drugs and ran brothels.” In 2019 Turffontein saw more xenophobic violence and the rhetoric behind these attacks remained the same as in 2017. Many arrests were made and the violence continues.

1909-1922 -Daisy de Melker house 22 Tully Street. Often referred to as Johannesburg’s Black Widow; Daisy de Melker contributes a grim entry into Turfontein’s history. De Melker, born in 1886, spent her life as a nurse at the Transvaal Children’s Hospital (now the Florence Transition Home) in Braamfontein and had always attracted incredible misfortune in her romantic relationships. Early in her life she lost her partner, Bert Fuller, to black-water fever on the day they had planned to marry. Daisy was able to move on from the loss and start a family in Turffontein with plumber, Alfred Cowle, in March 1909. The couple went on to parent five children, four of whom unfortunately died. In 1923 Daisy de Melker would also lose her husband to a painful death from a cause not specified. Almost exactly a year following this tragedy De Melker remarried to another plumber, Robert Sprout who would pass in 1927 suffering from similar symptoms as the husband before. As repetitive as it is, Daisy would once again remarry in 1931 to yet another plumber, Sydney Clarence de Melker. A year after this marriage De Melker’s remaining child from her first marriage, Rhodes Cecil Cowle, would die after what was believed to be complications with cerebral malaria. It was at this point that suspicions finally peaked and a relative from her second husband insisted that Daisy de Melker was at the centre of all the tragedies that seemed to follow her. After the exhumations of her previous spouses’ bodies; traces of a white, odourless and powerful poison known as Strychnine was found. Following an autopsy of her son traces of the chemical arsenic was found and its purchase was then traced back to Daisy De Melker. Daisy’s knowledge of poisons through her career in nursing as well as being a beneficiary in wills of all three victims made her an obvious suspect.

De Melker’s trial lasted thirty days and, as a result of the public’s wild speculation of what she could've been responsible for, saw every seat in the courthouse filled with some even paying for a chance to witness the trail. Although the court failed to find sufficient evidence to link Daisy to the deaths of her two husbands, she was found guilty for the murder of her son and on the 30th of December 1932 became the second woman to be hanged in South African history. 2019 - Rotunda Park. Rotunda Park was mapped out in the town planning of Turffontein many many years ago. However the face of the park has changed throughout the years. What we found really interesting about the park is how it is being used now. The park really is a well used public space, the space is being used as a place for teaching during the weekend. Groups of children sat together going over their homework while other groups were being taught about endangered bird species. What Is also interesting is that the men of the community meet every Sunday after church at 11am to discuss community matters. In the park there is also a world war 1 memorial which stands in contrast to the scenes in the park.

2019 -Pedestrian walkway( De Villiers Street). The walkway is similar to the park in that it was mapped into the city when the town planning took place. However it is only recently that the pedestrian street has been redone with fabulous jungle gyms and walkway coverings. There really has been a concerted effort to make public spaces safe, fun and accessible. This really could be used as a model for the rest of jhb. 1887- Race track. In 1887 the turf club was formed and in 1897 the first race course was pegged. Throughout the war the race course stayed in use and it has been running continuously since its creation. The race course has always had a large audience , the betting industry has grown hugely with the demographic of the people at the races changing throughout the years. The race track has about 60 races a year. It houses a memorial called the Hennenman memorial which commemorates a horse racing team of 60 people who died in a plane crash . The original architecture of the building is an elegant red face-brick

building with red tiled roof and a long veranda an amalgamation of colonial and local architecture. Turffontein’s history is a complicated tapestry of stories. The area has been home to so many different people which has helped Turffontein to develop a very rich sense of culture and history. Turffontein has also been a place of great conflict and continues to be so. Turffontein is an illustration of South African politics throughout the 1900s and 2000s and epitomizes the complexities of the country we live in.

References Brodie, N. (2008). The Joburg book. Northlands [South Africa]: Pan Macmillan South Africa. Chipkin, C., le Roux, J., Mangoro, N., Snyman, P. and Stoltz, J. (2016). [online] Theheritageportal.co.za. Available at: http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/sites/default/files/notice%20attachments/HIA%20% 26%20CMP_Turffontein%20Precinct_Vol1.pdf [Accessed 10 Sep. 2019].

critical essay

Hughes, A. (2016). A Wander Down Turffontein’s Memory Lane ~ Ashleigh Hughes (Love Racing) | equilife. [online] Equilife.co.za. Available at: http://www.equilife.co.za/a-wander-down-turffonteins-memory-lane-ashleigh-hughes-l ove-racing/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2019]. Phakgadi, P. (2017). Stand-off between foreign nationals & Turffontein residents turn violent. [online] Ewn.co.za. Available at: https://ewn.co.za/2017/03/15/stand-off-between-foreign-nationals-and-turffontein-resid ents-turn-violent [Accessed 10 Sep. 2019]. Raper, P. (2004). New dictionary of South African place names. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, p.378. Smith, A. (1971). Johannesburg street names. Cape Town: Juta, pp.538-541. Statssa.gov.za. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P03014/P030142011.pdf [Accessed 10 Sep. 2019]. VanHeyningen, E. (n.d.). The concentration camps of the Anglo-Boer War. Johannesburg: Ultra Litho (Pty) Ltd, pp.3,78,124. Wire, N. (2019). Situation tense in Turffontein as looting continues. [online] The Citizen. Available at: https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/protests/2174059/situation-tense-in-turffontein-a s-looting-continues/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2019]. Www2.lib.uct.ac.za. (2019). British Concentration Camps of the South African War 1900-1902. [online] Available at: https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Johannesburg/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2019]. Unknown . (2014). Daisy de Melker-Johannesburg’s black widow.Available: https://www.gauteng.net/pages/daisy_de_melker. Last accessed 11th September 2019.

The Highline

Tebogo Manthata 1365216

The Kasi Highline/Lowline

dependent on the city. The priorities in the city will normally be a very good informant for the kinds of projects that will be implemented to enrich or develop the cityscape and these priorities are normally informed by the socio-political as well as the economic climate that the city operates in. The semiotics of place making in cities start at a very internal scale. Depending on the resources available, the political and social aspects of the city will be a molded accordingly, in a carbon democracy where the main source of economy is oil, democracy tends to fall away in favor of authoritarian control and power and so social development projects in these contexts will skew towards patriotic focused things as seen in Egypt and Iraq “Countries that depend upon petroleum resources for a large part of their earnings from exports tend to be less democratic. The wave of uprisings that spread across the Arab world in 2011 appeared to confirm this relationship between large oil earnings and the difficulty of mounting claims to a more democratic and egalitarian life.” (Mitchell 2011) Johannesburg is one of the largest most successful (so far) cities not based around a body of water but around mineral resources and thus the city planning and place making personality reflects this. Waterfronts In cities are a staple for organization and legibility, they serve as a barometer for where life, economy and engagement springs from in the city that flanks it. Public spaces, Boulevards and outdoor gathering spaces of the like thrive and are dynamic because they are informed by this. In a city like Johannesburg such a clear legible organizer is noticeably absent, the planning is jumbled and the economy, public gathering and the like are organized around popular public transport lines and that becomes stifled and inaccessible when they are as illegible as they are especially in the case of street traders.

An intervention in inner city Johannesburg

Introduction The fundamental conceit of building and architecture is that it wants to set itself apart and it wants to do so by taking up space with the implication that it should then be occupied for certain pre-determined purposes. The better approach perhaps is one that integrates into the city with the implication that it will be used and interpreted by the public freely. When it comes to inserting an intervention into the existing Braamfontein site from a context that is discordant to the site itself there are certain limitations and considerations that come into play. To understand these limitations and considerations this essay begins by studying the Manhattan Highline in New York City as a possible option to be inserted into the train station in Braamfontein that dichotomizes the inner city into student-centered Braamfontein and the hustle and bustle of downtown Joburg, and in so doing, explore how the fundamental priorities of different cities can be similar or disparate in terms of implementing social development/ enrichment projects such as the highline.

Abstract The ideal starting point is to dissect how generally city planning and place making is informed by the priorities within the given city. The first point of dissection is based around different forms of economic and political systems that become arranged in a city based on the primary resources that are available. The type of political system then after determining the kind of projects that become focused on, in nondemocracy oil-based countries such as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates the city enrichments are grant statements of wealth (in the case of Dubai) and power (Egypt), this will be discussed further in the discursive matter. In democratic and liberal Cities such as in this case of New York and Johannesburg, the focus in city enrichment projects is a people based one. Scaled down and focusing on perspective primarily. And although Joburg and New York where the highline works so well are similar in that they are a democracy they differ largely elsewhere. Furthermore, we can start to pull apart the highline; what was it built for and who is it for, we can discuss certain criticisms about it and measure just how well it works; This will give us a good basis for whether it’s insertion in Braamfontein would be viable. Once we’ve explored how it works in the Context of New York(The Manhattan Highline) we can now bring it back home, address the different aspects of the city or city “scapes” that would impact the project, how the shift in priorities would morph the idea of the highline into something more appropriate and to what degree that change would potentially be. The stance is ultimately ambivalent as there are some transferable positive ideas that work in New York for reasons that can easily be replicated in the Braamfontein train station site, however the changes that would need to be made in order to fit the new priorities and socio-economic and political climates here would change some of the fundamental nature of the highline. It becomes a stale mate that requires further surrounding intervention other than a crude insertion of the project onto site in order to make it work.

Socio-Economic and political drivers of place making in cities The insertion of any enrichment project within the inner city, Hypothetical or otherwise, comes with a numerous amount of dense and complex issues. All which arise from a focus on certain priorities

In New York, because of how the city is built around a body of water, projects for social enrichment such as the High Line will highlight this. In fact, the initial intention when the highline was repurposed from the freight route transporting good into the viaduct that it became was; “The vision was for a whole manufacturing and refrigerated warehouse district to spring up, spurred by proximity to the waterfront’s port cargo. The president of New York Central, F.E. Williamson, predicted at a dedication ceremony for the West Side Viaduct: “With the completion of the West Side Improvement, of which this viaduct is one of the more important features, West Side manufacturers, distributors and merchants in general will have transportation facilities unsurpassed anywhere. I think it is a safe prediction to say that in time this viaduct and other portions of the route will be covered with air-right buildings whose tenants can bring in their raw materials and ship out their finished products swiftly, safely and efficiently over rails at their very doors. This simple event today may well mark a transformation of the West Side that will affect its development for the better for decades to come.”” (Lopate 2011) The Politics of space in south Africa becomes complicated even though the system of power is democratic the tone shifts when conversations go toward Governability and Governmentality. Whether grand city enrichment projects get put into fruition depends on the competency of the government to implement them, In Johannesburg which is often seen as ungovernable Projects such as the highline often fall flat due to this, “There, the difficulty in understanding how state power shapes spaces and society is further complicated by several elements: the multi-layered nature of state intervention, the juxtaposition of bold and ambitious public interventions directly reconfiguring urban spaces, and evidence of state inconsistencies and efficiencies in shaping urban spaces, which cause some to dismiss its relevance..” (Bénit-Gbaffou 2018)

Tebogo Manthata 1365216

Priorities/Values in a City

who’s principal builders will be attracted by the public grandeur and property value increasing properties of the Highline; the idea is that this is where the money would come back from and where new magnificent urban views from the boulevard would arise(all which has since happened).

We were asked to do an exercise in our Architectural history class in which we had to determine what would be worth salvaging in a city that was about to be destroyed. “Buckminster Fuller, a man of great perspective, gave this problem to a group of students – Design a package of services and effects which will be the most essential to salvage from a city about to be destroyed – the program was of course limited – but it was not an exercise in civil defense. It was a careful study of relative values – what do you take with you when the house burns down?” (Eames 1958) Many conclusions were made about the most vital values in south African cities that deserved preservation moving forward but one that stood out as unanimous throughout the groups was the street trading culture. We all felt rightfully that the thing that makes Joburg what it is is the informal trading that occurs and the ground level subculture that arises because of it. Professor Claire Benit-Gbaffou in response to the General ambivalence towards street traders by the municipalities saw the importance of protecting their existence as well as their autonomy, she highlighted how vital they are within the central thread of society in other African countries and how they enriched the economy because they were taken seriously. She sought to push the same credibility for informal trade here in South Africa, the charter she drafted to protect the hawkers would be a very reliable resource in a project such as this one.” Street trading is a reality that all African cities face, but very few take seriously. It is under the development radar: it is not yet SMMES that one can invest with developmental hopes, it is hardly talking to core economic development strategies. Yet it is what a vast proportion of African cities’ residents live on and support their families on.” (Nicolson 2015) This aspect of the city is one that would need to be prioritized in ways that neither the Highline in New York nor the Parisian Promenade have, traders would establish this new South African High-line within the context but also ensure that it works for the purposes that are aspired to in the aforementioned projects. In terms of the other values to be preserved transport is another such value and it works hand in hand with street trade in this case as the current site is flanked by 2 new transport projects which have the potential to feed in multiple people into the new highline inspired boulevard.

Various criticisms have been made about the Manhattan Highline that run as counterpoints to some of the things that are successful about it. For one even though it is elevated above ground and lessens the claustrophobia of ground floor city life, it is inaccessible and provides a disingenuous self-aggrandizing view of the city. It, “gives us an eerier, slower, quieter experience of the city. We feel lordly, seeing the metropolis we do every day, but from a more protected and contemplative viewpoint. In that respect, the High Line functions like The Gates, Christo’s and Jeanne-Claude’s intervention in Central Park, whose chief virtue was that it redirected our attention to the lineaments of Olmsted and Vaux’s masterpiece, or Olafur Eliasson’s temporary waterfall plunging off the Brooklyn Bridge. Maybe we have grown so jaded to the modern city’s beauty that we will increasingly need such reframing aids to rekindle our admiration and awe.”(Lopate 2011). Another criticism was that, as aforementioned, the setting of the manufacturing district was not that interesting to look and with little to no retail intervention there would be no worthy incentive to go up onto the Highline to begin with, “walking the High Line that first time, I found myself looking usually at the backs of commercial buildings, a more furtive, piquant sight than offered by their street facades. Whereas the fronts of these buildings boast whatever decorative pretensions they might possess, their posteriors are barer, balder, with rear entrances, backyards, fire escapes, chimneys, parti-walls patched with tar. The effect is like spying on their private, unguarded existence.” (Lopate 2011) The High Line has also been compared to a case study that mirrors it in many ways, The Promenade Plantée, an elevated urban walk in Paris. The Promenade is Longer and wider than the Highline, opening more opportunity for fabulous landscaping along it, contrary to the rigidity of the Highline. In this Parisian context, “Their original line was built for passenger service, not freight, and the adjoining 12th arrondissement is a residential Paris neighborhood rather than a manufacturing zone, which makes for a cozier surround of private flats, skylights, mansards and art nouveau apartment houses.” (Lopate 2011) and underneath it are mazes of arches that hold up the promenade about, which have since been filled with boutiques and retailers that attract people to the spectacle of the Boulevard.

Understanding the Manhattan Highline The highline embodies itself as a shining example of “characteristic piece of abandoned industrial infrastructure, such as has increasingly come to litter the American urban landscape” (Lopate 2011) something that post urbanization has seen become a dizzying trend. As new forms of transport spring into being in response to a modernizing and densifying urban world train lines such as the one formerly used at the highline as well as the old train lines in Braamfontein become obsolete, usurped by “better and more efficient” systems. The highline stretches 148 miles through Manhattan, starting in the meat packing district, a predominantly manufacturing zone in the city, and opening out into a boulevard that frames multiple views of the city at different stops views that are mostly unimpressive due to the industrial nature of the district it is placed in save for one view that overlooks the Hudson river. It stands parallel to the Hudson river park and makes in its implementation an aspiring effort to open the city to the waterfront, as is characteristic of projects in these types of cities. It is similar in this way to the Hudson river park except for the fact that it is elevated to second floor level and thus is not bombarded by the sounds and bustle of the traffic below in a way that ground floor interventions like the park are. The initial apprehension regarding cost for the renovation of the highline into the boulevard that it is now was countered with the fact that there were plans to increase the market value of the surrounding buildings by indirectly densifying the manufacturing zone around with attractive, modern hip buildings

Alternative Reestablishing us back to the context in which we are presently rooted. In Johannesburg with all the things we have just considered within the other two case studies, a few things would come to the foreground. The Braamfontein train line is not elevated within the region of the site allocated for the new proposed project and although that works in favor of the ground floor street level traders it diminishes the potential for views and quieter contemplative traversal through the city. paradoxically though views of the city from the train yard are not particularly impressive and the drawing power in this new proposed project would be the ground level retail trade and the sprawling botanical garden on the boulevard (informed mostly by the fact that public recreational green space is few and far between in Braamfontein). To maximize the space further perhaps we could even dig underground and, using the arch below as boutique space idea in the Paris promenade we could utilize underground space below the train rail for public space activation purposes. Another aspect that mirrors the Paris Promenade is that the train rails in Braamfontein were used to transport people so the routes they take will engage the city in more interesting ways than the Highlines industrial routes could. A useful alternative precedent would be the Sub-Urban Redevelopment projects such as the Lowline which uses fiber light

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transfer technology to bring light underground and, “was conceived of as a complement to the Highline, a popular park also located in Manhattan. Each project re-purposes old rail infrastructure; while the Highline runs along elevated railway tracks, the Lowline is set to occupy an old underground trolley terminal… And in a city where real estate is beyond expensive and new public space hard to come by, it makes sense to seek out opportunities both above and below the surface.” (KOHLSTEDT 2016).

Conclusion A stance of ambivalence towards the proposed insertion of a foreign project (In this case the Manhattan Highline) into the context of inner-city Johannesburg is appropriate here. On one hand leaving the current unused train park untouched would be a wasted opportunity for not only enriching, vibrant public space within a city that lacks them. On the other hand, the Manhattan Highline project, I have found, is quite naïve albeit beautiful even within its own site It is too busily contrived and self consciously theoretical to work as a modular blueprint for elevated public spaces in disparate contexts and although it works in some applicable aspects it is not sufficient enough on its own to become a worthy integration into the city. However, Some of the ideas from the Highline coupled with other case studies addressing repurposing existing infrastructure below and above ground in new and interesting ways can be a winning formula for a new vibrant market/botanical garden/boulevard that incorporates the key values and priorities of the city such as transport, street trade and public gathering, viable enough economically to convince the government to implement it.

APPENDIX

References Bénit-Gbaffou, Claire. 2018. "Unpacking State Practices in City-Making,in." The Journal of Development Studies 54 (12): 2139–2148. Eames, Charles and Ray. 1958. "The India Report."

Tebogo Manthata 1365216 KOHLSTEDT, KURT. 2016. 99% invisible. August 22. Accessed October 10, 2019. https://99percentinvisible.org/article/new-uses-old-digs-excavating-adapting-undergroundarchitecture/. Lopate, Phillip. 2011. "Above Grade: On the High Line." Places. Mitchell, Timothy. 2011. Carbon Democracy. London: Verso. Nicolson, Greg. 2015. "Making African cities open to street trading: Q&A with Professor Claire BenitGbaffou." The Daily Maverick, December 7. Radial Bench, High Line Park, between west 28th and 29th streets. [Photo ÂŠ Iwan Baan, 2011] 26th Street Viewing Spur. [Photo ÂŠ Barry Munger, 2011] Lowline park early design concept image via thelowline.org