Resourceful urbanism: revisions of typology a network of resource 'add-ons' for a population of 400 000 in down-town Johannesburg
Master Thesis
2015
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
This dissertation emerged from a fascination with the current changing urban condition of downtown Johannesburg from a purely corporate work environment to a setting for living in and how the existing, decayed building stock has been reused and transformed accordingly by its 400 000 new residents. This 90% increase in population density and occupancy rates has to function in underserviced buildings and an under-resourced public environment that has to support life in a city that was not designed to be lived in 60 years ago. In this sense, the development of the city has exceeded that of the architecture, however its new residents are viewed as making the city productive again by offering resourceful ways of 'making do' in this urban environment. This dissertation attempts to understand the potential that the relationship between scales of city uses and building typology has for meeting the new demands and making the productive again. While the existing high-rise building stock offers value that removes it from being demolished and rebuilt, it also offers an existing capacity through a space economy characterised by generic, flexible floor area that can be utilised for multiple uses. It does, however, need to be increased and serviced to meet the new growing demand for space. This dissertation is therefore a speculation on a different type of architectural intervention that can transform the existing 1960's modernist office typology into a self-sufficient urban resource by tactically 'bulking up' the existing podium level to expand its carry capacity, inserting resource programmes and creating a city-wide resource network that can support its residents and contribute back to the city by regenerating it from the bottom up. Through this effort it sets up a different type of urbanism where life unfolds around these 'add-ons' to create a resourceful urbanism. This dissertation attempts to cover, as a narrative, the process of unpacking ideas that informed the existing modernist typology to redefining what it means to live in proximity to these resource 'add-ons'.
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Allie, I. 2015. Resourceful urbanism: revisions of typology a network of resource 'add-ons' for a population of 400 000 in down-town Johannesburg. University of Cape Town.