[Role: Model Maker] In collaboration with Jerome Barbu
Thread Collective
Southbank collage is the winning design for a new sustainable town and African arts complex on a spectacular 100 hectare site near Cape Town in South Africa. The first gesture is a response to the slope of the site: the organic urban form follows the contours to direct and capture surface water, referencing traditional terraced farming techniques. In counter point, the Africa Centre elements are introduced as an orthogonal overlay; museum buildings are arranged on a north-south grid to capitalize on the even southern light and on the thermal mass properties of rammed earth. The spatial coincidences which are created from the relationship of the layering of the Africa Centre on the residential fabric allow for the various landscape conditions to emerge. Throughout the process of layering, the site ecosystem and social sustainability were considered at each level. Over time, new layers will be added, further enriching the spatial, ecological, and cultural qualities of Southbank.
“Contemporary art in Africa has built, through a process of bricolage, upon the already existing structures and scenarios on which the older, pre-colonial and colonial genres of African art were made.” Bricolage layers and integrates disparate objects, materials, and fragments, creating new forms that reference the past but speak to the future. The careful choreography leading to the new composition is one that celebrates the intimacy of the texture, the dialogue between parts, and the revelation of unexpected meanings. As with any successful collage, it is difficult to separate the three spatial conditions introduced in Southbank; the Africa Centre is no less informed by the town as the town is by the landscape which weave through the site. Formally, the Africa Centre, the residential fabric, and the landscapes abide by individual rules and guidelines and yet the interaction between these elements over time and space is what ultimately defines the spatial bricolage manifested on the site.
Description by ThreadCollective
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