HERITAGE

Development on heritage sites tended to narrowly focus on an architectural heritage locked in a specific era. The result was a singular narrative that excluded other histories and readings. This negated a critical evaluation of heritage in the contemporary post-apartheid context.

Heritage should take into account a broader context. Conservation of any building should take into account the context as outlined below, as well as how the current context has overlaid new readings of the building.

  •  The manner in which the building relates to landscape. The design of that landscape, both the original landscape design, its’ evolution over time, and its’ relation to current attitudes towards landscape design and planting – especially in relation to exotic plants and trees, and water scarcity and indigenous planting.
  • The relation of a building to its’ urban/ rural context- original and current.
  • The economic, social and political context of the building not only when it was designed and built, but also during its’ inhabitation.
  • The evolution of this economic, social , political, urban, architectural, landscape context, and the manner in which some of the original core values have changed, and the result on the current reading of the building in its’ new context.

In joint venture with Xhamai Design we designed an entry for the Nelson Mandela Center of Memory competition. History was overlaid and folded to juxtapose past present and future

In joint venture with LemonPebble Design, we researched this notion of a broader heritage in relation to Heritage Properties of the University of the Witwatersrand along Jubilee Road Johannesburg  and contributed to a new Heritage Policy- WITS RESEARCH INSTITUTES.


 


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