The Anti-Park
My site is Joubert Park and the surrounding urban fabric in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, where I identified complex economic and social systems and how the over-used park acts as a major socio-economic hub.
My project challenges the colonial recreational vision implicit in the park’s lingering design. Instead of completely stripping out the symmetrical paths and the Johannesburg Art Gallery, I developed these as frameworks for new programmatic inhabitation as part of more appropriate contemporary systems.
A city should aim for a 1m2 to 10 people park space density ratio. Hillbrow has a population of almost 75,000 people and has an area of only 1,08km2. Evidently, the park is not enough to serve the surrounding population. This demonstrates a clear need for the park’s expansion.
My project details five systems that would dictate different programmatic and material elements in the new anti-park. These include agriculture, indigenous planting, movement, leisure, and an economic system.
