Stepping out of destitution
by: Nicola Patrick
Mid-year review, MArch(Prof) student work
The motivation for this dissertation came about because of the prevalence of drug addiction in our South African cities. This is a real world issue that affects the urban environment and the people living therein.
Approach:
Stepping Out of Destitution is a narrative. It is set in just one of the many deteriorated and abandoned spaces and buildings in Marabastad, in the City of Tshwane. The narrative tells the story of the neglected people and place of Marabastad and the transformation of place into a thriving system that provides prospect and refuge for its people. The setting is bounded by Boom Street to the north and Grand Street to the south (on either side of Steenhovenspruit). To the east are a cluster of buildings that terminate on Kgosi Mapuru Street. To the west an historic fine grain block, that contains the old Empire Theatre and surrounding buildings, is bounded by 10th Street.
The story intends to relate the human aspect of the issues that are prevalent in Marabastad, and how a holistic approach that integrates the people with the place would play out to regenerate the area. This human aspect is introduced by a few fictional characters that are integral to the system of Marabastad.
Architecture’s role in this dissertation plays out through the narrative of collaboration between health professionals, architects, shop owners, informal traders and the homeless community of Marabastad.
The shop owner, Mr. Pillay, familiarises us with the historically and politically significant suburb of Marabastad in the capital city of Tshwane, located northwest of the CBD known as Pretoria, in Gauteng, South Africa. Having grown up in Marabastad until the mid 1960s, Mr. Pillay is full of stories about Marabastad. Although he no longer lives in Marabastad, he has always worked in the shop that he now owns - Pillay Upholsterers. Mr. Pillay describes how the lives of the homeless in Marabastad play out in deteriorated and abandoned open spaces and buildings. It is of great concern to him that both the place and the people of Marabastad are neglected.
Mr. Pillay befriends a couple of health professionals that visit the homeless community on Grand Street. He noticed them one day, looking out of the workshop window - they were walking around “no-mans-land” conversing casually with the people. One day he asks them what they do there and this is how he came to know them. The health professionals come bi-weekly to check up on the homeless community’s health. Soon Mr. Pillay and his new friends are discussing his concerns about the neglected people and place of Marabastad.
Mr. Pillay learns from Dr. Radebe that Marabastad falls outside of an existing network of support facilities that cater to the homeless and vulnerable people of the City of Tshwane. He becomes hopeful about the potential to plug into this network. He asks Dr. Radebe if there are any moves towards integrating Marabastad in this network. Mr. Pillay is especially concerned about the prevalence of drug addiction among the homeless people of Marabastad. The doctor tells him about a harm-reduction strategy for drug addicts in Tshwane that is in the pipeline.
In the months that follow, Mr. Pillay, Dr. Radebe and other health professionals meet with other members of the community that are passionate about Marabastad. Dr. Radebe brings along a friend she met at the Pathways Out of Homelessness conference last year. Her friend, Janeke, works with Smith & Mokholo Architects in Pretoria.
Mr. Pillay asks her to explain this mouthful. Janeke explains that the methodology, the way in which the architecture will be designed, is through regenerative development. She further explains that regenerative development entails giving new life or energy to a place and bringing out the most potential of that place. She adds that this is where the input of the community is also vital to the architecture. Stepping out of destitution becomes a possibility for Katlego, along with others who are vulnerable to the everyday barriers out of homelessness.