Abstract

The project is situated in the main courtyard of The Fields mixed-use development and student housing on Burnett Street in Hatfield, Pretoria. Completed in 2007, the main courtyard of the building is meant to serve as a garden for the residents but currently functions as unprogrammed circulation space. Viewing the city as a series of urban living rooms, this space is meant to embody the intimacy and regeneration found at home in the urban fabric. The design investigates the lack of effective third spaces through the lens of urban inhabitation and performance to establish the viability of Third Places in the South African context. Many urban spaces that are supposed to benefit users are under-activated and under-utilised due to ‘bad’ design. The project aims to address the lack of third places and how it influences the well-being of the users while creating social activation through performance. The new programmeis an urban performance space that also functions as a social and cultural hub, additionally hosting markets and existing temporary programmes such as Red Bull events, wellness activities, movie nights and quiz nights. The client for this project is The Fields, and the user groups include The Fields residents, undergraduate and postgraduate students, local creatives from the community, and people working around the site. Botaki ba Afrika, Emendy Multimedia Institute and Hatfield CID are the primary stakeholders for this project. The design concept is Performance in the Park and will create a complex urban terrain and performance spaces through a visual wrapping thread with different programmessituated within the thread. The strategic approach includes proposing a new tenant mix that supports the new programme while still serving the residents of The Fields and encourages people to connect and create an interconnected community. This will be achieved by considering Third Place Theory, Urban Interiors, Interiority, Design for Human Flourishing and Urban Living Rooms through the lenses of Urban Inhabitation and Urban Resilience.

Keywords: Third Place Urban Resilience Urban Interior Performance Urban Inhabitation