Vocational Skills Centre: architecture as pedagogy and place of gathering, attempting to cultivate a community ecosystem in Melusi 3, Pretoria

Through architectural adaptability and resilience, residents of informal settlements can unlock environmental potential, improving socio-economic and ecological situations and opportunities to support themselves within their context. This dissertation investigates how regenerative and regional practices can support vocational teaching through architectural place-making and architecture as a third teacher, serving as a Thirdspace in the informal settlement of Melusi, Pretoria. A vocational skills centre, integrated within the community physically, ecologically, and socially, can potentially create an environment that passively teaches the residents of Melusi 3 informal settlement, while also supporting their active learning, sharing, and growth of their vocational skills. The design of the vocational skills centre aims to create opportunities for residents to build agency within the community by supporting them in acquiring marketable skills that can also be used to improve the conditions within their immediate and broader community contexts. An appreciation of the community’s potential and needs is synthesised through analysing the site, community engagement information, lessons from case studies and precedent buildings, together with theoretical explorations of architectural resilience, architectural adaptability, and the concept of the third teacher, in the proposed design. The proposed design aims to demonstrate that architecture can passively teach, support active learning, and ultimately contribute to the improvement of socioeconomic and ecological conditions in informal settlements, thereby enhancing the overall conditions in these settings.