Guerilla architecture?

Looked into the practical aspects of each intervention on site today, trying to figure out how they would actually work. The two gentlemen from the community Mr Cindi and Mr Sibanyoni were there waiting for us, when we arrived. There seemed to be only a few volunteers, though we were late, so I guess we could’ve lost some. They seemed a bit baffled, I suppose because nothing solid is happening yet, just talk. The scholars decided to go back to school after a while. Anyway, we worked out some quite useful things to do with balustrades and stairs. Hannah pointed out that swings on a concrete slab were pretty dangerous so we came up with the idea of covering the slab with old car mats. The rain had made the site feel really grim and I felt daunted and overwhelmed, picking my way between the rubbish and dead rats. As Guy pointed out, the rubbish is thoroughly embedded in the earth around the beer hall, not simply lying on the surface, and is going to be really hard to remove properly. There were pools of water in the covered area which hadn’t drained and the crumbling concrete work looked even less likely to hold up in its damp state.
The council meeting in the afternoon was quite fascinating. The collection of officials didn’t seem at all unified and each seemed to come up with his own series of complex potential objections and bureaucratic processes to send us through. As Hannah pointed out, the fact that we had three community members with us helped – especially when they started suggesting that we hadn’t consulted the community. I left with a sense that we shouldn’t be bothering with the council, that we should just be go ahead. In Hannah’s words, that is the way building happens in townships, ad hoc, and without planning permission. Another approach would be to see it in a more temporary light, without worrying about whether it endures, though this might not be fair to the community? And Nathi did come with a question – presumably from his father – about whether we’d got council permission. According to one of the officials, a council engineer had previously said that the structure was not viable and that the stand could only be sold if the building was demolished, which does not augur well.