Bredell Brink | 2008033223 Department of Architecture. University of the Free State A SOCIAL ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX, CAR WASH- AND REPAIR SHOP 30 September 2014 AND DAY CARE CENTRE IN CENTRAL CITY BLOEMFONTEIN Page | 1 ABSTRACT A vibrant characteristic is present in the city of Bloemfontein which is often misunderstood and arguably misplaced in the process of urban for- malisation. The rational city grid and subsequent ordered teachings have laid a foundation for functional planning and similar design methodologies which, for the most part, seem to be successful. Yet certain nodes within the city not yet contemporary formalised, seem to penetrate any form of pre-determined containment. Fragmented within this vibrant event are multifaceted typologies of places and people, dense- ly compacted behind false facades and under arcades with a camouflage and a phenomena of perceived chaos, inflicted on the city by masses of moving things, consequently making them invisible. The obscurity of this invisible city is often disregarded with avoidance when its unimportant functions are viewed within the scope of the entire- ty of the urban fabric, only becoming prominent when something new has to be reintroduced. Its existence could be regarded not as a reaction to formality, but rather a different, more dynamic, form of formality – an informality. An experience which cannot be easily understood from a privileged position, a phenom- enological investigation has revealed a glimpse into the inner workings of its vernacular manifestation. This thesis will attempt to informalise the formal boundaries of an existing urban block with the insertion of an entertainment complex, with subse- quent functions as fragments, relevant to the multicultural narrative of places and people of the surrounding context. Page | 2 Figure 1. Wall art at a tavern and night club in Bloemfontein CBD (Site Visit) Page | 3 CHAPTER 1 | PROLOGUE CHAPTER 3 | PRECONCEIVED IDEAS AND CONCEPTS INDEX 1.1 Introduction -8- 3.1 Perceived Chaos -34 1.2 Client Brief -12- 3.2 The Taxi Industry -38- 3.3 Fragments -40- CHAPTER 2 | CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 3.4 Revealing Structure -44- 3.5 Revealing Client -46- 2.1 First Person Exploration -16- 3.6 Initial Concept -48- 2.2 Project Parameters and -18- 3.7 Invisible Spaces -50- Design Challenges 3.8 Conceptual Model -56- 2.3 Exploration of Place -30- 3.9 Case Study - Johannesburg Taxi Ranks -64- 3.10 Baragwanath Taxi Rank -68- 3.11 Conclusion -70- Page | 4 CHAPTER 4 | DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS AND CONCEPTS 5.4 State of Existing Functions -118- 5.5 Site Sections -120- 4.1 The Informal Economy -74- 5.6 Mass Model -122- 4.2 Revealing Typologies -76- 5.7 Formal Model -126- 4.3 Dynamic/Tectonic Inhabitants -78- 5.8 Spatial Model -130- 4.4 Warwick Bridge -80- 5.9 Rational Model -134- 4.5 Static/Stereotomic Mass -84- 5.10 Development Conclusion -138- 4.6 Mangaung Intermodal Transport -86- Interchange CHAPTER 6 | DESIGN DISCOURSE 4.7 Combining Influences -88- 4.8 Fractals -90- 6.1 Entertainment Complex -142- 4.9 Conclusion -102- 6.2 Conclusion -156- CHAPTER 5 | DESIGN SYNTHESIS 5.1 Proposed Methodology -106- 5.2 Site Panorama -108- 5.3 Site Perspectives -110- Figure 2. Street Panorama (Site Visit) Page | 5 Page | 6 Figure 3. Street Panorama (Site Visit) Page | 7 CHAPTER | 1 PROLOGUE Figure 5. Cooling Towers in central city Bloemfontein (Site Visit) Page | 6 Figure 5. Cooling Towers in central city Bloemfontein (Site Visit) Figure 6. Wall patterns and colours at a tavern in the city (Site Visit) Page | 7 1.1 | INTRODUCTION Often disregarded because of its perceived unorganized nature and misun- derstood intricateness, the central business district of Bloemfontein is buzz- ing with a distinctive local vernacular of street trading, side walk shops, mu- sic, taverns, taxis and an immediate awareness of a dynamic energy which is seemingly uncontainable. The essence of this vibrant phenomenon is not pur- posefully expressed in any notable built-structure as a pre-conceived design thought, although in some cases attempts are made to formalise it. For the most part, much of the city’s plasticity is a clear distinction of rational planning, and the conduct of organization is present in a layout which is easily understood and relatable from a western ideology. Totalitarian doctrines of shrines and monuments embedded within grass planes are visible as remind- ers of ordered thinking, and the evolving aesthetics of proceeding buildings’ forms and styles depict a similar methodology. This vibrancy however, seems to become unconstrained in certain parts of the city, constantly questioning the continuation of the manicured Cartesian moulds. Improvised agora’s are spread along sidewalks and manifested in crevasses and cavities, undetermined within the grid in the seemingly only available space left over. Masses of taxies add motion, which can be overbearingly abundant during certain times, and also seem to regard their designated part of the grid without vigilance. A plethora of human dwellers and cultural iden- tity, this phenomenon of urban porosity can seem like chaos to any unfamiliar viewer. At the eastern periphery of the inner metropolis lies an embankment, unpo- etically entrenched as a train track, which is only punctured at certain con- trol points. It used to be a barrier between the central city and outlying resi- dential settlements, and was used as a stepping stone for people traveling to and beyond the city for work. Today, only the shells of formality remain, the scars still visible of what once was. This part of the CBD now is occupied by a Figure 7. Informal decomposition in city centre multi-narrative abundance of new places and people, albeit with a seemingly (Site Visit) looser grip. Page | 1 Page | 8 PROLOGUE | Introduction Figure 7. Informal decomposition in city centre (Site Visit) Figure 8. Informal traders market Fichardt St. in Bloemfontein CBD Page | 9 Informal1 small business traders occupy compartmentalized city block spac- es and seemingly any space available with a variety of multifaceted typolo- gies that range from retail cell-phone dealers, clothing shops, spaza shops, fruit, vegetables and meat shops, institutional buildings, residential top floor apartments, salons, seemingly (un)empty offices, and entertainment venues such as clubs, chesa nyama’s and quite a few taverns. Street vending stands 1 include mobile mechanics, traditional medicine, car and taxi washers, grilled Sous Rature is a strategic philosophical device that was foods, sweets and chips, tobacco, amagwinya (or vetkoek), shoe- and fabric used by the prominent post-modernist philosopher repairmen, and makeshift barbers. Jacques Derrida to emphasize a word, which is “inade- quate yet necessary” (Sarup, 1993:33). Likewise the word ‘informal’ is often judged as a misconception of its mean- Likewise, a colourful cocktail of dissimilarities and parallels are present with- ing in an African urban context. Rahul Mehrotra calls infor- in the dwellers and inhabitants. Culture and ethnicity are broader strokes of mality in a city a “state of being”, and not necessarily the unique and individual career and life paths. Business men in (in)formal attire, opposite of formal, but rather what cannot be explained Indian shop owners talking (un)familiar languages, taxi drivers always looking by it, or what is left over by it (Mehrotra, 2013:81). so taxi-driverish, domestic workers and cleaners buying food or commodities on their way to the taxi rank, random people having a beer at a local tavern, black hipsters or ‘smarties’2, and a new generation of people who call them- selves the ‘born free’s’3. 2Smarteez, meaning to make dressing “smart” look “easy” is a self-titled “collective” of young individuals in Johan- Each of the urban blocks within the eastern edge of the city resonates as a nesburg, that celebrate the freedom of being young and smaller version of the western and newly appropriated and adapted ‘informal’ expressive as a reward for their hard fought freedom. master plan of the city. The blocks read as fractals of the larger area, echoing The style has sparked a popular trend that has influences the congested nature of the latter within their own functioning. The inherited of the west, such as vintage, but is mostly expressive of rigid structural order stands juxtaposed with dynamic dwellers that inhabit the dynamic colourfulness and vibrancy of growing up in them. Johannesburg (Murphy, 2012). This investigation, through site analysis, interviews, and personal narration, will attempt to argue for an appropriate architectural intervention in this area, and to communicate and understanding of this part of the city and its varied occupants. Subsequently this investigation proposes to develop a fractal of 3 the ‘whole’ within an urban block, expressing the dynamic nature of the sur- “Born-free’s” is a term often used describing people born roundings. after the abolishment of apartheid in 1994. They celebrate having no affiliation with the tainted South African past, and growing up as the country’s first true democratically free citizens. They are considered to have materialistic and hedonistic characteristics in their styles and personalities, often influenced by the latest commercial, fashion and technological trends. (Goschen, 2013). Page | 10 PROLOGUE | Introduction Figure 9. Street with informal traders in Bloemfontein CBD. Page | 11 1.2 | CLIENT BRIEF Given the exploratory approach to this thesis, the normal parameters set by a predetermined client were disregarded, instead leaving these parameters to reveal themselves. Page | 12 PROLOGUE | Client Brief Figure 10. Passengers waiting at unregulated taxi rank in the city centre (Site Visit) Page | 13 Figure 11. Train track as a barrier to eastern edge of the CBD (2013 Site Visit) CHAPTER | 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Page | 14 Figure 11. Train track as a barrier to eastern edge of the CBD (2013 Site Visit) Figure 12. The historical power station (Site Visit) Page | 15 2.1 | FIRST PERSON EXPLORATION Predetermined, the original thesis proposal was set to develop a recycling A touchstone was designed to characterise the improvised centre within the eastern periphery of the CBD of Bloemfontein with Man- informal character of street recyclers and how mechanical gaung Metro Municipality as the client. However, upon a closer view of the ingenuity could improve their absolute dependency on specific area, the nature of the thesis dramatically changed. their trollies as an extension of themselves and a survival within the city. Although the focus of the thesis shifted, This thesis is a testimony to my (the author as a first person narrator) precon- the idea of informal mechanical systems that improve a ceived ideas of what this specific city area requires, and to my exploration space which is occupied, remained a concept would could (through site analysis, interviews and flaneurship4) which inevitably ques- possibly be developed further. tioned my views (predominantly western based) of the informality and chaos of inner city Bloemfontein. This thesis is also an attempt, by no means com- plete or absolute, to realise an appropriate, probably still tainted by the glass- 5Flâneur (French) refers to the act of strolling through es of my historical and cultural background, architectural approach and inter- urban spaces. Walter Benjamin bolsters this notion, to be vention. By attempting to understand the phenomenon of these city blocks, applicable to ‘the designer’, by referring to the cognitive the true complexity and order present came to light. It seemed obvious that benefits of observing, experiencing and subsequently the role of architecture should not be to impose order on a seemingly unor- surveying the urban landscape as it currently is. (Lauster, dered system but to echo the underlying systems and complexity. 2007:104). Figure 13. Surveying the landscape by walking through the streets Page | 16 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK | First Person Exploration Figure 14. Touchstone Figure 13. Surveying the landscape by walking through the streets Page | 17 2.2 | PROJECT PARAMETERS AND DESIGN CHALLENGES Although a predetermined client and brief were abandoned, some general project parameters were set relating to the need of the specific place and the occupants of the area. It is assumed that the architectural intervention should react to occupants’ and users’ need to have applicable spaces for each independent function within the fractal, and also be relatable within the ‘whole’ of the context. This originates from the methodology of creating ‘place’ which has a significance to occupants. As the entire scope of the typological, morphological and topological charac- teristics of the area at this point were still unknown, distance was kept from delving too deep into pre-conceived ideas of adding to Bloemfontein’s urban landscape with an honest formal approach of Le Corbusier like mechanical functionalism or the self-contemplation and peculiar place seeking of Framp- ton’s critical regionalism (Frampton, 1983:20-24). Instead, a more subtle ap- proach to contemporary thinking, albeit slightly flawed for the purpose, was found in Tadao Ando; seeking an extrapolation of the contextual essence and combining it with modern rational thinking (Ando, 1996:458-461). Finding an essence which enveloped the individuality of the occupants and the complex- ity of the context, would require information about an (un)familiar subject, being South African. Phenomenology, is defined as a study of subjective sensorial experiences of spatial and material qualities within the environment. (Porter, 2004: 109). Any personal familiar or unfamiliar reaction to a space in a city, could become a phenomenon for the involved person that experienced it. Norberg Schulz (Norberg-Schulz, 1996:416-419) emphasised the importance of personal ex- periences (or phenomena) in the spirit of place or genius loci, theorizing that the complexities of cognitive interactions with the city are just as important as built form. A cognitive and quantitative approach to the exploration pro- cess was adopted to reveal and view phenomena within the city more clearly. Page | 18 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK | Project Parameters Power Station Cooling Towers Eastern edge define by train track Figure 15. Cityscape sketch from Naval Hill. Page | 19 Rem Koolhaas orchestrated are research method in the Harvard Project on the City (HPC) in a video documentary, Lagos: Wide and Close (Koolhaas, 2004) and the subsequent literature Mutations (Koolhaas et al., 2000:652- 718). This study focused on the rapidly expanding population of Lagos and the distinctive manner in which urbanization consequently grew, as well as the continuous redevelopment of existing built form over itself. He [Koolhaas] stated that western methodology could not possibly encapsulate the essence of such a place, possibly because of it’s overbearing and chaotic misconcep- tions. Therefore, western architects would never be able to adequate design in such a place, as they do not truly understand the essence. The HPC was conducted over two years by Koolhaas and his students and was implemented as a first hand exploratory study which included personal interaction (and by extension flaneuring) on street level with the city and its people. Looking past the recognisable problems, which would arguably not be as common within western based societies, such as traffic, water and elec- tricity, Koolhaas could create a positive conception of Lagos as a ‘congest- ed city’, where halted traffic created a platform for the market to function simultaneously between the logged vehicles. The dynamic characteristic of creating opportunity as a self-generative organism, was why Koolhaas (et al., 2000:653) suggested “Lagos is not catching up with us [western society]. Rather, we may be catching up with Lagos . . .” and that this mega-city may be in the lead to globalizing modernity. Picture and video footage dominate the investigation, with words merely be- ing present for annotations and certain explanatory reasons. In doing so, the study tries to explain the city as an empirical experience .Lagos is similar to Bloemfontein in many respects, and could be a way in which to introduce any informal vibrancy, potentially present in the city. If the familiar and unfamiliar phenomena of chaos can be extrapolated, even if the misunderstood, could possibly reveal an opportunity for western society to learn and experience it. Figure 16. Traffic congestion in Lagos, Nigeria (Koolhaas, 2000: 697) Page | 20 CONCCEOPNTCUEAPLT FURAALM FERWAOMREKW |O PRroKjec t| PParroajmecett ePrasr aamnde tDeerssign Challenges Figure 18. Traffic congestion in Bloemfontein CBD (online) Figure 16. Traffic congestion in Lagos, Nigeria (Koolhaas, 2000: 697) Figure 17. Traffic congestion in Lagos, Nigeria (Koolhaas, 2000: 697) Figure 19. Traffic congestion in Bloemfontein CBD (online) Page | 21 Figure 20. Location of Bloemfontein in South Africa Page | 22 Map depicting Bloemfontein zones and main roads Figure 20. Location of Bloemfontein in South Africa Figure 21.Bloemfontein zones and main roads Page | 23 Naval Hill Mbembé & Nuttal (2004:349) state that the difficulty in pertaining applicable contemporary research of the African metropolis is a consequence of its fast evolving nature. Consequently this means that once research is documented, in some cases, the epistemology has already changed for it to be considered applicable for a phenomenological study. The urban entity of shanty towns comes to mind as an example of the organic evolving capabilities of a city’s outer boundaries. Cell C Tower To identify a phenomenon which is unique, not only to South Africa, but also to Bloemfontein, became the main objective of the urban exploration pro- cess and subsequent documentation .A vibrant essence within the city, which would later be viewed with less prejudice and a more intuitive perception, was a familiar, yet admittedly always avoided characteristic of chaos. Provincial Government Office The radial nature of Bloemfontein and the subsequent central location of the CBD allows for circulation by people and vehicles to be be continuous for most parts of the day. This, along with the size of the CBD, which allows for Train Station pedestrian exploration, makes the CBD a nucleus for activity which hopefully would reveal the chaos which is seeked. EVENTUAL SITE Cooling Towers Historical Fort Power Station Train Tracks Page | 24 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK | Project Parameters Figure 22. Location of CBD and orientation beacons. Page | 25 Figure 23. BFN perspective depicting beacons taken from Naval Hill Page | 26 Figure 24. Nodes surrounding eventual site taken from Naval Hill Page | 27 Orientation Beacons Scale Page | 28 Figure 25. Research parameters Page | 29 2.3 | EXPLORATION OF PLACE Designing in such a complex multi-layered context required an investigative approach where a personally identified phenomenon of chaos within the city, would need to be investigated on a phenomenological and physical level. In Bloemfontein the underlying rational planning of ratios and geometries, which constitute classical order (Johnson, 1994:233-234), in the placement of existing structures that are topologically simple enough to differentiate from one another and to map (Figure 29). The phenomenon however, lies in the dynamic essence, which is camouflaged behind the un-regulatory nature and the constant motion of inhabitants; within masses of other people, on side- walks, between cars in the street and inside structures, which creates a cam- ouflage (Figure 26,27,28)). If an invisible order is part of the essence of the context, it should not over- power the present dynamism, as its manifestation is already present in the plasticity of the city blocks. Accordingly, a rational design approach to spatial function and placement can be invisible, yet identifiable, behind interactive facades and spatial circulation which represents the chaotic vibrancy. Order does not necessarily convey simplicity however, as aesthetics and detail in tectonics can be articulated to seem chaotic, but be justified as structural log- ic. Figure 26 Figure 26,27,28. The dynamic movement within the city creates a camouflage which limits the vision of the true nature within city buildings. Page | 30 Figure 27 Figure 28 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK | Exploration of Place Figure 29. Exploration of Research Zone Figure 26 Page | 31 CHAPTER | 3 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS AND CONCEPTS Figure 30. Vibrancy within city centre. (Site Visit) Page | 32 Figure 31. Obscurity in spaces Figure 30. Vibrancy within city centre. (Site Visit) (Site Visit) Page | 33 3.1 | PERCEIVED CHAOS If you’ve ever driven in a South African city like Johannesburg, Cape Town or Pretoria and you suddenly realise that the amount of taxies and people around you has drastically increased, the chances are good that you’re close to (or al- ready in) a taxi rank. For some people this invokes an immediate reaction of anxiousness - not as a connotation to fear necessarily, but rather the feeling of being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of moving things. Arguably, for any person who does not regularly experience this, it could be perceived as chaos (Figure 32). The most common understanding of the Chaos Theory states that any event within a dynamic system, however ordered, would eventually dissolve into randomness (Kellert, 1993:32-62). All variables (people for example) are sus- ceptible to factors outside of the event which changes the outcome com- pletely. It is therefore difficult to make any prediction which would be entirely accurate. If predictability constitutes order, then any organization within the event would seem chaotic. The perception of chaos as an artificial (not nat- ural) phenomenon in a city could therefore have an underlying order which only seems invisible (Johnson, 1994:244) Figure 32. Formal perception of the taxi industry Page | 34 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Perceived Chaos AND CONCEPTS Figure 33. Conceptual illustration of order within cha- os with reference to the external materiality of the context, and the hidden ‘order’ inspired by Wassily Kandisky and the Bauhaus Page | 35 Certain parts of the city could bare similar reactions when confronted with. Figure 35. Taxies ‘occupying’ an entire street in central The city centre for instance, is a dynamic mixture of people and cars mov- Bloemfontein (Google Maps, 2014: online). ing between blocks of urbanization. The combination of vehicle circulation, which is mostly fixed upon the city grid, combined with pedestrian circula- tion, which can be seemingly unpredictable on the compacted sidewalks, could also be justified as a form of chaos to an (un)familiar onlooker (Figure 36). In the case of South African cities however, taxies seem to play a major role in intensifying friction within the city grid, which subsequently adds to the perceived chaos in the urban environment. To more clearly understand if there exists a correlation between taxies and perceived chaos in the inner city, the taxi industry was more closely investi- gated. Page | 36 Figure 34. Unpredictable dynamism in the city PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Perceived Chaos AND CONCEPTS Figure 35. Taxies ‘occupying’ an entire street in central Bloemfontein (Google Maps, 2014: online). Figure 22. Taxi car washers in front of the railway station in central Bloemfontein. Figure 36. Perspective of unpredictable dynamism Page | 37 3.2 | THE TAXI INDUSTRY The taxi industry in South Africa is often depicted in the media as violent and uncontrollable (Figure 38). Although some of the prejudice against the industry is justifiable, the cause of its stigma is one of collective oppression by previous powers, and the aftermath of opportu- nity. Yet 60% percent of people in South Africa, make use of this form of public transport and of the available forms, it’s the most popular because of its abundance and versatility (Dugard & Sekhonyane, 2004:13). For someone who’s never had to rely on public forms of transpor- tation, generalizations become the filter through which it is perceived, which also blinds you to any sort of order that may exist. Figure 37. Taxi stands next to cooling towers (Hlongwane, S. 2011: online) Page | 38 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | The Taxi Industry AND CONCEPTS Figure 37. Taxi stands next to cooling towers (Hlongwane, S. 2011: online) Figure 38. Complication of news articles depicting the violence in the taxi industPrya.ge | 39 3.3 | FRAGMENTS To understand what a phenomenon of perceived chaos incorporated behind the smoke screen of the taxi industry, meant investigating each part in isolation. By fragmenting the events into different functions a clearer picture was revealed of an underlying structure within the chaos albeit an unfamiliar type. Figure 39. Taxi car washer near Bloemfontein train sta- tion (online). Page | 40 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Fragments AND CONCEPTS Figure 39. Taxi car washer near Bloemfontein train sta- Figure 40. View of perceived chaos near Bloemfontein tion (online). railway station Page | 41 Figure 41. Perspective of fragmented functions within the chaos. Page | 42 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Fragments AND CONCEPTS Figure 42. (Un)familiar type of order. Page | 43 3.4 REVEALING STRUCTURE The taxi industry is a business (Dugard & Sekhonyane, 2004:15). You could justify the need for structure even within a business of the informal nature, as the taxi industry is often portrayed (Figure #) (Mbatha, 2008). Many of the negative stigma’s surrounding the industry supposedly take place at the taxi ranks (Xaba, 2012). The amount of people alone and the usually open nature of the site and its structures means containing movement beyond the white lines painted on the asphalt (which are ignored anyway), appears impossible. In some cases, taxi associations (multiple taxi owners that form an alliance) group together and the rank becomes divided into turfs, which causes friction between the different associations. The rank becomes a self-governed entity, portraying its extradited nature from the formal system (Mbatha, 2008). Figure 44. Diagram of fragments Page | 44 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Revealing Structure AND CONCEPTS Taxi Industry Hierarchy Figure 44. Diagram of fragments Page | 45 Figure 45. Hierarchy in a taxi rank 3.5 REVEALING CLIENT The vigilant nature of taxies within the inner city was interpreted as a sort of rebellion against conformity. In the eastern part of Bloemfontein CBD, a recently built multi-story taxi rank has had mixed reactions from taxi opera- tors (Figure 46). This contemporary building, although portraying an honest intention to contribute to the city’s transportation network, seemed to lack the surrounding infrastructure needed for the building to function appropri- ately. As a result, the rank becomes congested during peak traffic hours and is therefore avoided (Ntwaagae, 2012). Political differences between the taxi associations and the municipality has seemingly become the main source of why the building is not used as intended, taxi operators boycotting the formal system, rather than the building (Motshabi, 2013). The anti-confirmative characteristic which seemed to be evident within the taxi industry prompted a proposed response of a structure designed as con- ceptual anti-formal typology. Page | 46 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Revealing Client AND CONCEPTS Figure 46. Mangaung Intermodal Transport Interchange (Molebatsi, T. 2013: online) Page | 47 3.6 | INITIAL CONCEPT The subsequent investigation into the workings of the taxi industry revealed an interesting notion of informality. At is bare constituencies, the taxi indus- try seems to be just like any other service providing business, with a structure, hierarchy, employees, owners, managers and clients. Admittedly very ambitious, this prompted the idea of designing an adminis- trative command center or for a taxi boss as a client. A steel platform struc- ture (Figure 47,48) would function as base of operations where taxis were maintained, washed and serviced and included a space for meetings, bunga- lows for resting, and a small canteen for employee leisure. Its hidden lair char- acteristics would have the analogy of a tree house, invisible to everyone who did not know where it was, or hidden behind urban foliage. Although purely conceptual, this sort of structure would require a very specific type of space and site. Figure 47. Raised steel platforms creates a space for the command center to removed from the conventional circulation routes on the ground. Page | 48 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Initial Concept AND CONCEPTS Figure 48. Functions and concepts of the command centre Page | 49 3.7 | INVISIBLE SPACES Perceived Chaos appeared to be most prominent where taxies were statical- ly abundant during off-peak hours at the ranks (Figure 34). Mapping these locations revealed that most of the spaces where in close proximity to one another, within the same vicinity of the central city, and situated around two prominent other forms of public transportation. Taxi stands are open spaces where taxies (usually form the same associations) gather during off peak hours. Differentiating city mass from non-mass revealed that many of Bloemfon- tein’s urban blocks had fair amounts of internal spaces (Figure right). For this conceptual idea, a city block was required which had enough internal space to include all functions, and if a structure was placed inside it, did not intrude too much on the existing urban mass. There also had to be enough existing structures for a boundary or camouflage to be manifested. One such a space was identified to have all the required qualities; sufficient interior space, an existing boundary of structures, and located within a part of the city where perceived chaos was experienced (Figure 49). Page | 50 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Invisible Spaces AND CONCEPTS Figure 48. Map revealing spaces where taxi stands and ranks are located between the prominent public transportatPioagne n | o5d1 es of Bloemfontein Figure 49. Map revealing internal spaces of urban blocks Page | 52 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Invisible Spaces AND CONCEPTS Figure 50. Possible site reveals adequate internal space and exterior boundary Page | 53 Figure 51. Map revealing internal spaces of urban blocks Page | 54 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Invisible Spaces AND CONCEPTS Figure 52. Detailed sketch of identified site Page | 55 3.8 | CONCEPTUAL MODEL The model was designed to represent a ‘detached’ structure which floats above the existing functions and in between the outer barrier of the block’s urban mass (Figure 53). Closer inspection of the site during the mapping process revealed internal structures were pres- ent, but were not as distinguishable as the outer mass, possibly reflecting ‘backyard’ structures (Figure 54). The conceptual command center was lifted above these functions and placed on the east western axis as it seem to allow enough room for the structure to be- come a self-sustained manifestation, also not reaching above the existing height parameter, adding to its camouflaged appearance. Raised from the ground floor Figure 53. Hidden from the street. Page | 56 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Conceptual Model AND CONCEPTS Figure 54. Placed along the east-west axis Page | 57 Figure 55. Invisible behind the external boundary Page | 58 Figure 56. Raised above the existing spaces. Page | 59 Figure 57. Conceptual Sketches Page | 60 Figure 58. Conceptual Sketches Page | 61 Figure 59. Conceptual Sketches Page | 62 Figure 60. Conceptual Sketches Page | 63 Figure 62. Location of taxi ranks in central Johannesburg 3.9 | CASE STUDY – JOHANNESBURG TAXI RANKS The initial investigation of the Bloemfontein CBD confirmed the presence of perceived chaos. To determine if the phenomenon was not solely limited to Bloemfontein, other local cities were also investigated. Around Joubert Park in central city Johannesburg are two of the busiest taxi ranks in South Africa, Park Central taxi terminus and Wanderers taxi rank. This area is an example of the effect that the taxi industry has on the surrounding city and the [phenomenon] of perceived chaos. Joubert Park is located close to the city train station. Many people make use of the train as a form of trans- portation which arises the need for the taxi ranks to, get to, and from the station. Recently the area also acquired Rea Vaya bus rapid transport inter- changes which validates it as a prominent node of transportation in the city. This is cause for a richness of human circulation and opportunity for informal traders to manifest. Figure # shows the spaces occupied by informal traders in the area. The spac- es between the two taxi ranks have disorganized the rigid urban fabric [order] and as a result some sections of Noord Street are ‘taken over’ by pedestrians and the informal markets. The western edge of Joubert Park has parallel ar- cades on the façade facing Wanderers taxi rank. These informal zones remain fixed within the city grid however, but the spaces have accumulated their own dynamic vibrancy. Figure 61. Traders ‘occupy’ the street, becoming a market space. Page | 64 (Google Maps, 2011: online) PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Case Study - JHB Central Taxi Ranks AND CONCEPTS Figure 62. Location of taxi ranks in central Johannesburg Figure 61. Traders ‘occupy’ the street, becoming a market space. (Google Maps, 2011: online) Page | 65 Figure 63. right. Section. Wanderers Taxi Rank Figure 64. top. Section. Park Central Taxi Terminal Figure 65. top. Perspective. Wanderers Taxi Rank By including the traders pavilions within the design of the structure, rational placement of functions can be implemented. This keeps circulation of vehicles away from Figure 66. right. Perspective. Park Central pedestrian movement, which Taxi Rank increases general safety as well as creating a threshold between spaces. The ‘chaotic’ perceive- ment which so far was key to the individual character which makes these spaces unique, is kept, but layered under rational planning. Page | 66 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Case Study - JHB Central Taxi Ranks AND CONCEPTS Figure 65. top. Perspective. Wanderers Taxi Rank Figure 66. right. Perspective. Park Central Taxi Rank Page | 67 3.10 BARAGWANATH TAXI RANK Baragwanath, completed in 2008, is an applicable prec- edent of a taxi rank which took the surrounding charac- teristics of the informal context into consideration by in- cluding spaces for the trader, artist and entrepreneur as a predetermined design parameter. Compared with the taxi ranks in Noord Street in central Johannesburg which were much older, (Figure 69) reveals how contemporary thinking can create spaces which are specifically designed for the individual to have a place within the building, and subsequently a familiar relation- Figure 70. Baragwanath taxi rank ship to it. diagram of functions Figure 67. left bottom. Perspective. Baragwanath Taxi Rank (Site Visit) Figure 68. top right. Perspective. Baragwanath Taxi Rank (online) Figure 43F. Bigaurraeg 6w9a.n Baatrha tgawxai rnaantkh (TSaixtei R Vaisnikt, S2e0c1t1io) n Page | 68 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Baragwanath Taxi Rank AND CONCEPTS Figure 70. Baragwanath taxi rank diagram of functions Page | 69 3.11 | CONCLUSION It quickly became apparent that although the concept would be envisioned with positive intentions of creating an anti-formal space without malice, the vague workings of the industry and conspicuous location would open up too many possibilities for the functions to be misused and have a counter produc- tive and negative impact on the surrounding places and people. A taxi boss as a private owner of a business however, (and subsequently a cli- ent) could possibly initiate attentive ownership over the site and additionally insure security, maintenance and administration. A restructuring of the anti-formal typological idea, which still had a certain sense of excitement and unknown complexity to it, could be further devel- oped as the potential site was still within a part of the city where perceived chaos was at its most intense. A case study in Johannesburg clarified the phenomenon not being an isolated occurrence in Bloemfontein, but present wherever taxies and taxi ranks were located within the bigger urban cities. The focus shifted from not only limiting the influences on the taxi industry, but also the people who shared the city with them. The taxi industry subse- quently became a window into the informal economy of a the city . Page | 70 PRECONCEIVED IDEAS | Conclusion AND CONCEPTS Page | 71 CHAPTER | 4 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS AND CONCEPTS Figure 71. ‘Spaza’ shop. (Site Visit) Page | 72 Figure 72. Traditional medicine (Site Visit) Figure 71. ‘Spaza’ shop. (Site Visit) Page | 73 4.1 | THE INFORMAL ECONOMY There are positives of the effect of the taxi industry on the urban fabric. A consequence of the ranks and terminals is an opportunity for the entire sur- rounding area to become economically stimulated. Pedestrian spaces such as sidewalks which are not covered by the rank become a place for the informal trader to occupy. Some ranks incorporate this as a pre-conceived awareness and design parameter. Either way, where there are taxi ranks, there appear to be spaces for opportunity. The informal economy of the city, that is, vendors, hawkers, small shop and business operators, and to certain degree, taxi-owners, can be located almost anywhere where there is an opportunity for monetary gain (Preston-Whyte, 1991:1). Many people within a city make use of the informal economy because of its abundance, and relatively cheap goods and services. ‘Informal’ would also be an ignorant word to describe it, as although they neglect certain char- acteristics of the wider recorded formal economy (Preston-Whyte, 1991:2), they tailor products which are commercial and socially trending, albeit some- times counterfeit. Rahul Mehrotra calls it a “fringe condition”. One that is not necessarily the opposite of formal, but a consequence of what cannot be ex- plained by it – what is left over (Mehrotra, 2013: 81). Page | 74 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | The Informal Economy AND CONCEPTS Figure 73. ‘Pedestrian Street’ where Stereotomic meets tectonic Page | 75 4.2 REVEALING TYPOLOGIES A clearer insight into the informal economy of central city Bloemfontein re- veals an interesting paradox in the typologies of informal traders and their occupied places. External street traders, who use any open pedestrian space available to set up their shop shelter which is not enclosed within a fixed shell could potentially be classified as dynamic traders. They are the most commonly perceived form of traders because of their abundance, and occupancy of usually unregulated, non-permissive spaces (Figure 75). Internal traders have fixed locations within a built structure of a building in the city, and can be classified as static traders. They are small business operators that rent and pay levy for a compartmentalized space usually on the ground floor of a building which could independent, or part of another function such as an office block (Figure 78). Godfried Semper postulated a distinction between different compositions of architectural materiality in structures and laid the theoretical premise for two types; stereotomic solids, and tectonic dematerialisation (1990:521). Kenneth Frampton romanticises the distinction between stereotomic and tectonic by comparing it to the earth and the sky. The ‘poetry in construction’ could be manifested by the relationship between them as individual elements, or as a combination where one connects to the other. (Frampton, 1990: 522-523). If stereotomic constitutes heavy or earth elements, and tectonic constitutes light or sky elements than a distinction could be made between the compo- sitional values of the materials that enclose spaces within the urban environ- ment. Page | 76 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Revealing Typologies AND CONCEPTS Figure 74. Difference between tectonic and stereotomic traders Page | 77 4.3 | DYNAMIC/TECTONIC INHABITANTS Dynamic traders appear to be versatile in the placements of their shops shel- ters because of the tectonic quality and construction of their shells. Shel- ters are constructed from light-weight and easily moveable materials such as wood and steel poles, mesh fabric and cardboard boxes - materials which can easily be transported and manually assembled with creative connections made of rope and wire. Although it would seem that most traders have a spe- cific space which is utilized daily, there is never a fixed location as the plastici- ty of the shell is boundless. Dynamic traders portrayed references to tectonic compositions in the manifestations of their shells. Page | 78 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Dynamic/Tectonic Inhabitants AND CONCEPTS Figure 75. Tectonic traders spaces (Site Visit) Page | 79 4.4 | WARWICK BRIDGE Warwick Bridge was designed to encapsulate the essence of a symbolic con- nection between two distinctive places as an entrance and exit node and threshold to the city of Durban. The tectonic material composition of the structure was specifically chosen to portray references to the context and of particular phenomena, inherent to the character, myths and struggles of the surrounding populace (The Architect’s Collective, 2012) A primary steel frame for the spleen with subsequent ribbing for balustrades and support trusses is anchored by trading decks at both ends. Timber poles are used to suspend the structure over the gap, and the trading decks are shaded by closely packed timber slats. The structure is almost completely tec- tonic in nature, with almost no stereotomic elements other than a supporting concrete wall on one side. The spleen was designed to represent the importance of Durban being a port city, and the engineered industrialist assemblies which supported the econo- my, without which, there would be no city. The tectonic construction was pur- posefully chosen to keep resources at a minimum, and for the trading decks to represent a tree, becoming a shelter or protected space between two points. Humans as organisms of the city should be able to represent their dynamism and vibrancy through unrestricted movement. Warwick Bridge is not only a connection between two points, but also a gateway to opportunity Warwick Bridge represents a metaphor to the freedom of dynamic move- ment within the regulated grid of the old versus new paradigm that is present within Bloemfontein’s informal economy and the characteristic of freedom for the dynamic and tectonic trader. Page | 80 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Warwick Bridge AND CONCEPTS Figure 76. Perspective of Warwick Bridge (KZNIA, 2014: onlineP)age | 81 Figure 50. Warwick Bridge Section (The Architect’s Collective, 2012: online) Page | 82 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Warwick Bridge AND CONCEPTS Figure 50. Warwick Bridge Section (The Architect’s Collective, 2012: online) Figure 77. Warwick Bridge Traders Market (RicPcai,g Ke .| 280312: online) 4.5 | STATIC/STEREOTOMIC MASS In some cases a city block would accommodate more than one type of static trader, where two fabric shops for instance, would be located close to, or right next to each other. The regularity of similar functions and abundance of these small shops, show a resemblance in nature to street traders. Somehow they seem to survive, be it with regular customers or a dependency on random feet walking by. Like dynamic traders, they also appear expendable and quickly replaceable, albeit less aggressively because of a lease agreement. The durability, density and containment of static shelters within existing buildings can be manifested as the analogy of a cave. These tectonic qualities are a representation of strereotomic mass. Static trading spaces are obtain- able manifestations of determined place. Page | 84 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Static/Stereotomic Mass AND CONCEPTS Figure 78. Stereotomic trader in Bloemfontein. (Site Visit) Page | 85 4.6 | MANGAUNG INTERMODAL TRANSPORT INTERCHANGE The Intermodal Transport Interchange in central city Bloemfontein, although previously mentioned for its current state of problems, still represents an honest intention to signify the durability of the infrastructure needed for the dynamic movement of the taxi industry to flourish. The rational approach to design methodology that focuses on practicality, could signify an attempt to formalise some order within this particularly complex part of the inner city (Incline Architects, 2014). The structure has a massive footprint on the city (almost 60 000m²), and also reaches over 5 stories in height at certain places. Its brutalistic appearance of brick and concrete is a clear representation of stereotomic composition in materiality, influenced by the Bloemfontein Power Station (Incline Architects, 2014). A retail component and street trading facilities were added to generate fund- ing for maintenance, but could also be an attempt for the structure to form a connection with the informal network of the city. The location of this contemporary structure within a part of the city which showed evidence of being dynamic and vibrant in its reflection, created an interesting paradox because of its clearly formal approach to function and ra- tional intentions. However, where the surrounding static traders, were almost invisible, the Intermodal Interchange has a much more prominent influence on the city scape because of its size. Page | 86 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Mangaung Intermodal Transport Interchange AND CONCEPTS Figure 79. Perspective of Magaung Intermodal Transport Interchange. (Site Visit) Page | 87 4.7 | COMBINING INFLUENCES Francis Kere, a german architect who originated from Gando, Burkina Faso, revealed a manner in which ‘poetry in construction’ could be contextually manifested in a building. His design incorporated the use of local materials and forms in nature to create functional spaces and expressed the relationship between both stereotomic and tectonic composition through articulation. The occurrence of tectonic and stereotomic typologies within the central city granted an opportunity for a relationship to exist be- tween any design proposal and the context, as well as the design freedom to combine both forms of structural materiality. Figure 80. Section of Gando Primary School Extension Page | 88 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Combining Influences AND CONCEPTS Figure 80. Section of Gando Primary School Extension Figure 81. Gando Primary School Extension by Francis Kere. (GandoIt, 2009: online) Page | 89 4.8 | FRACTALS A fractal is a natural phenomenon or mathematical set Morphology, as defined by which consists of repeating patterns within itself. Self-sim- Goethe “is the study of inter- ilar patterns are mathematically identical at every scale connectedness or relations although non identical layers also exist especially in nature. that define a pattern which in (Gouyet, 1996). Scale can be spatial, such as regions, zones terms of cities, relate location and suburbs or ‘parts’ of the city, or temporal, such as time and form to interaction, flows variables. In regards to the city, the ‘self-similarity’ of scale and flexes” (Batty,1994) through which land use by type, density and different levels of aggregation, can also be an invariable through which Figure 82. right. Mokoulek vil- scale is applied (Batty, 1994). lage plan in Cameroon (online). For spatial scale, fractal properties lie between 2-dimen- Figure 83. bottom. Labbazanga sional planes and 3-dimensional volumes. A coastline for village in Mali (online). example, is a non-linear path with infinite length yet vary- ing volume. In a city, the same spatial scale is evident in urban blocks and building volumes (Figure 84,85). Form and geometry, as the morphology of the urban fabric, are the generators of spatial scale and the fractal, which can be characterised as buildings and developed forms, or spac- es in between buildings and non-developed form (Batty, 1994). Nikos Salingaros, a mathematician and town planner from the University of Texas of San Antonio hypothesized in his article Connecting the Fractal City, the need for fractals for a pedestrian city to be ‘the future’ of contemporary urban planning, which he states has gotten lost with the intro- duction of the machine and the idea of the modern city (as envisioned by Le Corbusier)(Figure 86). A pedestrian city utilizes spaces and connections between fractals on all scales by incorporating solutions from traditional cities, but using appropriate fractal structure of the current time Page | 90 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Fractals AND CONCEPTS Figure 84. Coastline plan (top) & section (bottom) Figure 85. Urban fabric plan (top) & section (bottom) Page | 91 (2004). Traditional cities such as medieval towns generate fractals on a small scale (1cm - 2m), and 19th century cities on a larger scale (but still within the human-scale framework). The fractal morphology is manifested because the urban form is part of the spatial scale of the pedestrian transportation web which is complex. The human mind, according to Mikiten (et al., 2000), generates fractal forms naturally, therefore older towns and cities developed fractally over time as populations grew and additions to the urban form was needed. The complexity of connections are needed to create nourishing physical environ- ment for the pedestrian (2004). The city for the machine has replaced the city for the individual in the 21st century (Salingaros, 2004). The network of con- nections is no longer complex within the spatial scale, rather direct connections are preferred such as highways. People are subsequently even further removed from physical contact by Figure 86. Le Corbusiers ‘city of the future’ (online) capsules [vehicles]. The contemporary city of the 21st century, also remains anti-fractal in most aspects according to Salinga- ros (2004). Fractals on the 1cm-2m scale, which includes ornament, pat- terns, and decorated materials of surfaces are substituted for “high-tech” materials and pure surfaces, and that “their struc- tural language is incoherent” (2004). The urban fabric becomes mundane and monotone and the hierarchy of scale (fractals on all levels) is lost which is needed for the pedestrian to interact with a space. Figure 82 and 83 shows how tribes in Africa constructed their villages in fractal patterns. Ron Eglash suggests that fractals are most prominent in African art, games, trade and architec- ture (Eglash, 1999). The isolated locations of these tribes has limited the influences from western ideology and by extension the machine city and its taxing infrastructure needed to sustain Figure 87. Distribution and connectivity of urban spaces. (Salingaros, 2004) Page | 92 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Fractals AND CONCEPTS Figure 88. Plan of a non-fractal modernist city. Figure 89. Plan of unrealistically ordered fractal Figure 90. Flowing geometry of the city defines (Salingaros, 2004) city. (Salingaros, 2004) urban spaces. (Salingaros, 2004) Figure 86. Le Corbusiers ‘city of the future’ (online) Figure 87. Distribution and connectivity of urban spaces. (Salingaros, 2004) Figure 91. A pairwise-connected set of nodes doesn Figure 92. Connecting pairs of nodes at random Figure 93. A completely-connected set of nodes. not define a network. (Salingaros, 2004) eventually connects most of them into one net- (Salingaros, 2004) work. (Salingaros, 2004) Page | 93 it (Bryn, 2009). These towns are fractally designed to allow for the complex networks between functions to be woven togeth- er, creating pockets of space where social interaction is encour- aged. Figure 94. Fractal in nature. (online) The morphology of Bloemfontein suggests fractal properties are evident in it’s Cartesian grid (figure 97). Each block has fractal properties in it’s form, and the subsequent investigation would later reveal similar fractal properties in the functions of each form in a specific part of the city. Based solely on form, volume and geometry however, it would appear as if each frac- tal within a urban block is topologically isolated from the sur- rounding blocks by the vehicle pathways. The need for the city to accommodate the vehicle in not the problem. By destroying the pedestrian city to make way for the vehicle is (2004). Figure 95. Fractal in cities. (online) Salingaros uses the example of Ebenezer Howard’s Green City to explain how green spaces are forced onto the city. A plant is a natural dynamic fractal, but is forced in a non-fractal unnatu- ral geometric city. The modern and subsequent contemporary city includes the creation of green spaces, although Salingaros argues, they are isolated from the pedestrian and from each other. Demolishing parts of the city for a “open space” such as a green space has in some cases been misused to form parking lots. The dynamism is consequently trapped within the city. The part of the city where chaos is mostly perceived has re- vealed that the constraints of the urban blocks are being punctured to accommodate the dynamic habitation and move- Figure 96. Geometric fractals. (online) ment of a traditionally non-western society which has been influenced by western society. The urban fractal blocks have revealed to have adequate interior spaces which are underuti- lized. If the inner spaces of these blocks could be redeveloped to accommodate the spatial scale of the dynamic, deconstruc- tion of the urban form could be beneficial to the pedestrian. Subsequently the urban block could be an activated fractal within the city. Page | 94 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Fractals AND CONCEPTS Figure 94. Fractal in nature. (online) Figure 95. Fractal in cities. (online) Figure 96. Geometric fractals. (online) Figure 97. Transportation connections in Bloemfontein CBD. Page | 95 Figure 98. Unactivated fractal space. Page | 96 Figure 98. Unactivated fractal space. Figure 99. Activated fractal space. Page | 97 Figure # through # reveals the proposed site as a fractal of the rest of the city. club [2] scrapmetals [1] tavern [9] funeral services [1] pharmacy [3]bottlestore [5] dry cleaners [1] empty [10] doctor [4] clinic [1] fabrics [4] government [8] clothing [17] institutional [4] leather [1] religious [2] furniture [16] vehicle workshops [2] spares [4] glass windows [1] Urban Informal Economy [Section of BFN CBD] salon [13] cosmetics [5] residential [24] general store [10] supermarket [6] food cafe [22] office [12] wholesale [6] meat [4] GSPublisherEngine 0.1.100.100 Page | 98 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Fractals AND CONCEPTS Figure 100. Map showing the functions of all static traders in a selected part of cen- tral city Bloemfontein Page | 99 Figure 101. Diagram depicting the most occurring functions of the proposed site as part of a fractal Page | 100 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Fractals AND CONCEPTS Figure 102. Map showing the functions of the proposed site as a fractal of the city Page | 101 4.9 | CONCLUSION The phenomenon of perceived chaos in central city Bloemfontein, can be partially owed to presence of a dynamic taxi industry, as well as a vibrant informal economy. Both the taxi industry and the informal economy have intricate parts which make up the ‘whole’, yet their inde- pendent functions, seem insignificant within the greater scale. The proposed site is located centrally within a part of the city where the taxi industry and the informal economy has manifested themselves. The site as a fractal of the city reveals that it could be potentially utilized in manner which would complement the discovered identity of this part of the city. The insignificance of individuality is a paradox to it’s importance within the ‘whole’. which makes the site a location which has many possi- bilities for architecture to become part. The dynamism should not however be lost, but any intervention should improve on the functional and spatial qualities of the existing fabric, i.e adding ‘order’ as a layer as part of the spatial fractal scale. Figure 103. Proposal methodology Page | 102 DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS | Conclusion AND CONCEPTS Figure 103. Proposal methodology Page | 103 Figure 104. CBD Tavern (Site Visit) CHAPTER | 5 DESIGN SYNTHESIS Page | 104 Figure 104. CBD Tavern (Site Visit) Figure 105. Custom security upgrades (Site Visit) Page | 105 5.1 | PROPOSED METHODOLOGY The location of the site in between major transportation nodes proposes an opportunity for it to become part of the motion between these places. An analysis of the area has revealed that taverns and pubs are prominent along these routes, and that the function of entertaining could be a viable way to become part of the rhythm of the this part of the city, without the need to formalise (and possibly impact) the informal vibrancy. The proposed urban block has revealed that the interior space could be re-uti- lized to accommodate other functions. The existing site has three taverns which could be re-envisioned to utilize the interior space. An entertainment complex could become a way for the exterior boundary functions to benefit from any event which it encloses. Page | 106 DESIGN SYNTHESIS | Proposed Methodology Figure 106. Map depicting taverns between transportation nodes and site Page | 107 5.2 | SITE PANORAMA Page | 108 Figure 107. Panoramic view of site from Mangaung Intermodal Interchange. (Site Visit) Page | 109 5.3 | SITE PERSPECTIVES Page | 110 Figure 108. Perspective of urban block. Corner of Harvey St & St.Georges St. (Site Visit) Page | 111 Figure 109. Pedestrian connection from Long Distance Taxi Rank to Intermodal Taxi Inter- change past site (Site Visit) Page | 112 Page | 113 Page | 114 Figure 110. Visual perception of scale between Intermodal Transport Interchange and site. (Site Visit) Page | 115 Figure 111. View of proposed site from Long Distance taxi rank (Site Visit) Page | 116 Page | 117 5.4 | STATE OF EXISTING FUNCTIONS Page | 118 DESIGN SYNTHESIS | State of existing functions Page | 119 5.5 | SITE SECTIONS Page | 120 Page | 121 5.6 | MASS MODEL Page | 122 Page | 123 Page | 124 Page | 125 5.7 | FORMAL MODEL Page | 126 Page | 127 Page | 128 Page | 129 5.8 | SPATIAL MODEL Page | 130 Page | 131 Page | 132 Page | 133 5.9 | RATIONAL MODEL Page | 134 Page | 135 Page | 136 Page | 137 5.10 | DEVELOPMENT CONCLUSION Page | 138 DESIGN SYNTHESIS | Development Conclusion Page | 139 CHAPTER | 6 DESIGN DISCOURSE Page | 140 Page | 141 6.1 | ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX Page | 142 DESIGN DISCOURSE | Entertainment Complex Ground Floor Plan Page | 143 FirsPatg eF | 1l4o4 or Plan Revealing Mechanisms Page | 145 External Space Perspective Page | 146 (Re)developed Day Care Centre Page | 147 Sectional Perspective Page | 148 Sectional Perspective Page | 149 Interior Perspective Page | 150 Interior Perspective Page | 151 Interior Space Utalized Page | 152 Interior Space Utalized Page | 153 Floor Levels Page | 154 Relationship with Informal/Formal Page | 155 6.2 | CONCLUSION Page | 156 Page | 157 | REFERENCES Books Ando, T. 1991. 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Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGS6ulGnIQs [2014, March 5] Compilation News articles Newspaper Articles 5 Hurt as Bullets fly in taxi shooting – News 24 (1) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/5-hurt-as-bullets-fly-in-taxi-shooting-20140614 Taxi Association chair gunned down – News 24 (2) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Taxi-association-chair-gunned-down-20140515 Taxi Violence not to be tolerated – News 24 (3) http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Taxi-violence-not-to-be-tolerated-Chamber-20140529 4 Sentenced for KZN taxi boss murder – News 24 (4) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/4-sentenced-for-KZN-taxi-boss-murder-20140514 MEC pleas to KZN taxi associations to end violence – News 24 (5) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/MEC-pleas-to-KZN-taxi-associations-to-end-violence-20140414 Drugs at Johannesburg taxi rank – News 24 (6) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Drugs-at-Johannesburg-taxi-rank-20140320 Page | 160 Johannesburg taxi boss shot dead – News 24 (7) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Johannesburg-taxi-boss-shot-dead-20140306 Taxi violence witnesses reluctant to come forward – News 24 (8) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Taxi-violence-witnesses-reluctant-to-come-forward-20140219 Vier sterf in taxi geweld – Beeld (9) http://www.beeld.com/nuus/2014-02-20-vier-sterf-in-taxigeweld Skote eis 2 in taxi’s kort na mekaar – Beeld (10) http://www.beeld.com/nuus/2014-01-09-skote-eis-2-in-taxis-kort-n-mekaar Meer as n ton dagga in taxi gevind – Beeld (11) http://www.beeld.com/nuus/2013-09-16-meer-as-n-ton-dagga-in-taxi-gevind Doodskis op wiele – Beeld (12) http://www.beeld.com/nuus/2013-09-11-doodskis-op-wiele Road rage taxi “killer” in court – City Press (13) http://www.citypress.co.za/news/road-rage-taxi-killer-in-court/ Taxi Driver gets 18 years for shooting pedestrian – City Press (14) http://www.citypress.co.za/news/taxi-driver-gets-18-years-shooting-pedestrian/ Buses and taxis impounded, condition ‘shocking’ – City Press (15) http://www.citypress.co.za/news/buses-taxis-impounded-condition-shocking/ Violence erupts at taxi rank – City Press (16) http://www.citypress.co.za/news/violence-erupts-at-taxi-rank-20111220/ Cops monitoring taxi violence – City Press (17) http://www.citypress.co.za/page/5/?s=taxi&submit_x=14&submit_y=2 Police forced to use tear gas as city taxi operators go on rampage – The Witness (18) http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=120578 1 hurt, 17 hurt in taxi crash – The Witness (19) http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=118096 Harassment rife at Joburg taxi ranks – Mail & Guardian (20) Page | 161 http://mg.co.za/article/2008-03-06-harassment-rife-at-joburg-taxi-ranks Taxi commuters stranded as strike turns violent – Mail & Guardian (21) http://mg.co.za/article/2009-03-24-taxi-commuters-stranded-amid-reports-of-violence Bodies pile up in Cape taxi war – IOL News (22) http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/bodies-pile-up-in-cape-taxi-war-1.1692821#.U6xOAfmSySo Reiger Park taxi war claims another life – IOL News (23) http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/reiger-park-taxi-war-claims-another-life-1.1689336#.U6xOC_mSySo Page | 162