Regenerative Biohistoric Waterscapes
By: Andreas Mavrakis
Mid-year review, MArch(Prof) student work
We live in a world defined by 19th century water law, 20th century infrastructure,
and 21st century water needs, (Pitt, 2015). Water is life and future urban dwellers
could possibly grow up without much daily exposure or direct access to pristine
natural resources. How do we speculate future scenarios with 21st century water
needs and how do we remain cognitive about its importance or relevance in a world
where natural resources are becoming increasingly polluted and scarce
The Apies River is a segregated natural element that has contributed to Pretoria’s
urban establishment as well as its continued growth. How do we treat significant and
adjacent natural resources without ignoring them as part of the future urban grain?
The Apies River is a channelised, and physically linear entity which passes through
the city. In the context of an eco-systemic paradigm, how does architecture engage
with basic urban water infrastructure towards a regenerative intervention that is
simultaneously poetic and functional?
The historical Hove’s Drift (Prinshof area) is currently overshadowed by separate
and privately accessed, medical, social and administrative land uses and building
functions which has caused its neglected and abandoned state, similar to suppressed
left-over space. The site is overgrown with trees, shrubs and overgrown grass
patches. The river is not seen by the surrounding buildings as a natural system to
co-operate with, but rather as a system to avoid contact with. Distance is kept from
this segregated channelised entity.
The pursued balance and harmony between man-made and natural systems is created
in the making of place (Regenesis Group, 2012). This requires an approach which
synthesises both systems. A regenerative theory may adapt the hydrological cycle to
the local context along with its local biological and historical narratives. This approach
provides a platform for exchanges to occur between natural and anthropic systems.
The building program proposes to connect the ‘isolated’ surrounding buildings of the
Prinshof Medical/Educational district with spaces commonly associated with a
hydrotherapy centre. The nodal intervention proposes to architecturally translate and
manipulate stereotomic ‘hard’ surfaces and tectonic ‘soft’ surfaces as a method for
making regenerative ‘poetic water spaces’.
green spaces. This expresses a localised response to the biological, historical and present
programmatic conditions found adjacent to the Apies River. The hydrological cycle of
collecting, cleansing and storing water is used to create ‘spatial poetics’ as experienced
by local users(medical practitioners, patients) and the urbanite. It proposes to promote
aspects regarding the natural experience of ‘river space’. It aims to regenerate the urban
condition by providing a platform for users to appreciate a rejuvenating aquatic
experience of a quotidian or therapeutic nature.