Previously featured bead artist
Anna Richerby of
Beautiful Beadwork visited and photographed an award winning public square in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. She was inspired to share her experience...
On Saturday, Radesh (my man), Janine (Radesh’s colleague), and myself, paid the lovely Nolundi of Mielie fame a visit at her home in Harare, Khayelitsha (no, not the other Harare!)
The purpose of the visit, other than to see Nolundi of course, was to see the brand new, architectural-award-winning public square that was recently built there. And wow, was it amazing.
For those of you far away,
Khayelitsha is a ‘township’ on the edge of
Cape Town, housing around a million people. Conditions vary greatly – from lovely two storey houses, to wobbly shacks. There are some major public health and safety issues which affect the people who live there. In all the years I’ve worked in Khayelitsha, I struggle to think of a public space which has been so well thought out and is as dignified as the new square.
Here are some more photos:
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| A football coach intersperses football lessons with life skills education |
Previously just a dusty patch of land that people walked through, the square now boasts two small public buildings (one funded by FIFA), a state of the art, organic kids' playground, an Astroturf football pitch, two small public grass fields, and excellent lighting.
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| A new building, featuring locally made mosaic work. It was so pretty! |
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| Football for Hope Centre, so new they're still making the sign! |
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Nolundi showing us round.
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| The square. Just gorgeous. |
We left with uplifted spirits, and the firm conviction that if you’re going to do something, you should do it properly. The architects and builders responsible for this project certainly did. Wow.
About ILASA's Awards of Excellence
Staged every alternate year, the Awards of Excellence of the Institute for Landscape Architecture in South Africa (ILASA) celebrates the work of the profession; giving specific recognition to work that has gone beyond the professional standard expected of landscape architects at any stage.
The Khayelitsha Harare Precinct 3 by Klitzner Anderson Landscape Architects (KALA) was a winner in the category “Excellence in Design, projects under construction”
Here’s why:
An entire network of playgrounds, squares and pedestrian walkways is being developed in Khayelitsha as part of the Violent Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) initiative – a partnership between the German Development Bank and the City of Cape Town.
The task to design a landscape language for the entire route has been assigned to KALA. This design relies on the safety principles of the VPUU, which entails passive surveillance by means of
- community centres with a caretaker’s flat on the upper floor
- well-lit and paved routes
- community activities, such as play courts, sports fields and places of trade.
The first redeveloped public space in the network is Harare Precinct 3 – a once-derelict space that functions as a stormwater-detention “pond” for 1:100-year floods but also an open-space that is criss-crossed by many people.
KALA’s design intervention accommodates the stormwater-detention requirement and provides a place of play and thoroughfare at the same time. It includes a half-size soccer field, a lawn “kickabout” and a children’s playground.
For its well-thought-out design that skillfully accommodates the stormwater and recreational needs of the community while improving surveillance at the same time, Khayelitsha Harare Precinct 3 by KALA receives an Award of Excellence.
For more information contact Tarna Klitzner of KALA at 021 689 1729
Read about all the winners across all categories here
