Silent Borders

23.08.2010 - 10.09.2010

Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg is an elusive, fragmented, and fast growing city, radically transforming its spatial and social configurations. This complex urban situation, that alternates between informal and formal, is an urgent and challenging field of research.Building upon the wake of the 2010 soccer world cup in South Africa, Silent Borders contextualizes the impact of global events on the premises of urban construction (infrastructure, tourism, economy, resources), especially in terms of sustainability. What will remain after the event? What happens with the numerous temporary infrastructures, installations and materials? How can the flow of the invested energies and resources be re used?Silent Borders will investigate a set of different border conditions in the city of Johannesburg. The spine of these investigations is the newly established Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT). The issue of mobility (and infrastrucure) describes a significant instrument of spatial and social regulations, interactions and urban developement. In South Africa this has been the case, both in the previous Apartheid regime and in the current Post Apartheid city. The BRT network bridges previous deconnected zones and thus becomes an instrument of Crossing Borders. The BRT serves as a macrosystem for the workshop interconnecting specific areas of investigations and interventions, which raises different aspects and subthemes to the overall workshop topic.

Task:
Designing systems for border and edge conditions, interconnecting the Social, Political, Technological, Economical and Cultural.

Borderlines:
The urban landscape of Johannesburg holds a scattered number of critical zones. These zones are characterized by the uneven distribution of living necessities and possibilities. In the critical zones, hence, the inequality of contemporary urbanization becomes explicit.
Silent Borders investigates the conditions of the borders and the edges of the critical zones in terms of spatial morphology, architecture, and the operative systems of urbanism (social, political, economical, and technical). How can we define the borderline, its conditions, and its properties in terms of architecture? How can we reconceptualize the transition zone, the threshold, and the no man s land? How can we rethink the edge condition and its role within the urban landscape of Johannesburg? How can we operate with divergent forces? How can we transform the borderline into a vibrant and generative instrument of communication, integration, connectivity, and urban development?

Technology:
An important issue is the implementation of technology in relation to local resources. New production technologies, 4D simulations, parametric design, in situ construction etc. are no garantee for solutions adressing the socially critical and dramatic issues of slums. In the field of architecture, various attemps have been made to develop ways of responding to these dramatic conditions, mainly focusing on issues of modulated living, educational or sanitary units. These responces have certainly helped to improve the living condition of informal settlements. The technological progresses of material and production processes certainly allows high tech and first aid solutions but they fail to incoorporate the diversity of site specific conditions such as cultural behavour, grass root urbanism and socio economic structures. Hence, can we optimize the benefit of all these wonderful global new skills by confronting them with local socioeconomic and cultural conditions

Resources:
Silent Borders describes the interaction of two contradictory statements: It works well to have a collection of materials and design around them and It does not work well to design a structure, then go out and try to find the material. This edge, carrying the potential role of an intermediary can only be activated by collaboration and interaction, where certain parts of the momentum are predefined and predictable, and where others are driven by unpredictability, invention and experimentation. This critical edge of prefabrication and local reused building material is one of the central issues of the workshop. It defines technical, socioeconomic as well as sociocultural momentums of the process.

Programme:
Design Thinking
Silent Borders describes an interdisciplinary and experimental workshop where various reference systems will be elaborated in a Design Thinking process. The Design Thinking process is a humancentered set of methods and tools that combines approaches found in design and ethnography with technology and business skills. The process ensures the simultaneous correlation of different issues and players.

Phases:
1. Mapping Borders (spatial, social, economic and technological borders)
2. System Evaluation
3. Consequences, Project Proposals

Lectures and critics from local universities and institutions will attend the workshop, providing insights and readings of the urban dynamics of Johannesburg.

Exhibition and Publication:
A publication published by Springer Wien New York and an exhibition covering the workshop process and results is planned.

Coaching Team and Experts:
RIEAch staff:
Guy Lafranchi , Bern University of Applied Sciences, Architecture Department
Lars Kordetzky, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Architecture Department
PerJohan Dahl, UCLA Department of Architecture & Urban Desing
Donatella Cusma, Woodbury University School of Architecture, Department of Interior Architecture
Corrado Curti, Polytechic of Torino School of Architecture
Mikael Pedersen
Jitendra Jainand:
Thorsten Deckler, 26 10 South Architects, Johannesburg
Lone Poulsen, Director of Architecture, School of Architecture & Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Lecturers from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and other Institutions

Participants: (max. 30)
Students (2nd , 3rd, master and graduates) and professionals in the fields of Architecture , Project Management, Sociology, Economy, Communications and System Theory.