Time[less] sk[etches]: unearthing the narratives of Portion Six on the farm Nooitgedacht through a Geoarchaeological Research Centre and field station

Abstract

The Northern Cape is a place where the landscape preserves and reveals time within the layers of the earth’s crust, unearthing the silent narratives of life. The region revealed phenomena that date back to 2.7 billion years (Almond, Pether, 2009: online), revealing the natural occurrences of the 300 Mya Dwyka Glacial Movement and the evidence of early civilization. It is known as the place where mankind grew up (Dipicio,2001: online), especially the San and KhoeKhoe communities. The only traces of their existence left in the barren landscape are that of the 93 engraving and 11 painting sites (Morris, nd: online). Portion six of the farm Nooitgedacht is one of the many points of origin within the historical plot of the Northern Cape’s Genesis. This provincial monument is a forgotten plot, its voice silenced as time seems to be the only character passing through the site. A Geoarchaeological Field School and Research center, located on portion six of the farm Nooitgedacht, is proposed to unearth and preserve the site's structured narratives and forgotten voices. Connected by the multiple narratives of the site, the lay of the land inspires an intervention that explores the possibilities of the Narrative as a dialogue of time between man and space. The intervention focuses on creating architecture that could narrate multiple narratives. The Geoarchaeological Field School and Research Center, funded by the Northern Cape’s Cape Department of Education, proposes an architectural narrative through the lens of African time, using time as the main character who navigates the visitor through carefully articulated events.