I have a keen interest in cities and the urbanisation process. I can trace this interest to my experiences growing up in an apartheid era black township. I feel this has increased my awareness of the challenges of housing, economic development, and the lack of social integration my home in Soweto has with the rest […]
This article has been developed as an excerpt from my Masters’ Thesis Project developed at the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg, South Africa in GSA Unit 14 GSA Unit 14 reinforces its interest in Rogue Economies – those subversive economic practices, tactics and transactions that shape contemporary Johannesburg in bewildering dramatic ways. As […]
Re-Blogged from Point of View by: The concept of ‘Triage’ in medical terms refers to “the assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses to decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients or casualties.” Could we apply this term to thinking in urban terms to repurpose elements of the city […]
This project started with a map, a 1930 colonial map of Dar es Salaam created during the British administration. I couldn’t help but be enticed by the beautifully drawn, meticulous historical maps I found in the library of Ardhi University during our field trip to Dar es Salaam. Fuelled by my interest in stories, I […]
Backyard rental accommodation is a prominent practice within South Africa’s current set of housing options. Despite the immense popularity and prevalence of this form of housing – possibly due to its lower visual prominence in comparison to informal settlements – it has been largely neglected by policymakers and researchers until fairly recently (Scheba & Turok, […]
“ …this project exemplifies community architecture…”, “…the community built this structure….”, “…the community protested against…”, ”..the community agreed with….” When one read these sentences captured in the above picture, hears these When one reads these sentences captured in the above picture, hears these phrases, or even shares these words in your practice or institutional spaces, […]
The first workshop which was funded by the CTIN grant received by 1to1, served our needs to facilitate a shared learning experience between our researchers, who we identified via a social media call and by reaching out to youth activists in our network. We hosted a workshop at the Tshimologong Hub where we unpacked the […]
Since 2013 1to1 has been teaching in the Professional Practice module of the University of Johannesburg’s Masters program. Each year we have asked the students to submit their work on this platform to grow and deepen these questions on critical engagement and spatial justice in South Africa. Their work is carefully documented and shared by […]
On ‘Informality’ It is important to understand what is implied by the distinction between formality and informality in the built environment. Government has certain definitions While architects may have other definitions There is a certain attractiveness that some architects tend to see in informality, especially when it speaks to the natural settlement patterns and nuances […]
1to1, alongside a group of former interns and students, set out to develop a mechanism to support recently graduated students of spatial design. Through a series of discussions and workshops the collaboration formed an idea of developing a series of action research workshops that give current students and pre-professionals a flexible and open space to […] […]
The critical practice module at the GSA was held at the beginning of the year, unlike previous years. This allowed us to respond to previous years’ feedback requesting the course be at the beginning of the year – because of the type of commitment the course requires and the course’s tendency to act as a […]
1to1 has used the ASF UK Challenging Practice course to introduce the principles of critical reflection, systems design and empathetic design for Built Environment Practitioners and Government officials in Johannesburg. Challenging Practice is a short course methodology that exposes practitioners of the built environment to the complexity of working with communities, government agencies and other […]
OUTLINE: The 2018 module follows on the success of the last 5 years of the ‘Alternative Practice’ model supported by Architecture Sans Frontieres UK’s Challenging Practice Model in 2016 & 2017. The focus this year was on Guide Lines for Engagement for socio-technical spatial design engagement for practice in South Africa. BACKGROUND: The South African […]
Image Reference: Davis, R.J. 1981. The model of the apartheid city according to Davies. [online]http://books.openedition.org/irdeditions/1807?lang=en Workshopping Spatial Inequality in South Africa On 14 February some people* gathered at The Point and discussed some basics around the topic of Spatial Inequality in South Africa. The discussion was mostly anecdotal and involved us sharing our ideas and […]
The 2017 UJ Critical Practice module sought to engage with the principles, practices and practitioners of socio-technical spatial design. The 5 week module took students through various processes and tools to support their learning around these principles and produced a set of principles and codes for practising socially engaged design in South Africa. Socio-Technical Practitioners […]
Group A: Liz Ogbu Adwao AgeyeiDickson Adu-AgyeiEuradice PaivaNthabiseng Mabena Group B: Theaster Gates Steffen FischerAtusaye MsiskaOrathile Mothoagae Harmony Mapundu Group C: Teddy Cruz Kerry Trebble Steven Moore Daniel Shil Group D: Nabeel Hamdi Kyle Hollis Nipho Mashinini Jody Van Aswegen Group E: Jan Gehl Dean FalconerKa Hei ChowPaul TathamDevon Beetge Group F: […]
The Neighborhood Kickstarter Pack has been developed by Build a Future and 1to1 – Agency of Engagement to support micro-urban or neighborhood ‘Build’ projects in South African urban neighborhood communities. The pack is seen as a tool to support an engaged multi-stakeholder process and designed to work through an ethically reflective and streamline some of […]
Below are the final reflective videos submitted by the students for the Alternative Practice module conducted through Architecture Sans Frontiere’s Challenging Practice course. Johan Le Roux Wandile Mahlangu Roelof De Jager Christian Cook Andrew Muwonge Zack De Freitas Sabine Waskow Natache Ilonga Kgao Mashego Aishe […]
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