PITCH

In KwaThema the main forms of spatial appropriation in open land include grazing cattle, planting mielies (corn), meeting churchgoers, car wash precincts, outdoor shebeens (drinking places), bashes (youth parties), wedding and funeral parties, and soccer. Lacking the resources to create permanence, emerging institutions are created in part from existing and appropriated space, in part from temporal infrastructures and in part from public cultures that rely on the intensity and memory of lived experiences.

My new research interest is soccer spaces. Working alongside three different soccer networks, I’ve developed a staged strategy to support the renewal of existing fields and opening up of new ones at a minimal cost. It begins with a visit from the Whitelineunit, volunteers from the Imvelo Youth Development brigade (part of the earlier KwaThema Project - see Design is a virus) who have skills and materials to establish a field anywhere, in the most fundamental manner using white paint onto earth and four goal markers, and the basics for field based meetings, in the form of a shade structure and a gas barbecue.

The second strategy involves locating fields and organizing their clean-up. In the process, there is a lot of discussion about the meaning and memories of place, and an energized imagining of what it could become. The third gesture involves the design and construction of a thickened edge to the fields, in the form of a paved strip, mobile shade structure and signs, using materials typical of temporary structures in the township. The final strategy is to allow the edge element to be added to by other actors, within and outside the township. These additional elements will be suspended or housed within its frame; coming both from within and outside of the local township economy they might include food stalls, signage, branding and VIP enclosures. The shade structure and field will act as a mediating filter between scales and networks around soccer, to illustrate ways to extend the space and program of soccer.

The social elements might include educational programs, political sloganeering, opportunities for business, networks of friends and transport arrangements all linked through minimal micro-technologies of temporary structures and services. The new proposals will engage with and propose a more multiple kind of pitch, in terms of its use. At an urban scale, the project can be multiplied using soccer pitches as a building block to enrich township public space.

Design is a virus

KwaThema, after an election, into a recession.

It’s surprising.

Optimistic.

Saturday’s new visitors to KwaThema were Professor Bruno de Meulder from Leuven and Eindhoven and Randall Bird from Wits, with shared interests spanning architectural history, housing and urbanism. Like with all visitors to the site, we began by climbing up the beerhall to the gallery and looking over the park. It remains an exceptional space from which to take stock of the township.

The beerhall has been neglected, and the basket hoop and board stolen. Someone’s reinforced the street edge barriers to keep cars out, which is good, but there seems to be a near complete absence of ownership of the structure. Yet on either side, there are great signs of the park itself coming into its own as a public space.

The Imvelo Youth Development brigade which includes some of the Project volunteers were taking a break from gardening the west side of the park, which they’ve transformed with bollards, signs, flowers and two paved shortcuts. There’s no vandalism of their work.

 

We strolled over to Stan’s Place to find that he was out at his new venture, the Zanzibar Jazz Lounge, which he has opened in the old qota shop that backs onto the park. It’s a cool venue with artworks, a stoep at the front, and the obligatory citigolf-based sound system. Stan’s mates were enjoying their quartz and jazz.

It really struck me as I strolled back to the car how much this place had grown on me in just a few weeks. I felt simultaneously sad about the damaged court and thrilled by the unexpected contamination of design and build into the surrounding community space. Perhaps the beerhall, in all its emptiness, is destined to remain ours, as outsiders, or noone’s. But still a space for the imagination to fill.

We stopped at Anthony’s Chess Academy on the way out. The park has been given play equipment and was full of kids jostling to use the swings. And the Academy is doing great. On their way to the Nationals in Cape Town in December, in their new white T-Shirts. 

Games Room

The Castling

Kasia Kwiecinska and I created this short film for an architectural research project. It is about how a simple house can turn into a chess academy.

Special thanks to the KwaThema Chess Academy for all their help.

The Corner Shebeen

#1 Job Maseko was abuz this Friday, with a re-enactment scene of the shebeen (pub) that Anthony Shoba used to run in the structure. The music was blaring, the fake drinks were flowing. A big thanks to our very good actors.

KwaThema Chess Tournament 2007

This film was taken in KwaThema, it is of a chess tournament organised by Anthony Shoba and the KwaThema Chess Academy. (Created by Kasia and I)

#1 Job Maseko Street - Eduardo

Select one of the images to see the higher quality versions.

Mixed Narrative - Eduardo

Working on the KwaThema research project has opened my eyes to all the new possibilities of architecture and its growth.
It has become clear in our research that one cannot separate architecture and narrative. Every built outcome is a result of a story, every change means the possible inclusion of new characters, this is not merely a tree-shaped system, but quickly forms a network that is so intricate that one needs to act like an investigator to try and find the clues that best reveal the network.
Working with Anthonly that the chess park has meant an avalanche h of links, people, history and economy flooding towards us. I hope that we have set the right filters in place in order to make sense of this information.

A Sunday out and about

I took my mum to Kwa Thema and together we went round to most of the houses talking to people. Most people were out and about with it being Sunday. I got most of the groundwork done and people are starting to recognise me. Most people are still asking me to help them in some way and it is quite hard to explain that I can’t be that person that helps them.

But what I have learnt is that what at first appears to be ingenuity and resourcefulness is really the work of a few. There appears to be a few craftsmen and mural artists who do all of the personalisation and decoration and that most people employ others to create these elements of their homes. It was quite disappointing to realise this but I suppose that in reality this is how it works everywhere and there is no reason to believe that Kwa Thema would be any different.

A cold day but warm experience

Tammy and I were looking at similar ideas for our research and we were also focussing on the same area. So on the Tuesday we went with Nadine to Kwa Thema. Tammy and I started off by talking to Tsepo and Anthony in the Chess Park Academy but then moved outside to take photographs. The weather was very extreme, it had tried to rain and it was bitterly cold. We did six blocks of houses and our hands were icy. We sought refuge in the Chess Park building but Anthony had organised for us to meet with Emily who lives at no. 9. She thankfully invited us into her home and showed us how she had extended it in the 55 years she has lived there. Emily was very busy but had welcomed us and made time for us and that soon warmed us up.

A crazy taxi ride!

Tammy, Tom and I were walking along Job Maseko, from the Chess Park towards the civic centre. We were trying to formulate our research topics and to establish the areas we were going to be working in. As we stopped to cross a side road a car pulled up and a well dressed man stepped out of the passenger side. His name was Justice and was concerned for our safety or rather his taxi driver had been concerned and they had stopped to enquire if we were all right. After a discussion about what we were doing in Kwa Thema we learnt that Justice was a local magistrate who had just taken his two rottweiler puppies to have their tails docked. He eventually insisted that we make use of his taxi driver to take us anywhere we please in order to keep us safe. So the three of us shared the backseat with the puppies while we took them and their owner back to their home in White City. Bafana, the taxi driver, then took us to Massimini, to the beer hall where we were going to continue our contemplations and observations.

Bafana was incredibly dutiful and followed as we walked around. When we wanted to return to the Chess Park, Bafana wanted to take us past a car wash that he would like us to support. It turned out that this was just a ruse to take us on a joyride where he could show us off to everyone he knew. We became instant celebrities while Bafana hooted and shouted at all those who passed by and in turn they looked on in disbelief. Apparently it is not everyday that you have three white people in your taxi!

When we were nearing the end of our trip, Bafana pointed out a real local celebrity, Riot, but we took very little notice until he started singing the popular song from Riot’s group. At this point we realised that Riot was from the Gang of Instrumentals and so we turned the car around and went to meet the real celebrity and get his autograph.

I returned to Joburg rather exhilarated from our unique experience in the township. However my family were less than thrilled to hear about my experience and in particular my brother was furious with me for being so ‘reckless’. I t was difficult to explain that you have to show trust in people in order to receive that trust in return. And of course I would never do this in Johannesburg but things are different in Kwa Thema. Something you can only understand by going there.

KwaThema Networks - Eduardo

This is a video showing the beginnings of my research project for honours year architecture.
It is going to deal with representing the connections between people and the space they live in through the medium of film. Thus adding the element of time in quite a graphic way.

My first visit

My first site visit to Kwa Thema was very interesting. I had no prior experience of the township and was determined to just go and observe and try and absorb the environment. So I refrained from taking pictures and instead just observed and listened. My first surprise was the goats walking freely in the road and in the park. It seemed in stark contrast to the dense but low-rise fabric of Kwa Thema. The other contrast was in the houses themselves, with some being well tended, neat and cared for while others were more untidy and neglected. But what really impressed me was the variety in the materials used to create boundary walls or fences or to decorate the outside of the houses. There seemed to be a sense of creativity and ingenuity despite the sometimes dire economic situations. Above all there was a sense of pride in people’s homes.

We had a lovely lunch in Tshepele’s house and the sense of welcome was laid plentiful on the table with large bowls of food. My anxiety of the unknown was also laid to rest.

following up

Thursday was my third visit back to KwaThema since the end of the project, and for the first time I felt dismayed by the change in the physical condition of the beerhall. The beercrates had been stolen in the first two weeks after completion, but now the mattresses have been untied and there is a scattering of gravel around the floor. Kids were playing basketball with a tennisball: their big ball was missing. After giving permission for a party - a bash - to be held on June 16, Stan and Mr Cindi feel that the structure is open to abuse.

At the Chess Park, on the other hand, the changes have been positive. Anthony has encroached onto a patch of lawn alongside his house, along the east side of the park, and has rearranged his fence to make a yard for the minigym he is planning. He also intends to get fencing erected around the entire chess park.

Two groups, one led by Stan and Mr Cindi, and the other made up of volunteers, have begun forming NGO's to look after the beerhall. At the meeting yesterday we discussed a larger, more comprehensive group forming that could represent all their interests as well as those of artists, sportpeople, community workers, the organisations around the park, and Wits. Tshepelile reminded us how important the kids who use the space were, and how its important to make new uses compatibile with their access to the space. We closed with the volunteers and Stan agreeding to meet to discuss the idea of a single group with their own networks and take it from there.

The idea of an NGO formed around a specific space is a new idea in KwaThema, so it will be interesting to see if it makes sense to the community. It seems to depend on whether there is a sense of the park being something public, something that could change, and something that can accommodate overlapping uses. For now, the Chess Park, even though its use is controlled by Anthony, appears to be something positive and public. I wonder how a fence will change that image.

The Right Date

If you want to post your blog to the right date: Click on the pencil at the end of your blog to edit it, then in the new screen click on 'Post Options'. In post options you can change the date of the post to the real date which it refers to. Then just publish your post. You might need to refresh your Internet browser before any noticeable changes will take place. The blogs would read a lot better if they were in chronological order. Cool.

Touching base with chesspark...

Yesterday was Tuesday, 29 May….
I decided to revisit Kwathema, curiosity and the sense of incompletion drove me to it.
Upon arriving at the chess academy, I felt the usual sense of urgency. It was soon broken..
Anthony Shoba was there with two other men…I greeted Anthony and acknowledged the others, Anthony warmly replied, “are you not going to greet the others”….I realized then that due to my hurried attitude I had forgotten my manners, not only in that moment but probably throughout the past few weeks.

With this realization I relaxed and sat down. One of the men, Rolly Xipu, expressed his enthusiasm about the work we had done, the other, Tshepo Matseme, a fellow chess tutor at the Kwathema Chess academy, dittoed that.

Anthony was glowing, I asked him about the event on Saturday. He said that the tournament was a great success and that had attracted lots of new enthusiasts, both children and adults. It was the first time he had hosted an outdoor chess tournament, there were 46 players in total, divided into categories of Under 9, Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, and Open.

Both Anthony and Tshepo have extended their passion of teaching and chess beyond the borders of the chess academy. Tshepo teaches chess at a school in Brakpan (a nearby suburb) and to private students. Anthony goes to the nearby Khangezile Primary school, where children remain after school to attend his lessons.
Anthony quotes “charity begins at home but it doesn’t end there.”
They tell me about the educational qualities of chess. Tshepo recalls the effect chess had on his high school career, he noticed that chess playing was improving his performance in mathematics, to such an extent that he received an 'A' in matric for it.
Anthony tells us about the importance of sport at school, it is one of the major elements that attract children to school, it gives them confidence in themselves.
He has big dreams, one of them is to extend the the chess academy into an after school education center where children have the space to do their homework and get assistance for subjects they are not particularly strong in. The other one is to see his students travel overseas to play tournaments, himself having never traveled that far.
Tshepo is an avid reader and we talk about the possibilities of bringing books and reading
into the academy.
By listening to these two men I realize how strong and important education and youth is to them. It is not just about getting good marks at school but about preparation for life as an adult. Those of us who have walked some of this journey, know that it is full of challenges which we are often not equipped for.
The ability to strategise, to be able to foresee the effects of choices, in times of decision making; to be able to know when to give something up and when to hang on to it.
Every game of chess is that and more and it has no detrimental effects if one doesn't win.
I believe that Anthony Shoba has linked chess with life and has therefore has so many children attending the chess academy. They are there, religiously, after school everyday playing game after game.

Anthony has shown them something that they know makes them stronger, he has shown them that each of them has a powerful mind.
It is 3 o'clock and Anthony is getting ready to go to Khangezile Primary to give a class on chess. He received a demonstration board from Carnival City (a local casino) to take with him. I ask if I may join him, he welcomes me.
We arrive at the school, there are about 20 students, mostly girls, all engaged in a game of chess. He takes out the demonstration board and the lesson begins, he is teaching in Zulu and in English, demonstrating 'castelling' on the board , he asks “why do we castle?”
A student puts his hand up in the air, and answers “to protect the king”.
Anthony is a natural teacher, it is evident that he is respected and reciprocally respects the youngsters, he has their undivided attention and interest...
I take some photos and, say ' salagahle' and leave feeling inspired with the knowledge that there are some amazing people in this world who are following their hearts and are sharing their dreams with others.

Launch

The launch of our projects happened this Saturday. I tried to write a blog on Sunday and found myself unable to do so.
The effects of the past weeks and the excitement of Saturday had not yet settled.
So here it is in retrospect...
Our work at the Chesspark in the early hours of the day was still not complete, the screed around the checkered board was wet and therefore could not be cleaned to it's glory, the tiles also needed some serious de-cementing. The tent for the chess tournament was in the process of being assembled and Anthony was busy organizing the day ahead.
The event started at the beerhall, at about 10:30 am, the structure is not used to being used at such early hours of the morning. It was shy against the blue backdrop of the sky...Physically it also possesses a nakedness which completely transforms into a playsuit as the sun starts it's westward journey.
We the went on a procession to all five of the individual projects which ended at the Chess Academy. By this time the chess tournament had started, the 46 players were organized at tables sitting under the canopy of the tent. The new shiny fibreglass pieces were set up on the chess board, waiting for the game to begin....
Anthony's dream had come true, the chess parks very own first tournament was in action... there was a break for the speeches. Anthony made us all aware of the interesting connection between Job Maseko, ( a south african soldier who had fought in the second world war and sunk a German submarine) after whom the street which the chess park borders is named after, and the funders of the project, the German humanitarians of the IFG organization. Talk about 6 degrees of separation...
We ate, boerewors with coleslaw and pap, prepared by Anthony's sisters Zanele and Thembi, and headed back to the beerhall....
Now that the sun was on it's way down, the beerhall had transformed into animated shadows and sounds created by the multitudes of children. It was overwhelming, the energy, the children were in a state of ecstasy, a giant playground was at their disposal and they were loving it with a passion...
A basket ball tournament was in action, music was playing from the first floor, numerous games were in place, incomprehensible by the adults yet fully felt....
Being a member of the chesspark group I take my hat off to the beerhall group...What they did there was cosmetic, practical yet most importantly they resuscitated the the spirit of place...
Not only that, they exorcised it from it's complex past, and it's violent activities into a space of play and positivity...
They had a lot of opposition from a number of bodies, yet their initial idea of playplace survived this and I believe it is through their conviction and suffering that the results have been and continue to be so positive...
There is a lesson to be learnt here, in terms of design and following through against all odds....
What I also loved about the beerhall group is that they represented and were a voice for the children without complicating it with the ego based ideas that grown ups tend to have....There was something very intuitive going on there, they took risks. From an outsiders point of view, I believe that their team was consolidated.... I would be interested to know how their team worked, how it was organized.
As for the chesspark, in many ways we had an easier brief, it was defined for us. Anthony had a master plan, we were there to execute it, which we did. Although the chessboard is an almost two dimensional space, it started underground... Most of us had never had the responsibility of starting a
site. It was not unlike picking up a pen for the first time and drawing. To dig the 52 square meter cavity into the ground 500mm deep, believe it or not, took courage....For Ma shobas shop and sign to rise 3 meters off the ground took courage....
We were not not alone, there was Solomon and Silias-Sunnyboy, the builders, and Phillip the welder who captained these structures into existence..
Without the volunteers and Anthony we would not of completed them in time. Ahaka, Karabo, Sifiso, Tom and myself were there to provide anything and everything that was necessary, from the physical labor to the vast amounts of materials which were needed.
Our group de-consolidated towards the completion of the elements as there was little planning of the launch from our side. That responsibility was predominantly taken by Anthony, Hannah, Peter and Tseleng....
Today is Tuesday, 3 days after the opening of the sites...I decided to go back to Kwathema as I had a feeling that there was something incomplete...not sure what it was I went anyway....

Cradle to Grave

This has been an awsum experience. You guys really dd a great job and I am proud to have been a part of it.
I was quite fascinated by the way you coordinated everything. There was no outright leader by\ut you all knew what roles you had to play and stuck to them, making everything run smoothly. I know you feel you could have done better, perhaps, but what you left us with is amazing. I will keep everyone posted about how things are going this side.

the launch was great, you guys are awsum!!!

reflections

i woke up this morning feeling lighter, with a smile on my face. i felt confident that we had succeeded in what we had set out to do. in retrospect, the launch didn’t perform as planned, but the organic evolution from what we had organized into what it rather wanted to become was satisfying. the children had delighted our jungle gym – and that was what we had strived for all along.

my family arrived at 10am and we set out on our way to kwathema. the drive was familiar and strange. i talked them through the project as we drove.

its our time. mr cindy was on site, watering. to my amazement, the whole structure was animated with little moving bodies. the activation of our space brought warmth to my body, all the while aching from the strangely situated bruises i had acquired along our turbulent journey.
it finally became clear to me. the success of this project was not by any means based upon the realization of ifg ulm’s designing politics brief, nor upon hannahs ephemeral agendas, and not even upon our group’s sometimes controlling and most-times sensible and aesthetic considerations. its success was based upon the subsequent appropriation of the space. our space. the community’s acceptance of it, in order to permit expressions of liberty and individuality.
what we strived for was a mouldable place; a jungle gym. an open-endedness rather than a prescription – a place where people would have a significant degree of agency over their environment.

today, a certain spirit was reincarnated, resuscitated. the little bodies energized with life, excitement, relief, liberation. their spirits lifted the heavy, smoky clouds of struggle, more so than the trails of traditional incense ever would, all swept away by the ever-persistent gushes of wind; that same wind that carried their unassuming kites across kwathema’s sunny skies.

initiations

A roof wetting is the end of the process of the design of a building. In recent times it suggests the passing over of the building from the control of the architect and builders to its owners. The practice apparently came from a medieval custom of throwing a party when the main roofbeams had been lowered together to meet. But there’s also the belief that after a roof was finished, the men would all drink a lot, climb the roof, undo their breeches, and collectively test its resistance to liquid. In Africa, new buildings are greeted with parties and acknowledgments to their ancestors.

Most cultures leave buildings to decay when their life is over. But sometimes there are more abrupt endings. In African practices of inititiation, the hut used to shelter initiates is burned down after they leave.

The beer hall has been initiated in this way before, in 1976, when the youth of KwaThema set it alight in protest against the state’s monopolist control of alcohol sales, and the destructive social patterns of institutionalized drinking.

By burning herbs gently in the corners of the building, the students and community suggested that the building was being renewed, while recalling, through the trails of smoke, some sort of connection to its previous lives.

The chess park is sited next to what was planned as a buffer zone to separate white owned land from the township. The symbolism of chess suggests both the blurring that warfare can bring about and the possibility of erasure, of one space being taken over by another. The resurgence of the little park around the chess board as a vibrant public space on Saturday was a vivid illustration of how the non-spaces of the modern apartheid city, spaces designed to separate communities and water down urban friction, contain the potential for a rich public life.

The launch on Saturday doesn’t end the KwaThema Project, but it marks a moment where the projects designed and executed by the students shift their status. The event suggested an appropriation, an incipient life for the spaces, that will unfold in ways we haven’t predicted. Already little traces have been left: someone wrote FALLEN HEROES on the road outside the beer hall, and already, someone else called for that same person to be arrested for recycling the beer crates.

The KwaThema project is a sort of initiation for the Wits students because in becoming an architect, you're considered wet behind the ears until you get your first building built. So the cause for celebration is multiplied.

I guess the conclusion this brings me to is the sense that you just had to be there. It was a great day in a wonderful project. We'll post all the thank yous over the next week when we finally recover.