The Process

Today is Friday, I wouldn’t regularly blog a day like today, as it is usually filled with planning and organisational issues, and doesn’t include a visit to Kwa Thema. This afternoon, Bernt and Christopher held a workshop with us to try and iron out any confusion and problems we might have, and to rectify the process orientated approach which we were confronted with yesterday. The day was highly successful, with Catherine bringing up a very valuable point, that this process oriented approach is how we normally work at Wits. In this example however, we have had some severe time constraints (I can’t believe that a quarter can honestly consist of seven weeks) and as it was originally described as a design and build project, we had to build, the design and documentation process thus had very little time allocated to it.

We have managed to procure some substantial external donors in this project, so that our group’s vision (including the volunteers) may be better realised with perhaps more quality. We are trying to make a large building function again, and saw R10 000 as a welcome, yet not completely adequate sum. Our design has taken the budget into account from the beginning. We could quite easily replace our balustrade with springs from mattresses, or steel plates which have had parts pressed out of them. Materials which the locals use frequently. We feel that this will undermine the significance and integrity of the iconic building, we have used steel because it is a tectonically light material, it can be as transparent as the structure is now, and when fixed properly will not be stolen, as sheet metal and springs will be – the community uses them.

We have procured sponsors to create a building of a certain standard, one which people will be proud of. We were therefore completely taken back when our quest for external funding was seen as a negative, this was especially distressing as we were led in hand to a potential materials sponsor and told to ask for sponsorship. Our involvement in this course was also welcomed at the beginning of the quarter with a statement about how beneficial we might be as we are students who are good at procuring sponsors. These mixed messages seem to seriously undermine us as students.

11.05.2007

When we got to site Benji, our builder, had brought along Benny his partner and we discussed the project. He said (Benny) that it should take no longer than a week which was good news, but the bad news was the amount he was charging us, we simply couldn’t afford his services. After some haggling we settled on a lower figure but we decided it would be wise to talk to Hannah about this. Benji and Benny also helped us make an inventory of all the materials we would need to construct the chess board, which me and Kasia took to Cash Build to get a quotation. While at Cash Build we also ordered the materials required to make the foundations to be delivered first thing Monday morning. After this I realised two things; first, an understanding of how expensive it is to build even the simplest of structures and second, if we were going to build this chess board we had to start economising drastically.
After two days of digging we realised we were making slow progress because the soil was very rocky and hard and our target of having our foundations at a depth of approximately 700mm was still quite far. That’s when we made the decision, with consultation from Benji that we would reduce the number of courses and only dig to a depth of 500mm. This actually worked out well because it meant by the time we left this afternoon we had virtually completed digging our trenches!
Later in the afternoon we met with the German representatives for a workshop, they were a bit concerned with the lack of documentation, and felt that we should be including more…
We also got a chance to speak with Hannah and were quite surprised to find that Benji and Benny were charging us far more than the going rate for their services. Meaning we still have to negotiate a price with our builders on Monday!

Steel

I met Catherine at Fleet Steel in Strijdom Park to collect our C-section balustrade steel.
Together we loaded it into my trailer and transported it to Wits. This stuff weighs a ton and my car really battled to tow it but eventually I arrived to meet Guy and Robyn outside the workshop.

Robyn and I pleaded with Peter Kesley to store the steel in his workshop until Monday morning when we planned on drilling the steel sections. He wasn’t keen on the idea because he felt we were biting off more than we could chew with this project and was convinced that we wouldn’t be able to finish this kind of a project and felt that we were being too ambitious. It was only after a few minutes of intense grilling from Peter that he eventually realized that we had in fact thought this balustrade idea through. He then gave in and allowed us to use his workshop for storage.
Donning gloves we all offloaded the steel into the workshop.

We met with Christopher, Bernd and Hannah in the KwaThema room later in the afternoon. We presented our project to them as we had presented to the council just a few days earlier.

steaming ahead

we arrived on site to discover a building! the anc youth league were hard at work. mr cindy and stan were there – working too. they had rounded up a team and had been clearing since monday. we were overwhelmed. finally, the first leap had been taken – and for the first time it seemed we may realize our dreams!

i spent the day sweeping, shoveling, moving rubble, collecting bricks, sweeping, loosening, resting. eric was possessive over his grass broom and i spent a long while waiting for him to pass it on. the sun beat down on my fair skin, my mouth dry and eyes scratchy. dust had settled in a thin layer over my face – i could feel it there.

the others did less physical work but resolved many on-site issues.

the germans arrived. it was our first taste of hostility and reservation towards our project. they seemed confused about our intentions – constantly expressing our lack of process and analysis. hannah seemed to agree with them – we felt violated that she had been swayed by them and that we weren’t being defended. our spirits dropped. our hearts sunk. our minds raced.

we made constant trips to cashbuild for gloves and dust masks. in the car on the way back we spotted a steamroller. it was perfect! it could do the work of 20 in 5 minutes! i waved it down and pleaded with the driver to come to our site. after a while he sensed my genuine plea and let me hop on board. we crawled back to the beerhall. it was less than a kilometer away but took us an age! the machine was so deeply powerful and dominating. we pulled up to the structure – everyone was staring! the rumble of the roller had obviously grabbed some attentions.
we met at stan’s for a braai. we sat under the carport. the food was comforting and the huge quarts of brutal fruit warming. the sun began to set, the silhouette of the beerhall dominating and clear. children had gathered there and seemed free and expressive. they animated the silhouette as we had hoped, their little bodies swaying and dipping and hanging.

we headed back to johannesburg – putting up newspapers on the way out.

Visitors

Its been exciting to be able to reshape some of the ideas for project with the two members of the advisory board, Bernd Kneiss and Christopher Dell, that the IFG Ulm has sent out. The relative clarity that they bring to discussing and viewing the context feels like some sort of renewal. I’ve been reminded of original intentions that have slipped and forced to consider why the project took certain shifts from those decisions. The politics of these shifts becomes clearer; they reflect the fluid social positions that we’ve undertaken in relation to the complex of clients and interests we’re presenting to. We’ve clearly overvalued the Council’s approval and failed to react with equal accountability to the community. Tomorrow will be a chance to go through the process more finely and reflect on what has been lost in the process. Perhaps reclaim parts of it.

In the course of the day, walking through KwaThema, we meet many people who are interested in us and the project. We are invited to see artworks, to check out vegetable gardens, we meet social workers and agree to correspond with a local democracy NGO.

When we get the beerhall it is swept clean, a project that Stan, Mr Cindi, Eric and a volunteer have undertaken as a surprise. After some persuasion, the students and volunteers get down and dirty at the beerhall site, cleaning up the surrounding rubble. Already it’s really changed and there’s no construction.

At the chess club a host of new volunteers arrived to help dig trenches and they get completed in the day. The students have blisters! Christopher and Bernd are fascinated by the Chess Academy and its achievements.

At the end of the day everyone gets together at Stan’s container for drinks and wors rolls. We formally introduce ourselves and comment on the day, and there’s delight all round at the progress. The sun sets. A roller arrives to flatten rubble. Kids play with cars made from milk bottles, and everyone looks at home.

Stop

We arrived on site early this morning. The beer hall was in an amazing state; finally we had a clean building. It seems as though Mr Cindi, Stan and two other assistants took the beer hall’s condition seriously and launched a full out attack on the mounds of rubbish which covered the structure. We were completely impressed.

These last few days have seen some intense organising. Sorting out quantities, seeking out funding sources and planning our intervention. Our process thus far has been incredibly goal orientated, I suppose that’s how many architects work, we have a brief and create a building. We were well on our way to completing the structure, as envisioned in our plans until about half way through the day when a visit from Hannah and the German funders, Bernt and Christopher completely moved the goal posts. We found ourselves in an awkward situation, immediately having to defend our process and decisions, as our entire working strategy was suddenly under question. We grew increasingly alarmed when our entire progress, of which we have two weeks left, was suddenly halted with suggestions that essentially called for us to downscale massively, or shift direction immediately. The grand plan was replaced by ideas of spontaneity and most importantly, process. We all felt that we had been guided in a general, albeit goal orientated direction and were suddenly left to defend why we had taken that direction in the first place. After this interaction we were left in complete flux, politics of design indeed.

The afternoon panned out well with the cleaning of the litter surrounding the beer hall going very smoothly. We had a wonderful contingent of ANC Youth League members helping, and our great volunteers were also out in full force. Their assistance deserved praise as they have given up their time to help the volunteers and us students in the cleaning of a structure which they were not originally asked to assist in. Robyn and I visited the local school and talked to teachers about running a recycling workshop with some of the students. They were very keen, and told us about the school’s choir, which could perhaps perform at the launch. Gary Theodosiou from the Cement and Concrete Institute visited us to assess the state of the concrete structure. He found some areas which need to be propped, and some exposed reinforcing which has to be mended.

The evening was great fun, with Robyn suddenly arriving on site with a massive rolling machine, a huge thing which shook the entire building as it tried ineffectively to squash the surrounding rubbish. The sunset was spectacular. We spent some time with the children who play on the beer hall structure, they had a fantastic time running around the clean building singing and playing. We all sat down for a meal at Stan’s, a great time to talk and reflect on a highly controversial day.

Interview Sound Clips:

http://web.omnidrive.com/APIServer/public/z6wuGYW3nhTkLJbpd8agz2yP

Gary Theodosiou - The beer hall's condition

Children Singing - Fun in a new beer hall

Volunteers - The launch

Work Begins

This is basically the first day that we started any kind of real work on site. We arrived together to find the beerhall structure spotless! Stan and Mr Cindi had gathered up a small crew of guys and they had done a fantastic job! We were all gobsmacked at how well they had cleaned the structure. All the glass was gone, the floors were swept, the rubble was moved aside- it was truly a sight that left me speechless. It was at this point that I really felt excitement for the project because now we had a clean place to begin work.

A bit later in the afternoon Hannah arrived with Tseleng and the German funders, Christopher and Bernd. We were all introduced and immediately got into conversation with them regarding our design and what he had in mind for the structure.

I was really overwhelmed at how many volunteers had come to lend a hand today- they guys were so willing to help and it wasn’t long before no less than twenty people were getting really stuck into the job at hand of cleaning and clearing the site.

At about 16h30 it was time to put the spades, rakes and shovels down for the day and sit back and enjoy an ice cold beer and boerewors roll at Stan’s. This for me was a really great time to sit back and relax not only with my classmates but also with the guys I had been working with all day on site. It was great chatting about the day’s experiences- I felt renewed and excited talking to the people around me.