YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning 2 3 YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning YEOVILLE THEN AND NOW INTRODUCTION BASED IN YEOVILLE, THE GROUP SET OUT IN DOCUMENTING THE PERSONAL HISTORIES OF THE PEOPLE AND THE PLACES THEY’VE LIVED. THEIR JOURNEYS WERE MAPPED INTO AND WITHIN YEO- URBAN (HIS)STORIES VILLE. AFTER THOUROUGH RESEARCH A BRIEF HISTORY OF YEO- VILLE IN THE CONTEXT OF JOHANNESBURG IS PROVIDED. DATA INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY SUCH AS PHOTOGRAPHS, AERIAL MAPS, TIMELINES,PORTRAITS YEOVILLE THEN AND NOW AND WRITTEN TRANSCRIP OF INTERVIEWS OF THE JOURNEY ARE DEMONSTRED. METHODOLOEGY A CLEAR AND PRECISE METHOD OF NETWORKING FLOWS THROUGH THE PROJECT SHOWING A DEFINED MOVEMENT OF THE JOURNEY AND THE RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN YEOVILLE. BY MEANS OF GROUP INTERVIEWS WE WERE ABLE TO SET A COM- FORT LEVEL GAINING MORE CONFIDENCE IN THE INTERVIEWEES AND THEREFORE WERE ABLE TO COLLECT MORE VAST AND DEEP INFORMATION. WE FOUND THIS METHOD EXTREMELY SUCCESFUL AS ONE PERSON BEGAN TO LEAD US TO THE NEXT CREATING A JOURNEY PATH AS WELL AS AN INTERESTING LINE OF INTERAC- TIONS. THERE WAS ALSO AN EMPHASIS PLACED ON BUILDINGS AND THERIR SOCIALAND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE. arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// 4 5 YEOVILLE NETWORKING In order to understand and analyse a space and the people that move through it one needs to recognize the history and culture of the place in cohesion with the physical and personal now. We must understand the links and connections that form part of the human matrix; how do we communicate, how do we survive amongst each other? These answers coincide within the network that each individu- al shares with another, whether it is a geographical or personal link. The network is created by social hierarchy, economic status, privi- lege, convenience and necessity. It is a link of the “they” factor. Who are the people that we refer to as “they” and similarly who are “we” in accordance. Yeoville is a framework of considered locals and outsiders. We, as a group developed a system of creating a network by connecting person, space and map through a continuous single motion. A single thread running through one person’s journey is one strand of the many that creates a functioning network of Yeoville. By communicating with individuals unique in interest and demographic we were able to access the web of livelihoods in Yeoville. Entering the minds of the people we met we found a consistent fear in most of them. The fear of loss of power to authority and the loss of control of their rightful spaces; it is the authorities that they believe are the root of the crime and corruption in Yeoville and the reason for doubt and fear. As an objective outsider, we see Yeoville, the space as crime and corruption, yet it is not the space or the buildings. There is an unclear defi nition of people, place and time as the aspects merge and become a coherent entity that we refer to. It is therefore important in mapping the journeys of these people to merge these three factors. Amongst the collectiveness of the virtual web there is still an obvious detachment. Yeoville is merely a base point for many. It is not always a starting point and for many wishful people it is not where they fore- see a future. It is a convenience, how time and place attached them to the network. To the locals they are detached, separated from their families back home, forced to be ‘part of’ by shared spaces (living, facilities, and streets). In this way spaces force connections, the con- nections that people fear. This forced association detaches Yeoville as a separate entity within South Africa. Other forms of virtual networking are seen in the library and the inter- net as communication mediums form a historical and social network. It connects people by ‘apartness’. Similar systems are seen in the ‘wall scheme’ located outside Shoprite and in HotelYeoville. These two examples of visual networking serve different functions in acces- sibility and purpose. It is the interaction that people make in this ‘Network’ that is impor- tant to develop in a design concept. It is through these people, the spaces they occupy or inhabit and their experiences that we must understand the demands of living a Yeoville lifestyle. Understanding arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning Yeoville, the past and present must be of purpose to a progressive fu- ture. Therefore, as architects and planners we need to consider how virtual and visual understandings and realities can be transformed into physical structures and effi cient solutions to social housing. YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// 6 7 WE ARE ALL LINKED TOGETHER ‘Every single person on this planet is bound to someone by a trail of six people’ There is this bond, this chain reaction that we continuously create, unconsciously or not. It forms every time we interact with someone that we begin to build on this chain. It gets longer and larger and eventually through this person or through someone else that we get to know someone who he / she already knows. In which, we begin to unravel these many ‘invisible chains’ that have been created and discover that we are all linked to someone somehow somewhere some place. We are all connected to each other, directly or indirectly. Every single one of us is linked by arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning numerous networks to everyone else on this planet. We could already know each other by someone you or we know. Therefore, we are all linked together. YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// 8 9 1876 Gold rush lead to the discovery of THE GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF Johannesburg YEOVILLE BELLEVUE. 1880 Yeoville was proclaimed a suburb by Thomas Yeo Sherwell (who was from Yeovil in the UK) and was named after him. Sandton Sandringham A ‘sanitarium for the rich’: the air was purer, as it was upon a ridge over looking the dusty city. Melville Sydenhem YEOVILLE Johannesburg CBD 1960’s: Mandela took refuge in the Webb Street flat, Yeoville. With his white comrades The Gold Reef 1970: predominantly Jewish character Late 1970’s small clubs were set up and became a hub for rising musicians, artists, activists and students. 1980’s time of political turmoil – Rockey Street became a liberal area for social integration of people. In the 90’s white South Africans and the majority of the jewish population in Yeoville moved to Melville, Sandringham and Sydenham. arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning 2000s - Lead to the increase of migrants from 1990-1994 mostly parts of Africa. Political conflict results in ‘urban management’ decline and a demographic shift in the population: went from 85% white to 90% black. YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// 10 11 page page Hotel Yeoville connects all the residence in a formal way. We also met Zamani in the Yeoville Library, he admits to staying opposite Shoprite, this is where you will fi nd an informal rental advertising wall. Like Sharon who used to page frequent the Yeoville Swim- ming Pools, we met Jericho and Joseph in the Yeoville page Library who use the pool page regularly. CONTENTS page Jericho, who we met in the library is connected to the page Yeoville Market, (a formal area where vendors are set up to sell everything from clothes to tomatoes), via his mother Ellie who has a stall selling cosmetic products page page We met Rasta in the in- Fellow is an illegal street Other informal which con- ternet cafe, he told us he hawker, and an illegal im- nect the community of Yeo- often goes to a local hang migrant. His stall is a stones ville is the scribbled graffi ti out spot called The House throw away from Ellie’s on the market walls. These Of Tandoo. which is in the Yeoville take the form of personal Market. adverts, renting informa- tion and just social/political page commentary Fellow’s illegal street stall, page is opposite to an internet cafe, this internet cafe con- nects Yeoville to the entire page planet, this is where we held a group interview, with Tau, arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning arpl 2000 wits school of architecture & planning Rasta... TUDIO h i // YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// YEOVILLE STUDIO_housing// 12 13 St Aiden’s Church Then St Aidens church has always been a dear piece of architecture to its com- munity. The name of the church was adapted from St Augenstine’s church in Doorfontein. the very fi rst Vicar, Rev. A.H Gallagher brought about many steps forward within the church such as the rectory was built in 1911 and the fi rst Parish magazine was published in 1909. Later in 1912 he suffered a short illness and died on the 24 November 1912. in 1911 the church was given a stand as a gift, allowing them to extend. in memory of Rev Gallagher an altar was presented and was to be placed in the Lady Chapel. Now Today the church is not only a home of a nursery school but houses the com- munity as it is a place of comfort and mental safety as said by the commu- nity. Whilst conducting many interviews in and around Yeoville it was clear that the church was a very vital part of the community. Many of the people rely on God to bring them though their harships and therefore see the church as a place of hope and belonging.