Supervisors: Marie Snyman
Research field: Architecture
Location: Makhanda, Eastern Cape
Keywords: Regenerative design, Bioeconomy, Cultural infrastructure, Form-based performance, Temporal art
Abstract
For every high point in a city, the production of the built environment leaves a scarred landscape behind where materials are extracted from the earth. Every quarry is a reminder of this history, and the abandoned quarry in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), Eastern Cape is poetically situated to create conversation about this phenomenon.
One of the oldest towns in South Africa, Makhanda is known for Rhodes University, which hosts the annual National Arts Festival, a defining economic and cultural feature of the town. This project proposes a research facility for Rhodes University, focused on investigating regenerative technology through the production of temporal art installations. The university’s potential for further development provides an opportunity to extend the cultural heartbeat of the town, and the integration of regenerative technologies and artistic practices could facilitate a future for the university where its rigorous research is combined with its cultural impact.
The placement of this project in the quarry on the hill across from the town’s main festival venue situates it as an extension of this programme, yet the inclusion of a research facility and workshop space sets it apart as a forward-looking facility where a regenerative mindset is integrated into all aspects of society. A theatre and gallery are thus placed as exhibition spaces for the products of this integrated research, celebrating the temporal nature of the materials created. This contrasts with the material narrative of the quarry, which is itself a symbol of extractive practices in the creation of permanent structures.
The technology investigated in the research facilities is used in the production of this building as a form of research-by-design. Technologies such as additive manufacturing, computational design, and bio-based materials are all part of a movement towards the 6th Industrial Revolution, and the creation of this building is itself an investigation of design principles which will bring human development closer into communion with nature.
Strategies for bio-based material integration are investigated in the form of mycelium-based composites, which provide a direct link to knowledge-industry partnerships. Additionally, computational design and testing is used as a design informant to emphasise the importance of performance-based design in the creation of regenerative spaces.
Makandha has a long history as a place for artists, artisans, and researchers, and this project aims to propose a future for education in this town, where extractive hierarchies are inverted, and value is rather placed on the regeneration of the landscape.
