An architectural response to informality: a proposed mixed-use community hub in Komani Informal Settlement, Eastern Cape.

Abstract

Global urbanisation is accelerating as most people move from rural villages, farms, and the countryside to urban metropolises. This is the way that things are done in South Africa. Previously, colonialism and apartheid left behind a legacy of injustices and inequalities, and a sizable portion of the South African population is still disenfranchised or impoverished today. Many citizens reside in abandoned buildings on the outskirts of the major business centre, areas of persistent poverty, and extremely dangerous settings. This study is being conducted in Komani, an Eastern Cape town that is close to the Stormberg mountains. About 25% of its population lives in informal settlements. Officials have been forced to alter their plans for informal settlements and work toward integrating them into the fabric of South African cities due to the fact that these communities have turned into insurgents and are fighting for their "right to be part of the central business district area" and a better quality of life. In this situation, it is vital that architecture reconsiders how it may address the problems that informal settlement groups experience in order to reimagine the social imperatives of modernist architecture in these rebellious places. This study investigates how place theory, informality, culture, and empowerment of informal settlement groups might influence architecture to provide more adaptable and successful interventions that deal with the problems these communities face. Understanding the conditions of urban informality, the way of life and daily struggles of the occupants of informal settlements, and strategies for resolving the issues these communities face through a combination of formal and informal processes are made possible by a variety of literary works, theories, precedents, and case studies. Theories like empowerment, informality, culture and place-making may provide light on what it is like to live in an informal community daily. The objective of this study's architectural approach will be the conceptualisation of a planned mixed-use community hub in the Eastern Cape's Komani Informal Settlement. The goal of this thesis is to improve the community's quality of life by addressing its daily demands and problems.