June 2, 2005
By Lucille Davie
THE Nelson Mandela Yard Interpretation Centre is the first project in Alexandra that has been backed by community ownership.
The R6,5-million project, funded by the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and to be completed in time for Heritage Day on 24 September, is diagonally across from the single room that Mandela rented in the early 1940s when he first came to Johannesburg.
"There is a nice give and take with the community," says architect Peter Rich, who has studied indigenous cultures and their living spaces for the past 30 years.
That is charmingly demonstrated with the generous donation from a neighbour of a garage-size piece of land containing a large pepper tree, adjoining the site.
A view from the ramp up to the third level, with a piazza beyond the wheelbarrow
When it comes to finding tenants for the several dozen small stalls and restaurants, and security guards and library staff for the building, notices will be pasted around the township, asking residents for expressions of interest.
No cut-throat letting agent will be allowed near the site, says Rich.
In addition, 10 people from Alexandra interested in heritage have been identified who will form a heritage team. It will consult with Wits University academics to make sure the "human side" of Alex's history is presented.
"This is the first time the people's voice will be heard," Rich adds.
The centre consists of a three-level structure, containing shops, restaurants, training facilities, a jazz archive, library facilities, an interpretation walkway and two piazzas, where the community can watch movies screened on one of the walls, or just check out the notices on the community notice boards.
Built on the two corners of Hofmeyer Street, the structure is joined by a bridge spanning 7th Avenue.
Visitors will be able to move through the building, taking in exhibitions telling the story of the lives of Alex residents, and cross over the bridge, getting elevated views of the township through large windows.
Steel framework and hydraform bricks
The large steel framework is in place already, with sharply angled roofs waiting for their grey roof sheeting. Walls are going up, using local unskilled labour, who are being trained on the job.
An innovative brick is being used, called a hydraform brick, which is manufactured in Boksburg. The bricks, three bricks knitted into one, need only one layer of dagha at the base, then further layers are fitted into one another, using a rubber mallet and spirit level, with no further dagha required. It results in a very strong wall. The bricks are made of 5 percent cement and 95 percent sand.
The centre and yards
Entrance into the building is via a ramp, an extension of the pavement, says Rich, with a place for a speaker's corner as the ramp turns into the building, positioned on an intersection. Moving through the building, visitors will zig-zag through a storyline on boards, showing the past, present and future, with the bridge representing the present.
Elements of the past will remain - a tall spotlight on the intersection, erected during apartheid times, and old oil drums, used now to roast mealies for sale.
The centre will be part of a heritage walk tourists can take through Alex. It will start at the nearby Catholic church, walk down Hofmeyer Street to the centre, then move across the road to the yard in which Mandela's room is located. From here eight other yards will be taken in - the yard is an integral element of Alex life, transported as it is from rural settings.
"Visitors will take in the living context and energy of the people," says Rich, "not just the struggle story."
Hazel Motlana, who has been living with her family for eight years in a two-roomed iron house off the hard-packed sand in the Mandela yard, is happy with the development on her doorstep. There are 14 small shacks and brick houses opening on to the yard, sharing a central tap and stone basin. Locked iron toilets and showers share the space too.
"We're all friends, it's like a townhouse," she smiles.
An important element of the yards is built-in concrete seating attached to the small, makeshift homes. Rich says this is a traditional part of rural life, allowing easy "socialising space" in a central area.
Mandela requested that the centre not be his story, which has been well documented, but the story of the people of Alex.
People centre
Rich sees the centre as benefiting the people of the township. "If they want to hold an ante-natal class in the exhibition space, they should just go ahead."
He anticipates the restructuring of the immediate surrounding buildings. "There will probably be taverns and B&Bs opening up around the centre." Already neighbours on the eastern edge of the building have asked for a walkway to be built down into their yard, to allow them easy access to one of the piazzas.
Under apartheid, blacks were deprived of managerial skills because they were excluded from the running of the economy, says Rich. This project aims to engender "confidence, pride, hope and belief" in themselves, as well as give them managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
