Liste des projets

Carin Smuts

  • Site : www.csstudio.co.za
  • Adresse : 64 Ocean View Drive, Sea Point 8005 Cape Town
Carin Smuts started working with impoverished marginalized communities of South Africa and Namibia since 1982 when 8 migrant workers from Lingelihle, Cradock, Eastern Cape South Africa approached The University of Cape Town School of Architecture for assistance to obtain land and build a skills training workshop. Carin, a third year architectural student took up the task. This was at the height of Apartheid and many challenges had to be faced. The state of emergency made meetings and planning building projects an illegal activity and yet the planning and building went on. In 1989 with Urs Schmid CS Studio Architects were established. For 30 years the practice has produced hundreds of public buildings in disadvantaged contexts both urban and rural. The main focus is to create better urban space. Most of the black and coloured townships of South Africa consisted only of hostels, housing and informal structures. The public realm and urban spaces was severely lacking. The public spaces were the churches, mosques, temples and some small shops, with most of the beer halls being burnt out or standing empty. The way Carin Smuts works is through participation and collaboration. The process starts as a consultative process involving many stakeholders. Many months go by where a clear understanding of the future users' needs are explored in a number of participatory and capacity building workshops. The process can also include theatre, poetry sessions, counselling etc... whatever the project dictates. Design workshops produce drawings and models and give the future user a chance to give meaningful input. During construction local contractors, sub-contractors and artists are involved on the building site. Many local economic opportunities are created. Locally available materials are used. When there are existing structures material is recycled and re-used. Buildings are simple boxes juxtaposed to create more complex solutions. Outside in-between spaces become as important as the enclosed indoor spaces. The buildings are multi-functional and all share the same characteristics as they are a product of the people who designed them through an interactive process. With extremely limited budgets, CS Studio has created many vibrant urban and public spaces to improve the quality of life for many people.

Ulwazi Youth Centre

DATE: 1989 - 1998 / 2009

BACKGROUND

Langa, a township notorious for its 1989 youth gang killings and the terrorizing by gangs of its residents has historically been torn apart by political conflict and violence. A community leader Zora Mehlumakulu and some parents contacted us to help find a solution to put an end to the 38 killings that had violently taken place during 1989.

Langa Township was originally established to provide cheap labour for the Western Cape. It consists of mostly single storey small family homes, hostels, and shacks. In some cases up to 24 people share a single room. At the time the conditions were extremely unhealthy with no public facilities for the residents, except at the illegal shebeens (bars) and taverns.

The site is situated in Langa, 10km from the centre of Cape Town CBD. The only site which became available and was accepted by the youth was a small piece of land (1061 square meter) nestled between existing formal housing and hostels. However, the site was relatively far away from taverns and shebeens.

DESIGN

A meeting with community leaders and representatives from various gangs and other youth organizations followed once a meeting was held with concerned adults and parents. It was agreed that a process of weekly meetings with the youth and other interested parties would follow which lead to the preparation of fundraising proposals to build phase 1 of the Ulwazi centre during 1991. Meeting with children and youth were held over a two year period. Within the first three months the killing between the gangs stopped. The ages of these gangs were from 11 to 36 years of age. Their main reason for being in the gang was boredom, poor living and social conditions, We started different activities, drumming, theatre groups, art groups and counselling, while designing the building with them.

The first phase of the building consists of three rectangular elements that are held together by the circulation spaces. The three boxes also form an internal courtyard which is used for parking, playing etc. The main multipurpose hall is the re-cycled hostel where the steel structure was re-used and extended to expand the hall.

Every space is designed to cater for a variety of activities. An outside ‘caged in’ room provides additional accommodation for the classrooms. A second phase at the back of the hall consisting mainly of classrooms, have also been built. This became a pre-school and primary school.

The second phase was completed by a local female contractor and functioned well until recently. The building changed thousands of lives but sadly in November 2009 a gang instigated the demolition of the building.

Illustration