Location

Capetown

The intention is to launch the first laboratory and presentation in Capetown 1 February 2006. The project has been developed with Public Eye - the laboratory will be set up at the Mayenzeke arts/community centre in New Crossroads township in conjunction with the Mandlovu Development Institute. The presentation will be liaised with the Cape Town Festival in March 2006.
All activities will be aimed at interventions in the New Crossroads community around the hub created by the hall and buildings associated with the Mandlovu Development Institute. Next to this center are two adjoining pieces of City-owned land for which community facilities have been planned. On these three adjacent lots (erf 11307, where the church, Mandlovu centre and a few churchyard-shacks are located, and the vacant lots, erf 13479 & 13480) is where we are going to set up the CascolandSA-laboratory, consisting of

We are not going to offer solutions to key needs in the community, but rather a collective proces, without hierarchy, stimulating cross-disciplinary collaboration. The platform of our mobile village can put a spotlight on relevant issues for New Crossroads, be an inspiration to residents and offer a different approach/technique to adress issues from the known township cultural expressions.

bed & breakfast facilities
a coffeeshop/meetingplace
a videohall
recycle architecture
recycle design
animation workshops
radio studio
and more

Many people pass through this area on route between Landsdown Road to Koornhof St (one of the main roads in the area with public buildings and shops). This creates opportunities for interventions in a series of public spaces including a primary school and two childrens play areas as well as markers to this area along the main arterial route off Landsdown Road.

Subsequently the results of this laboratory will be open to the public at a 10-day presentation from 3 - 12 March 2006, in a festive athmosphere with a set of linked activities.

March 2006 CascolandSA will relocate to the city, where we will have a presentation somewhere between 3 - 24 March, during Cape Town festival 2006. We want to set up our mobile village at the Companys Gardens, around the South African National Gallery (SANG). Liaised to the festival component Nightvision (offering an evening programme in Longstreet), with our program containing films and performances and the possibility to spend the night in one of our objects, we expect to draw a large audience.

iMAYENZEKE eNewCrossroads (initiated, designed and facilitated by Mandlovu - in partnership with a core of local residents) currently consists of a suite of stand alone and interlinked community based-projects and activities linked to heritage, arts and culture, tenure security, service delivery, housing and, economic and tourism development.

Public Eye, a Capetown based not-for-profit artistsí organisation, started in 1998 in order to facilitate and organise art events in public places, and working in previously disadvantaged areas of the city.

The Mandlovu Development Institute has long-standing links to the communities of New Crossroads and aims to promote a better theoretical understanding of the dynamics of grassroots participation in development and to improved development practices.

New Crossroads

The three adjacent lots (erf 11307, where the church, Mandlovu centre and a few 'churchyard' shacks are located, and the vacant lots, erf 13479 & 13480), where we are going to set up the CascolandSA-laboratory in collaboration with Mandlovu/Mayenzeke.

Erf 11307: According to the 2003 investigation this site was unregistered with the Council. We understand that it is leased to the African Apostolic Church which has a church building on the site and acts as the lawful occupants of the site. A number of small brick out buildings, a few "churchyard" shacks and the temporary Mandlovu "Centre" are currently located on this site.
Erf 13479: According to the 2003 student investigation, this site is registered under Council and zoned as Public Open Space, meaning that it would need to be rezoned for the project. According to recent information obtained from the Council this site is currently "for sale".
Erf 13480: In 2003 the investigation showed this site to be registered under Council. A subsequent investigation (2004) indicated that the site was "owned" by the New Crossroads Old Age Home. There is no clear evidence of an existing title deed or transfer of the land to the latter which only exists on paper.

Local context

New Crossroads (NCR) has a unique history in the City of Cape Town. It was built by the apartheid government in the early 1980s after much protest and conflict from the people of Old Crossroads (OCR). The tenuous issue of housing and the interaction in this regard between state and community is one of mistrust, deceit and, empty promises. Despite promises to the contrary, the new development did not meet with the requirements and demands of the community. The eventual relocation of people from OCR and other township settlements to NCR marked a loss of unity and individual identity within the community. Since the relocation in the 1980s and, unlike the former settlement in OCR, little social infrastructure exists or, is accessible for local residents to enjoy social, meeting or, cultural activities inside NCR. A Council owned and run Multi-Purpose Centre exists but is not perceived to be fully accessible to local residents.

One of the overarching aims of the NCR project is to repair and heal some of the pain of broken promises of the past and inspire younger and older residents by introducing new, dignified spaces into their community that can assist them to uplift themselves as they move forward into a brighter post apartheid future.

The UCT student group that worked on this project ("Five Degrees Architects") in 2003 made the following salient observations about New Crossroads:

Some outdoor spaces are well used, but the quality of these spaces is lacking. For Example, the nearby Children's Playground;
Other open spaces lack a sense of public ownership and definition;
A sense of disappointment may exist within the community regarding a public park(and other social infrastructure) promised before relocation from Old Crossroads but never delivered;
The urban environment has not been responsive to the cultural and historic heritage of the community;
The site has heavy pedestrian traffic and can potentially become a node in the fabric of New Crossroads;
There is a sense of social responsibility and organization which can be re-enforced by the built environment;
At the moment there is poor social infrastructure for the provision of healthcare, safety (pension payouts) and care of the elderly in general;
The area has tourism potential. With current tourism trends in South Africa that are branching into the townships, New Crossroads is well positioned to receive visitors;
There is an entrepreneurial spirit within the community (spaza shops, daycare centres, sewing services, hair salons, craft making, baking, operating from people's homes. There is an opportunity for the built environment to respond to this.
The community seems to be open to multi-purpose buildings (churches double as cruches and meeting spaces during the week)

As already noted, MANDLOVU has been facilitating the MAYENZEKE Urban Regeneration Project or, initiative in New Crossroads since 2001. Given its iterative and integrated nature, MAYENZEKE has found ways to talk to and, interact with the memories and dreams of younger and older residents in the community. All social infrastructure envisaged for New Crossroads adds built form to activities (real and imagined) taking place in the community.

A precedent for one phase of the project has already been established <ETH> a temporary "MANDLOVU MAYENZEKE Centre", built out of wood and iron zincs, currently houses Mama Luke's Studio and a "virtual" UVIMBA (Museum) Café, built in phases during 2004/05 by MANDLOVU and local partners with support from the Royal Netherlands Embassy, private donations and, sweat equity.