New Dreamweaver Playground
On Saturday, Radesh (my man), Janine (Radesh’s collegue), and myself, payed the lovely Nolundi of Mielie fame a visit at her home in Harare, Khayelitsha (no, not the other Harare!). The purpose of the visit, other than to see Nolundi of course, was to see the brand new, architectural-award-winning public square that was recently built there. And wow, was it amazing. For those of you far away, Khayelitsha is a ‘township’ on the edge of Cape Town, housing around a million people. Conditions vary greatly – from lovely two storey houses, to wobbly shacks. There are some major public health and safety issues which affect the people who live there. In all the years I’ve worked in Khayelitsha, I struggle to think of a public space which has been so well thought out and is so dignified as the new square.
Here are some more photos:
A football coach intersperses football lessons with life skills education.
Previously just a dusty patch of land that people walked through, the square now boasts two small public buildings (one funded by FIFA), a state of the art, organic kids playground, an astroturf football pitch, two small public grass fields, and excellent lighting.
A new building, featuring locally made mosaic work.
It was so pretty!
Football for Hope Centre, so new they're still making the sign!
Nolundi showing us round.
The square. Just gorgeous.
We left with uplifted spirits, and the firm conviction that if you’re going to do something, you should do it properly. The architects and builders responsible for this project certainly did. Wow.
Tags:
architecture, khayelitsha