Domestic thresholds
Towards re-engendering the erased street life of District Six
J.G. Froman (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Daniel Rosbottom – Mentor (TU Delft - Situated Architecture)
WM Pimlott – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Situated Architecture)
K.B. Mulder – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Architectural Technology)
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Abstract
This project focuses on the layered history and current situation of District Six in Cape Town, South Africa, which saw forced removals and demolition of non-white residents' homes under the apartheid regime. With only 108 families being allowed to return over the last 55 years later, this project looks at the impact of restitution housing and the tension between the historic community and the adjacent fragmented university campus and student body. Here the focus on the public realm and particularly the street as extension of the domestic sphere posits a hopeful threshold to bridge these two communities. With ultimately the research lending to the design of a cost-effective student residence which orientates its students towards the street and in-turn their neighbours. Here, outdoor gathering spaces, porous thresholds, and a reimagination of historic typologies encourages community engagement.
The project aims to shed light on the complexities of land restitution and the role of architecture in shaping a new and layered community in District Six.