The Interpretation Centre celebrates Nelson Mandela in the
township that was his first home in Johannesburg, when he moved to the city
from the Eastern Cape in the 1940s. In the heart of Alexandra, settlement
established as early as 1912 and currently one of the poorest urban areas in
the country, the one room house and yard are diagonally across the street from
Peter Rich’s new design on Hofmeyer Street and 7th Avenue.
The new Interpretation Centre is a mixed utilized 3 floor
structure, conceived as bridge spanning over the animated and loud streets of
Alexandra. The program contains an exhibition space to tell the story of the
place, a jazz archive for the rich musical history born here, a library,
training facilities, shops and restaurants. Through the design the building
also generates two urban squares, places to be surmounted to the resident's
liking, envisioned for both organized events like movie projections and the
informality of street life. On a sunny day you might find someone acquiring a
haircut or having a birthday party, or both, in the same place.
A major part in the construction of this project was played
by the relationship predicated on respect with the immediate surrounding and
people of Alexandra. The centre is taking over elements from the context
through the collage like qualities of the facade, the juxtapositions of spaces
and playful, labyrinth-like circulation. In parallel, an immensely colossal
component of the budget is fixated on the impact on residents through training
and skills development initiatives, building up a heritage team and overall
retail opportunities. The Alexandra Interpretation Centre is a platform for
Alexandra's people to take on new opportunities while cherishing its culture.
This design is extraordinary!! It is one of my inspirations for our current design project.
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