2026
From Fear to Care An architecture of process addressing women’s experiences in Cape Town through the spatialisation of collective care.
Architecture
Julia Parton
Julia Parton juliajparton@gmail.com
Master of Architecture Amsterdam Academie van Bouwkunst July 2026
Committee Lada Hršak Keneilwe Ramaphosa Dr Natalie Dixon
External Committee Ira Koers Marten Kuijpers From Fear to Care
Table of contents
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00
Prologue A Personal Preface
01
Chapter One: The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women The Research Question, Gender-Based Violence as a National Crisis Statistically, The Economic Cost of Gender-Based Violence, Architecture and Spatial Injustice, Safe and Unsafe Spaces, The Dynamics of Safety
02
Chapter Two: How Power Became Spatial in South Africa Generations of Spatial Injustice, The Collective Memory of the City, The Company’s Garden as a Spatial Storybook, The Duality of Spatial Conditions
03
Chapter Three: Care Already Exists The Women who Sustain the City, Existing Urban Infrastructures of Care, The Taxi Rank Cook, The Market Vendor and The Garden Caretaker
04 Chapter Four: A Care Centred Reading of the City Spatial Practice Through the Lens of an Architecture of Care, Reading the City, Spatial Principles for an Architecture of Care
05
Chapter Five: Spatial Practices of Care 06
Contextual Precedents of Craft and Care, Care Becomes Spatial, Material, Memory and Metaphor
Chapter Six: An Architecture of Process 07
What is an Architecture of Process, Political Context, Social Context, Spatial Context
Chapter Seven: amaPrecinct An Introduction to The Site, amaCircle of Care, amaExchange Alley, amaGathering Place
08 Chapter Eight: Landscape as a Tool of Care Landscape Tells a Story, Landscape Interventions in amaPrecinct
09
Chapter Nine: The Role of Spatial Practice in Addressing Care Reflection
10
Chapter Ten: Acknowledgements and References Acknowledgements, References
content Page 5
From Fear to Care
Prologue
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Architecture has historically materialised systems of power. This research proposes that architecture can instead materialise systems of care.
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From Fear to Care
Prologue
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A Personal Preface
At the urban heart of one of the world’s most beautiful cities lies a profound contradiction: beneath its iconic natural setting and vibrant public life, many women who sustain the city through their daily labour navigate environments marked by fear, vulnerability and insecurity. The ongoing crisis of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) – formally recognised by the South African government as a national disaster – exposes women to persistent threats that shape not only their movement through the city, but also their sense of dignity, safety and belonging. This tension between beauty and violence reveals the need to reimagine the city as a place of protection, care and collective support. Architecture, as both spatial practice and social instrument, has the potential to intervene meaningfully in this reality by creating systems of care embedded within the urban fabric. This project explores how space itself can become an agent of safety, opening new architectural pathways to support the women who work in, move through and care for the city every day.
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From Fear to Care
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Chapter one The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women
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From Fear to Care
The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women: The Research Question
How can architecture contribute to reducing gender-based violence and reimagining spaces of safety, care and empowerment for women in South Africa?
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The Research Question
South Africa continues to grapple with one of the world’s highest rates of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). Between April 2023 and March 2024, 42,569 rapes were reported and 5,578 women were murdered in South Africa. These figures are reported crimes and are widely understood to understate the full scale of the problem. Violence does not occur in isolation from the built environment. It is shaped by the social, cultural and spatial conditions of cities, institutions and infrastructure. The spaces we design can either reinforce vulnerability or support safety, dignity and belonging. This project investigates the spatial conditions that enable violence or foster safety, attempting to understand and reimagine how architecture might contribute to broader social transformation, and therefore potentially become a part of a wider interdisciplinary response. The intention is to create awareness for the effectiveness of architectural interventions in contributing to safe and unsafe spaces. In Cape Town, the city of my birth, women continue to navigate a built environment shaped by an ever-present awareness of risk, where many public spaces cannot be occupied freely or safely. This limits mobility, participation and access to everyday urban life. The murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana in Cape Town in 2019 became a national catalyst, exposing how public infrastructure can fail to protect those who use it. Her death highlighted the urgent need to rethink the relationship between people, place and safety. Women routinely adapt their movements and behaviour in response to the threat of violence. Decisions as ordinary as attending class, travelling to work, exercising or shopping are often shaped by constant risk assessment. This project asks whether architecture can help shift that experience – from one defined by vigilance and fear towards one grounded in care, belonging and freedom.
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From Fear to Care
The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women: Gender-Based Violence as a National Crisis, Statistically
National Statistics of Rape Reported the South African Police Service AnnualAnnual National Statistics of toRape Year Total Crimes Reported Reported to the South African Police 44215 Service2013 - 2014 2014 - 2015
42175
2015 - 2016
40518
2016 - 2017
38866
2017 - 2018
39150
2018 - 2019
40611
2019 - 2020
41697
2020 - 2021
35644
2021 - 2022
41744
2022 - 2023
43085
2023 - 2024
42629
2024 - 2025
41990
45000
33750
22500
11250
0
2013 - 2014
2014 - 2015
2015 - 2016
2016 - 2017
2017 - 2018
2018 - 2019
2019 - 2020
2020 - 2021
2021 - 2022
2022 - 2023
Figure 1
2013-2014: 2014-2015: 2015-2016: 2016-2017: 2017-2018: 2018-2019: 2019-2020: 2020-2021: 2021-2022: 2022-2023: 2023-2024: 2024-2025:
1
44 215 women 42 175 women 40 518 women 38 866 women 39 150 women 40 611 women 41 697 women 35 644 women 41 744 women 43 085 women 42 629 women 41 990 women Page 14
2023 - 2024
2024 - 2025
Gender-Based Violence as a National Crisis, Statistically
South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in the world. In November 2025, the South African government formally recognised GBVF as a national crisis. According to the Human Sciences Research Council’s 2024 National GBVF Survey, one in three women over the age of 18 has experienced physical violence, nearly 10% have experienced sexual violence, and more than one-third have experienced either physical or sexual abuse. The scale of the crisis continues to intensify. Recorded femicides increased from 2,930 in 2019 to 3,880 in 2023, and 5,578 in 2024. During a three-month period alone, 957 women were murdered, 1,567 survived attempted murder, more than 14,000 suffered grievous bodily harm, and over 10,000 rapes were reported. These figures represent reported cases only, with many incidents remaining unreported. The 2023 statistics show that gender-based violence was 21 times more prevalent in South Africa compared to the Netherlands, per capita. These are the reported statistics. It is estimated that 95% of cases go unreported to the police.
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From Fear to Care
The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women: The Reported Statistics of Gender-Based Violence in Cape Town
The Cape Town Central Improvement District (CCID)
Figure 2 Page 16
The Reported Statistics of GenderBased Violence in the Urbanised City Centre of Cape Town
The urbanised city centre of Cape Town falls under the SAPS Central Police Station. This precinct falls under the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID). The CCID is a non-profit partnership between the City of Cape Town and property owners that looks after the inner city. It was set up in 2000 to keep the CBD safe, clean and well managed. The CCID has its own security, cleaning and social outreach teams who work every day to support the area’s businesses and communities. It also promotes investment and urban renewal through regular research and city improvement projects. The precinct remains a crime hotspot, with 81 reported sexual offences recorded during the past year. This demonstrates that even highly managed urban environments continue to present significant challenges for women’s safety, reinforcing the need to consider how the design and occupation of public space contribute to everyday experiences of security and vulnerability.
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From Fear to Care
2016
25
The Lived Spatial Experience of South African 2017 Women: The Reported Statistics of Gender-Based Violence in Cape Town
18
2018
15
Annual National Statistics of 2019 Sexual Assault Reported in the Cape Town 2020 Central Precinct
21 46
2021
17
2022
24
2023
31
2024
19
50
37,5
25
12,5
0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Figure 3
2015: 2016: 2017: 2018: 2019: 2020: 2021: 2022: 2023: 2024:
13 women 25 women 18 women 15 women 21 women 46 women 17 women 24 women 31 women 19 women
1
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2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2016
25
2017
21
2018
28
Annual National Statistics of 2019 Rape Reported in the Cape Town Central 2020 Precinct
33 36
2021
31
2022
43
2023
65
2024
53
70
52,5
35
17,5
0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Figure 4
2015: 2016: 2017: 2018: 2019: 2020: 2021: 2022: 2023: 2024:
27 women 25 women 21 women 28 women 33 women 36 women 31 women 43 women 65 women 53 women
1
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From Fear to Care
R 1 106 982 290,00
R 1 328 378 748,00
3,13%
3,13%
The Minimum Cost Rof2 734 GBV in038,00 South Africa (KPMG, 2012)-1-1 855 6,45% 6,44%
R 2 279 045 865,00
The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women: The Economic Cost of Gender-Based Violence GBV Prevalence Rate
20%
R 35 403 913 441,00 Total
100% 1.1%
GDP Measurement
25%
R 42191 380290,00 635 591,00 R 28 427
R 42380635591,00
1.1% 1.3%
1.3%
0.9%
The Minimum Cost of GBV in South Africa (KPMG, 2012) The Minimum Cost of GBV in South Africa (KPMG, 2012)-2
The Minimum Cost of GBV in South Africa (KPMG, 20
GBV Prevalence Rate
25%
20%
0.9% of GDP R 28 427 191 290 Cost (ZAR) Percentage contribution (%)
Affected Group Victims Government Civil Society Business
R 513 551 244,39
1,45%
Government
R 1 106 982 290,00
3,13%
Civil Society
6,44%
Business
30%
1.1% of GDP
R 0,00
Civil Society
R 1 328 378 748,00 R 2 734 855 038,00
Total
1.1%
GDP Measurement
R 22 000 000 000,00
R 513551244,39
R 42 380 635 591,00
100%
R 42 380 635 591
Cost (ZAR) Percentag Government R 37 803 850 561,00
Victims
GDP Measurement
Victims
Affected Group
88,99%
R 35 403 913 441,00
Total
GBV Prevalence Rate
R 31 504 334 041,00
R 35 403 913 441 R 2 279 045 865,00
25%
30%
R 35403913441,00100%
Business
1.3% of GDP
Total 0%
R 44 000 000 000,00
25%
Figure 5 30% R 42380635591,00 1.3%
The Division of Cost of GBV in South Africa (KPMG, 2012)
R 25 204 817 522 - R 37 803 850 561
Victims
Government
R 513 551 244 - R 513551244.39
Civil Society
R 885 585 832 - R 1 328 378 748 R 1 823 236 692 - R 2 734 855 038
Business
R 28 427 191 290 - R 42 380 635 591
Total 0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Figure 6 The Minimum Cost of GBV in South Africa (KPMG, 2012) GBV Prevalence Rate
Affected Group
20%
25%
Cost (ZAR) Percentage contribution (%)
Cost (ZAR) Percentage contribution (%)
30%
Cost (ZAR) Percentage contribution (%)
R 25 204 817 522,00
88,66%
R 31 504 334 041,00
88,99%
R 37 803 850 561,00
Government
R 513 551 244,00
1,81%
R 513 551 244,39
1,45%
R 513551244,39
1,21%
Civil Society
R 885 585 832,00
3,12%
R 1 106 982 290,00
3,13%
R 1 328 378 748,00
3,13%
R 1 823 236 692,00
6,41%
R 2 279 045 865,00
6,44%
R 2 734 855 038,00
6,45%
R 28 427 191 290,00
100%
R 35 403 913 441,00
100%
R 42 380 635 591,00
100%
Victims
Business
Total GDP Measurement
0.9%
The Minimum Cost of GBV in South Africa (KPMG, 2012)-1 GBV Prevalence Rate
1
89,2%
1.3%
1.1%
Page 20The Minimum Cost of GBV in South Africa (KPMG, 2012)-2 20%
GBV Prevalence Rate
The Minimum Cost o 25%
GBV Prevalence Rate
The Economic Cost of Gender-Based Violence
Beyond its profound human cost, GBVF places a significant financial burden on South Africa. KPMG’s landmark 2014 report “Too Costly to Ignore” estimated the annual economic cost of GBVF at between ZAR 28.4 and ZAR 42.4 billion. Although no equivalent national costing study has since been undertaken, inflation alone suggests that the economic burden today would be substantially higher. These costs extend well beyond policing and the criminal justice system. They include healthcare, emergency services, social support, lost productivity, reduced educational attainment, psychological trauma, relocation, private security, diminished household income and longterm economic inequality. Together, they represent billions of rand spent managing the consequences of violence. This raises an important question: what if a greater proportion of these resources were invested in preventing violence rather than responding to its aftermath? While architecture cannot eliminate gender-based violence, it has the potential to contribute to safer spatial conditions that reduce vulnerability before harm occurs.
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From Fear to Care
The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women: Architecture and Spatial Injustice
Figure 7 Page 22
Architecture and Spatial Injustice
Cities are designed as deliberate environments that often reflect the social, political and economic values of the collective societies that produce them. Decisions behind what, where and how things are built is never neutral, they are always informed by external factors. These cities represent the priorities of the time and are physical archives of the dominant narratives of the moment of their creation. The spatial traces of their time shape the way that people inhabit the built environment. They determine patterns of movement, visibility, occupation, access and safety. They ultimately inform who is included and who is marginalised within the spaces they create. Architecture and urban planning have historically operated as tools of power. In the context of South Africa, the dominant narratives of the collective memory of the city were shaped around generations of spatial injustice and abuse of power. The colonial project and the Apartheid regime demonstrate the way in which the built environment was used as a tool to organise society through methods of separation, surveillance and control. What is widely considered to be functional pieces of architecture, such as roads, institutions, public squares and leisure spaces, became physical political ideologies. The relationship between architecture and power is not unique to the South African context. It is a global phenomenon where public space reflects the values of those who create it. Monumental infrastructure, memorials and institutions often shape whose history is celebrated and legitimised, and whose everyday lives are rendered visible or invisible. Once the power of architecture is understood, it can also be used as a tool to address spatial injustice. Buildings alone do not have the ability to eliminate gender-based violence, but they
do have the ability to influence the vulnerability and shared responsibility that is experienced. Spatial organisational tools such as thresholds, landscapes and sustained institutions have the ability to encourage visibility, community stewardship and participation rather than isolation, exclusion and abandonment. Fear has a spatial dimension. It leads women to change routes through the city, avoid public transport and parks, time their journeys around occupancy, and withdraw from public life. When fear begins to shape spatial behaviour, it becomes an architectural question. Current investment in responding to genderbased violence is understandably directed towards essential services such as policing, CCTV, hospitals, shelters and the criminal justice system. These interventions are indispensable, yet they are largely activated after violence has occurred. Far less attention has been given to how the built environment might contribute to preventing harm by shaping the spatial conditions that foster safety, visibility, occupation and collective care. Gender-based violence is rightly understood as a social and criminal justice issue. This project argues that it is a intersectional issue that includes spatial practice. While it is clear that architecture alone cannot eliminate violence, it can play a role in addressing the conditions that either reinforce vulnerability or support safety, visibility and civic responsibility. This is where the concept of architectural accomplices and architectural lifelines emerge. Architecture can be designed as facilitators to increase occupation, embed notions of collective care within programming, increase methods of passive surveillance, encourage notions of public guardianship, enhance feelings of belonging and legitimise women’s occupation of public space.
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From Fear to Care
The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women: Safe and Unsafe Spaces
WOMXM IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE UNABLE TO MOVE THROUGH THE CITY SAFELY.
infrastructure protest
WOMXM IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE UNABLE TO MOVE THROUGH THE CITY vitctim SAFELY. fear
security
35.5% of South African women have experienced physical or sexual violence. 40 000+ rapes reported in 2017. 2930+ femicides reported in 2017. In comparison to 46 female homicides in the Netherlands in the same time period.
protest vitctim fear
security
liberation
35.5% of South African women have experienced physical or sexual violence. 40 000+ rapes reported in 2017. 2930+ femicides reported in 2017. In comparison to 46 female homicides in the Netherlands in the same time period.
Figure 8
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Safe and Unsafe Spaces
The city of Cape Town is home to over 4.7 million people, all of whom reserve the right to the city. However, experiences of space vary greatly due to external factors such as gender, class, and time. Any discussion of safety in the built environment must begin by acknowledging that people experience infrastructure differently. In a lecture on spatial storytelling at the University of Cape Town, Khensani de Klerk emphasised that “Women do not passively experience space.” She highlights how inequitable societies are reinforced through physical infrastructure and how Cape Town’s geography dictates how individuals exist within its finite spaces. As discussed earlier in this chapter, space is not neutral. It is a finite resource that shapes power, movement and belonging. Karina Landman states, “…to be inclusive, does not only relate to the physical condition of the space but also relates to the meaning and opportunities it creates for the users.” When mapping safe and unsafe spaces, one must look beyond tangible structures and examine the socio-spatial practices that define them. What are the physical circumstances that perpetuate safe and unsafe activity? How can design intervene and create a sense of security? A safe space should be home to a sense of security, inclusivity and autonomy. There are various well known design principles that reinforce the notion of safe space. These principles include well-lit streets, accessible mobility routing, clear way finding, visibility in public spaces, active and passive methods of surveillance and active mixed use spaces. Safety is shaped not only by physical form but also by how space is programmed, occupied and maintained. The programming of safe spaces within the urban environment is essential when aiming to create a safe space for
women. Safe spaces will exist when there are safe and supportive collectives surrounding them. Women’s shelters, inclusive public functions and lively urban facilities create a sense of belonging. Physical and social infrastructure are the corner stones of the creation of safe spaces for women within the built environment. Unsafe spaces emerge where design and social conditions reinforce isolation, invisibility and vulnerability. Examples of unsafe design principles are dim-lit spaces, inactive mobility routes, deserted streets, blocked alleys and inaccessible public infrastructure. Unsafe spaces can be created by unsafe social practices that put women at risk. In order to understand why certain spaces in a city foster the notion of safety, it is essential to understand what feelings and conditions these spaces create for the women that inhabit them. The aforementioned safe spaces are all spaces that create a sense of autonomy and control for the user. These spaces all include the notion of safety in numbers, large scale activity, high visibility, active functions and communityfocussed programming. Public spaces that are well monitored and ever busy, such as shopping malls, community centres and markets create the feeling of safety. In South Africa, safety is rarely fixed. A street that feels secure during the day may become threatening after dark; a familiar transport route may become unsafe through isolation or overcrowding. This uncertainty compels many women to remain constantly vigilant, shaping how and when they move through the city.
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From Fear to Care
The Lived Spatial Experience of South African Women: The Dynamics of Safety
Figure 9
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The Dynamics of Safety
Safety is often treated as a measurable condition, supported by established principles of urban design. Yet lived experience is far more nuanced. A place may satisfy every technical criterion for safety while still feeling unsafe to those who inhabit it. For many South African women, safety is an ever evolving process. It influences their decisions on where to walk, what transport route to take, what time to leave work, where they can park their car and how to enter the public space. Their daily spatial negotiations are rarely spontaneous and are shaped by continuous assessment of risk. This assessment is informed by previous experience, social knowledge and the perceived presence of other beings.
not safety. While these measures may reduce immediate risk and support prosecution, they do little to transform the underlying spatial conditions that produce vulnerability. Safety is therefore not the absence of danger, but the presence of care. On an intangible level, safe space is produced through visibility, participation, stewardship and continuous occupation. These conditions emerge through spatial decisions that are intentionally designed and collectively sustained. How might spatial practitioners design public spaces in which women can participate fully, freely and without fear?
Unsafe spaces are therefore defined not only by their physical characteristics, but also by uncertainty, isolation and the absence of collective care. They become places of vulnerability because they lack the social and spatial conditions that enable people to feel protected by the presence of others. Similarly, safe spaces are also rarely defined by physical infrastructure alone. They are defined by the way in which the infrastructure is occupied, maintained and collectively cared for. Safety emerges in places where people gather, where informal traders create continuous activity, where participants of public life establish familiarity and where public life becomes visible. These environments extend Jane Jacobs’ notion of “eyes on the street” beyond passive observation towards relationships built on familiarity, trust and shared responsibility. In the South African context, a conventional response to gender-based violence very often prioritises defensive measures, security logic, surveillance and policing. But surveillance is
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Chapter two How Power Became Spatial in South Africa
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: Generations of Spatial Injustice
Generations of Spatial Injustice
Spatial marginalisation experienced by women today is a cumulative result of centuries of political injustice and deliberate spatial exclusion. The South African built environment reflects structural and spatial inequalities that continue to undermine women’s safe participation in public life.
colonial households. Slavery rapidly expanded and the city developed around the exploitation of enslaved labour. Much of Cape Town’s historic built environment was constructed through the labour of enslaved people whose lives were exploited and whose contributions were systematically erased from official histories.
Indigenous Peoples (pre 1652) The Cape was inhabited by the Khoikhoi and San communities long before European colonisation. Their relationships with the land were built upon their lifestyles of seasonal occupation, mobility and reciprocal relationships with natural resources. Space was collective rather than privately owned territory. Movement was shaped by an ecological calendar rather than prescribed property lines. Relationships between people, land and governance differed fundamentally from the systems imposed during colonial occupation.
These early colonial planning practices established patterns of ownership, exclusion and spatial hierarchy that continue to shape Cape Town’s urban form.
Colonialism & Slavery (1652–1948) In 1652, The Dutch East India Company arrived in the Cape, which marked the start of Eurocentric spatial occupation in South Africa. There was a subsequent shift where land became a commodity and it was privately owned, enclosure and control emerged and replaced systems of shared stewardship. Spatially, the establishment of the Company’s Garden and the Fort de Goede Hoop centred “The Cape of Good Hope” as an administrative capital in colonial power. Simultaneously, indigenous people were displaced from their ancestral land. At this time, spatial organisation became instruments of power. Streets, gardens, government buildings and public spaces were designed to reinforce authority and embed colonial values into the structure of the city. In 1658, the first enslaved people arrived in the Cape. Enslaved people from East Africa, Madagascar, India and South East Asia were bought to the Cape to construct buildings, cultivate the Company’s Garden and maintain
Apartheid (1948-1994) Racial segregation in South Africa dates back long before Apartheid, however, following the election of the National Party in 1948, racial segregation became a comprehensive state planning system. The governmental regime used legislation such as the 1*Group Areas Act of 1950, 2*Pass Laws and the 3*Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 mobilise the built environment as a mechanism of segregation and control. Entire communities were forced to leave their homes. Centrally located neighbourhoods, like District Six, were targeted and Black, Coloured and Indian populations were forced to relocate to peripheral townships. The built environment became a fragmented and unequal territory which was controlled by long commutes and inadequate transport infrastructure. Public capital, infrastructure and opportunities were concentrated to predominantly white urban centres which further perpetuated patterns of exclusion. For women, these spatial inequalities intensified vulnerability by increasing travel distances, limiting access to support and requiring movement through isolated environments. These planning frameworks institutionalised spatial inequality, many aspects of which remain visible in contemporary mobility patterns, access to opportunity and perceptions of safety.
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Democracy (1994-present) In 1994, the country became a democratic republic. This political transition established constitutional commitments to equality and human rights. While the political structure changed, much of the physical structure remained embedded in historical patterns of land ownership, institutional distribution and economic opportunity. There have been significant efforts to address these inequalities through housing programmes, spatial planning reforms and urban regeneration initiatives, however many inherited oppressive spatial structures continue to have an impact on daily life. The inheritance of historic planning frameworks is particularly evident in Cape Town where public amenities are still strongly influenced by historical patterns of segregation. Although democracy transformed South Africa’s political landscape, transforming its spatial landscape remains an ongoing project.
Indigenous Peoples (pre 1652)
Colonial settlement in the Cape (1652 -1948)
Persistent spatial inequality Consequently, contemporary Cape Town is characterised by a multitude of complex overlapping layers of history. Indigenous landscapes, colonial institutions, apartheid spatial planning and democratic interventions coexist within the same urban fabric creating an urban landscape shaped by overlapping and often contradictory spatial histories. Apartheid (1948 - 1994)
Women continue to negotiate environments shaped by unequal access to opportunity, fragmented movement networks and public spaces that are inconsistent in supporting safety. Looking at the history of the city, this foregrounds the understanding that these conditions are ongoing spatial realities partially informed by historical legacies. Understanding that the urban landscape has been deliberately produced provides the hope that it can be deliberately transformed. Persistent Spatial Inequality (present) Figure 10, 11, 12, 13
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: Generations of Spatial Injustice
Map illustrating the legislative land use in Cape Town Under the Group Areas Act of 1950
Figure 12
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Apartheid Legislation
The Group Areas Act of 1950 The Group Areas Act was one of the most impactful measures of Apartheid legislation. It was legislation that legally enforced the division of the country into areas based on racial categories determined by the government. The act was used to push Black, Coloured and Indian South Africans out of areas in which they had settled. The law empowered the government to declare specific urban areas to the exclusive occupation of designated racial groups. This resulted in systemic displacement of Black, Coloured and Indian communities. The act restricted residence, business ownership and occupation. 1*
Forced removals were a principal legal instrument in enforcement of the law. Once an area was designated for a certain racial group, people under other racial categories were prohibited from residing there, owning property or operating businesses. The Group Areas Act fundamentally reshaped spatial structures in South African cities. It institutionalised segregation and spatialised marginalisation. Pass Laws Pass systems were introduced in the late eighteenth century in the Cape Colony and expanded over time into a comprehensive system of racial control. 2*
The law evolved into the Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923 which deemed urban areas as “white” spaces and all Black men were required to carry a pass. If found without a pass, it would result in an immediate arrest. In 1945, it was replaced with the Natives (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act which set up further guidelines for removing people who were deemed to be living “idle” lives from urban areas. Subsequently, Black, Indian and Coloured South Africans had to qualify to legally reside in
the city. The Natives (Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents) Act, No. 67 of 1952 stated that all Black people over the age of 16 were required to carry a pass and no Black South African was allowed to stay in an urban area for more than 72 hours unless allowed. The pass was a reference book which was colloquially known as the “dompas”. Although pass laws initially targeted men, the government attempted to extend it to women. This sparked a widespread resistance movement which resulted in the Women’s March to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on the 9th of August 1956, where approximately 20 000 women protested against the extension of the pass laws. The law was repealed in 1986. Bantu Authorities Act 1951 The Bantu Authorities Act established a legislative foundation for the Bantustan system which was the Apartheid government’s homeland system. This granted administrative power to selected tribal leaders within designated reserves. The authorities operated under supervision from the apartheid state. The act defined Black South Africans as members of separate ethnic groups and their political rights were tied to their homelands. These homelands were geographically isolated which legitimised exclusion of Black South Africans from cities. The system fragmented families and communities while restricting access to employment, education and urban opportunity. The system was dismantled after 1994 but the spatial legacy is legible today. Patterns of peripheral settlement, commuting long distances, fragmented family structures and unequal access to employment all reflect the geography created by the Bantu Authorities Act. 3*
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Collective Memory of the City
Figure 14 Page 34
The Collective Memory of the City
The collective memory of a city is shaped by the stories, spaces and institutions that are made visible, sustained and accessible over time. In Cape Town, the built environment carries layered and often conflicting narratives that span generations, revealing how power has historically been inscribed into space. This project does not seek to produce a singular or totalising account of the city’s past, but instead positions itself as one additional layer within this complex collective memory, attentive to the voices of women. In doing so, it centres the lives, movements and spatial negotiations of women as a means of engaging the city’s ongoing processes of care, vulnerability and resilience, acknowledging both the depth of histories that precede it and the ongoing process of spatial justice in the present. Cities remember through monuments, institutions, names, parks, memorials and buildings. Cities also forget because of the very same things. The collective memory of the city is not objective; it is politically loaded and dominant narrative only allow some histories to become permanent. The dominant spatial memory narrative in Cape Town tells the story of exploitation, domination and inequality. It tells the story of a governmental history. It seldom tells the stories of the small people, the enslaved women, the domestic workers, the informal vendors, the healers, the mothers. Architecture has not historically recognised these forms of labour.
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Company’s Garden as a Spatial Storybook
The Company’s Garden as a Spatial Storybook Situated in Cape Town’s city centre, the Company’s Garden is a spatial archive that records successive histories of power, occupation and memory. Rather than erasing those histories, this project proposes writing a new layer into that archive – one in which care, safety and collective stewardship become part of the landscape itself. Formally established in the 1650s by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a refreshment station within a global colonial trade network, the Garden was built through the dispossession of Khoisan land and the exploitation of enslaved labour from Africa and Asia, embedding racialised systems of power into its landscape. While its spatial order and memorials largely reflect colonial values and dominant historical narratives, the Garden is also one of the city’s most widely used public spaces today, claimed daily by diverse communities from across Cape Town, making it simultaneously a colonial artefact and a contemporary public commons. Its significance is further intensified by its central position within a cluster of civic and cultural institutions that shape notions of public power, memory and justice in South Africa. The Company’s Garden sits physically and symbolically between sites where governance, law and historical narration are produced and contested, reinforcing its role as a charged civic landscape rather than a neutral public park: Parliament of South Africa Where national laws are debated, enacted and contested (although it is currently operating from temporary accommodation following fire-related damage) High Court of South Africa, Cape Town Where serious criminal cases, including genderbased violence, are adjudicated Iziko South African Museum Which holds material traces of the region’s social histories, including the often-marginalised lives
of women South African Library A repository of knowledge, archives and colonial as well as postcolonial records Iziko South African National Gallery Where cultural narratives, representation and artistic expression are negotiated Iziko Slave Lodge Museum A site that confronts the history of enslavement and its enduring social legacies In addition, the Garden lies just a few blocks from Cape Town’s central train, bus and taxi station precinct, positioning it at the intersection of daily transitional commuter movement. Together, these surrounding institutions and infrastructures situate the Company’s Garden as a spatial threshold between authority, justice, memory and public life, amplifying its relevance as a site through which questions of power, visibility and social repair can be explored. Like many public spaces in South Africa, the Company’s Garden exists in a dual tension between safety and vulnerability, particularly for women. This project positions the Garden as an opportunity to enhance spatial safety through carefully considered interventions aligned with its civic, cultural and historical role, rather than through exclusionary or securitised measures. By engaging safety as a social and spatial condition, the project seeks to heighten women’s sense of protection, dignity and belonging within a space already central to public life. The Garden draws a wide and diverse range of users, including those who work in the precinct, school children from adjacent schools, visitors to nearby museums and restaurants, commuters moving through its paths to connect different parts of the city, people seeking rest during work breaks and tourists experiencing Cape Town. As one of the few generous open spaces within
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Cape Town’s dense urban core, the Garden offers the potential to become a place of witness: a setting where survivors can feel sufficiently safe to be seen, heard and acknowledged. The presence of mature trees further strengthens this possibility, recalling long-standing Indigenous traditions of gathering beneath trees for dialogue, deliberation and communal care. Historically, the site long predates its colonial transformation into the Company’s Garden. For millennia, it was frequented by nomadic communities, serving as seasonal grazing land for the cattle and sheep of the pastoral Khoi, while San hunter-gatherers utilised indigenous plants – many of which remain in the Garden today – for medicinal and cultural purposes. This layered history presents an opportunity to intervene critically in the Garden’s colonial narrative: to acknowledge histories of dispossession and erasure while introducing new layers of meaning centred on care, justice and women’s safety.
Iziko South African National Gallery
High Court of South Africa, Cape Town
Statue of George Grey (Governor 1854-1861)
Cape Town Station Figure 15, 16, 17, 18
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Company’s Garden as a Spatial Storybook
Figure 19 Page 38
Figure 20 Page 39
From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Duality of Spatial Conditions
An inventory of dualism: the coexisting spatial conditions of protection and vulnerability within the contemporary city centre of Cape Town.
Figure 21
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The Duality of Spatial Conditions
South Africa is characterised by profound spatial dualities. Nowhere is this more evident than in Cape Town’s city centre, where public spaces simultaneously offer opportunity and vulnerability, openness and control, visibility and fear – particularly for women. Public spaces such as the Company’s Garden function simultaneously as places of refuge and places navigated with caution. They invite gathering and movement while demanding continual awareness of risk. This duality produces a culture of hyper-vigilance. Safety is frequently expressed through defensive infrastructure – burglar bars, CCTV cameras, electric fencing, controlled access and private security. This protection creates physical barriers and boundaries in space. Although intended to protect, these interventions also make visible the vulnerabilities they are designed to address. Together they produce an architectural language of separation, surveillance and control, and are examples of this symbolic dualism of safety and vulnerability. The cumulative effect is a contraction of public life. As defensive measures increase, perceptions of fear become embedded within the urban landscape, influencing how people move through and occupy space. Physical barriers of safety and methods of surveillance can be used as a tool for both protection and oppression. Surveillance itself is not neutral. While it can contribute to public safety, it can also reinforce unequal forms of visibility, suspicion and control. In Cape Town, surveillance reiterates the duality of protection versus control. The city’s response systems to crime often further perpetuate biases that reproduce the same spatial inequalities rooted in historical patterns of marginalisation. As Lindsey Bremner argues in “Writing the City into Being”, surveillance extends colonial and apartheid practices of mapping, classifying and regulating bodies. Although the technologies have changed, protection remains unevenly distributed across lines of race and class. Mapping these spatial dualities reveals how protection and vulnerability coexist within the contemporary city.
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Duality of Spatial Conditions
Movement
Figure 22
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Dual spatial conditions in transition Large car-dominated streets coexist with narrower, more active pedestrian routes. Informal traders and porous ground floors encourage continuous occupation, while large institutional buildings regulate movement through controlled thresholds and restricted access.
Figure 23
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Duality of Spatial Conditions
Boundary
Figure 24
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Dual spatial conditions in boundaries The two principal edges of the Company’s Garden communicate contrasting ideas of safety. One edge is heavily fortified with limited access, while the other remains open, porous and visually connected to the surrounding streets.
Figure 25
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Duality of Spatial Conditions
Defensive Architecture
Figure 26
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Dual spatial conditions in barriers Different institutions employ remarkably similar defensive architectural languages. Despite variations in programme and typology, barriers, fencing and surveillance create a shared vocabulary of protection and exclusion.
Figure 27
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Duality of Spatial Conditions
Hierarchy
Figure 28
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Dual spatial conditions of spatial dominance Formal civic institutions dominate the physical landscape, while informal traders animate it through everyday occupation. Although less permanent, these informal activities often generate the strongest sense of safety and belonging.
Figure 29
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Duality of Spatial Conditions
Guardianship
Figure 30
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Dual spatial conditions in guardianship Different forms of surveillance create different expressions of guardianship. Some encourage openness and collective responsibility, while others communicate separation, vulnerability or institutional control.
Figure 31
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From Fear to Care
How Power Became Spatial in South Africa: The Duality of Spatial Conditions
Occupancy
Figure 32
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Dual spatial conditions in presence Perceptions of safety shift throughout the day as patterns of occupation change. During weekday lunch hours the Garden is active and diverse; outside these periods, reduced activity and the predominance of male occupation significantly alter perceptions of safety.
Figure 33
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From Fear to Care
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Chapter three Care Already Exists
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From Fear to Care
Care Already Exists: The Women who Sustain the City
Figure 34 Page 56
The Women who Sustain the City Over generations, women have continuously produced systems of care that sustain everyday life, often within conditions of spatial exclusion and political marginalisation. They provide essential social, economic and care infrastructure. Acknowledging that these systems of care already exist within the city, this research highlights their valuable role. Within Cape Town’s city centre, a network of care operates alongside the city’s formal economic and political systems. These everyday acts of care sustain urban life, yet they are rarely recognised within formal planning practices. They create the social conditions that enable the city to function. Women maintain existing systems of care by preparing meals at the beginning and end of the day, caring for children, providing affordable food, facilitating social interaction and enabling the exchange of knowledge. Through these everyday practices, they cultivate communities of reciprocal care and trust. Feminist economists distinguish between two forms of labour: productive and reproductive labour. Productive labour refers to paid economic work that contributes directly to a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Reproductive labour encompasses the work required to sustain daily life, including preparing food, raising children, caregiving and household tasks. Although essential to the functioning of society, reproductive labour is largely excluded from conventional economic measures, creating a distorted understanding of what constitutes valuable work. Because reproductive labour is regarded as necessary but unpaid work, many women participate in both the productive and reproductive economies. After completing their paid employment, many return home to begin a second shift of unpaid care work. The persistent undervaluation of reproductive labour highlights the need to reconsider how value is defined and recognised.
Despite its inherently spatial nature, reproductive labour is often overlooked within architectural and urban planning. Spaces of gathering, exchange, nourishment and mutual support are embedded throughout Cape Town’s city centre. They manifest as community kitchens at taxi ranks, market stalls that keep the streets fed, informed and socially connected, and community gardens that become places of rest and reflection. Sustained through daily routines of occupation and stewardship, these spaces form an essential yet often unrecognised layer of the city’s social infrastructure. Thousands of people commute into Cape Town’s city centre each day to sustain its daily functioning. Many cannot afford to live there and undertake long journeys to access the opportunities the urban centre provides. These workers are essential to the life of the city, yet many cannot fully participate in it. Formal institutions often prioritise those with the financial means to access them. As a result, many workers rely on informal networks of care distributed throughout the city. These networks provide forms of support that formal institutions frequently fail to accommodate.
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From Fear to Care
Care Already Exists: Existing Urban Infrastructures of Care
Existing caretakers within the city
Figure 35
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Existing Urban Infrastructures of Care Stokvels Stokvels are community credit groups in which people come together to save money. Historically, many marginalised women were excluded from formal banking and used stokvels as a means of accessing capital that formal financial institutions denied them. They function as a form of social security, with many women relying on them to pay children’s school fees, start small businesses and build their homes. There are several types of stokvels, including grocery and asset stokvels, burial stokvels, and savings and investment stokvels. Although stokvels are a longstanding practice, many have become increasingly formalised, with banks now offering stokvel accounts to help groups manage their collective savings and contributions. Community Childcare Community childcare is an informal system of shared caregiving that distributes the labour of care across extended family networks and local communities. For many people, formal childcare is either unavailable or unaffordable, resulting in caregiving being distributed across extended family networks and local communities. Responsibility for childcare is frequently shared among grandmothers, aunts, neighbours and siblings when parents must commute long distances for work. Traditional Sacred Practices Non-institutional sacred and healing practices form an important part of South African culture. Ceremony is central to care, alongside the practice of Indigenous knowledge systems for healing. Ancestral communication, seasonal rituals, communal prayer and rites of passage play an important role in strengthening relationships between families, communities and ancestors. Informal Markets Informal markets are an essential part of the national economy. They provide affordable
goods and services while functioning as centres of community support. Relationships are built on trust and mutual assistance. These markets are highly adaptable and respond to changing seasonal conditions. Hair Salons Hair salons operate as social infrastructure where women are able to gather, exchange knowledge, and care for themselves and others. Many operate as small businesses, but their role extends far beyond commerce. They are spaces of intergenerational exchange, where conversations often include parenting, employment, health, finance and relationships. The Informal Taxi System Approximately 15 million South Africans rely on the informal taxi system each day. It is a privately owned, unsubsidised transport network that operates along flexible routes. The standard vehicle is the ‘kombi’, a 16-seater minibus. Routes often extend beyond areas served by formal public transport, allowing for flexible pick-up and drop-off points. The system is predominantly cash-based. Lay-by as an Alternative Purchasing System The lay-by system allows people to purchase goods by paying for them in instalments over time. Once the full amount has been paid, they are able to collect the item. It provides an accessible means of acquiring essential goods without the need for formal credit. Izikweletu/Ukuboleka Small-scale shopkeepers, market vendors and spaza shop owners often allow regular customers to obtain groceries, food and household items on credit, with repayment made at the end of the month. These systems rely on relationships of trust, reciprocity and mutual care within the community.
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From Fear to Care
Care Already Exists: The Taxi Rank Cook, The Market Vendor and The Garden Caretaker
A day in the life of a woman who cooks at the taxi rank
ama Circle of Care How can support infrastructure support collective daily occupation?
She sets up her kitchen, gets water, arranges her stove and prepares for rush hour.
SET UP 06:00
FEEDING THE CITY
COMMUTE
04:30
06:30 - 17:00
Her long journey begins. She walks, waits, travels by bus then taxi.
Long hours of feeding many people. She cooks, serves, cleans, listens, cares. She keeps everyone going.
17:30 - 19:00
03:30
HOME
PACK UP AND RETURN HOME
She wakes before the sun, prepares food, packs ingredients, wakes children, gets the day started.
LATE NIGHT
She cleans, packs, carries what is left, takes another long journey home and begins her domestic role.
Tomorrow it begins again.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A TAXI RANK COOK Figure 36
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ROELAND STREET
Housing
The Taxi Rank Cook
A large proportion of Cape Town’s population relies on formal and informal transport networks to access employment opportunities. Due to the enduring legacy of apartheid’s peripheral spatial planning, thousands of members of the workforce undertake long daily commutes to reach their places of work. These journeys often begin before sunrise and end after sunset, extending the working day far beyond paid employment. Across the city’s transport interchanges, women prepare and sell affordable meals to the many commuters who pass through each day. In doing so, the taxi rank cook becomes a caretaker, performing reproductive labour that sustains the city’s workforce, thereby revealing the systems of care upon which the urban economy depends. The taxi rank cook prepares affordable, homecooked meals for commuters who do not have the time or opportunity to cook before leaving home or after returning from work. She reduces both the financial and temporal burden of commuting while providing nourishment within transient spaces.
beneficial relationship, taxi drivers provide protection and assistance, particularly when she is travelling with heavy goods after hours. A broader informal economy also operates through relationships of reciprocity. Ingredients, stock and customers are frequently shared among neighbouring vendors. Informal credit systems are common, allowing trusted customers to pay later. During periods of financial hardship, support is shared across the trading community. Initiatives such as stokvels reduce vulnerability and distribute risk among networks of traders. Spatially, the taxi rank kitchen is often accommodated within temporary structures or residual spaces in the built environment. Many kitchens lack access to water, sanitation, storage, waste management, weather protection and secure food preparation facilities. Despite the essential services they provide, they are seldom recognised as an integral component of transport infrastructure.
She is also a trusted custodian of the space. Through her daily occupation, her consistent presence creates familiarity within the public realm. Her stall becomes a point of informal knowledge exchange, where commuters share directions, information and news. Through her presence, relationships are formed between customers, taxi operators and nearby traders, reinforcing informal systems of mutual care. Her location and daily routines are widely known, allowing her to act as a beacon of safety within the uncertainty of the daily commute. An anonymous South African commuter described this reciprocity in an interview on the subject. She explained the mutual systems of care that emerge within the taxi rank and the symbiotic relationship between the taxi rank cook and the taxi drivers. Through this mutually
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From Fear to Care
OCK AVENUE
Care Already Exists: The Taxi Rank Cook, The Market Vendor and The Garden Caretaker
A day in the life of a woman who exchanges at the informal market
ama Exchange Alley How can economic participation become spatial infrastructure for collective care?
She sets up her stall and serves many workers, tourists, students and residents.
AT COMPANY’S GARDEN 07:00 - 16:00
SOURCING AND COMMUTE PACK UP 05:30 - 06:30
16:00 - 17:00
She buys fruit, ice and supplies. She carries her stock and takes taxis to the city.
She packs up before it gets dark. Unsold stock is packed away and carried home.
17:30 - 19:00
04:30
HOME
RETURN HOME
She wakes up early, prepares her produce and gets ready for the day.
A long journey home with heavy loads to carry. Tomorrow it begins again.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A JUICE VENDOR Figure 37
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Observatory roof
Iziko South African National Gallery
The Market Vendor
The market vendor forms an essential support layer within Cape Town’s informal economic infrastructure. Informal economies operate throughout the city bowl, from the flower sellers on Adderley Street and the traders at the Grand Parade to the juice vendors in the Company’s Garden. Many operate on pavements, at the edges of public squares, or within transport interchanges such as taxi ranks. While their businesses may be informal, their role is essential in supporting the workforce that sustains the city. These informal market vendors provide affordable fresh produce, goods and services, making everyday necessities accessible to a large proportion of the population. They become anchors within the daily rhythm of the city, and their consistent presence fosters long-term relationships with customers and with the spaces surrounding their stalls.
inconsistent security often leaves them exposed to risk. The presence of the market vendor encourages occupation of the surrounding public space. It increases pedestrian activity, contributes to passive surveillance, and activates residual urban spaces. In doing so, market vendors sustain the edges of the formal architectural city. The market vendor demonstrates that architecture comes alive through everyday acts of occupation, care and exchange, revealing the social infrastructures upon which the city depends.
Like the taxi rank kitchen, the market stall becomes a beacon of safety within the daily navigation of the city. Yet, despite its importance, the spaces occupied by market vendors receive little spatial recognition. Many operate from temporary structures that offer limited protection from the elements. Their livelihoods are dependent on seasonal conditions and commuter activity, while their personal safety often changes with the seasons. Market vendors were interviewed as part of this research. They explained that their livelihoods depend heavily on the presence of customers. Many trade throughout the summer but seek alternative work during the winter months. Most operate only during daylight hours, as after nightfall both they and their stock become increasingly vulnerable. Heavy loads are transported daily by taxi or public transport, making commuting physically demanding. Vendors rely on support from neighbouring traders and CCID security for protection, yet
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From Fear to Care
Care Already Exists: The Taxi Rank Cook, The Market Vendor and The Garden Caretaker
A day in the life of a woman who maintains the Company’s Garden
ama Gathering Place How can architecture sustain long-term collective visibility and cultural occupation?
She cleans, trims, plants, waters and maintains the gardens, keeping them clean and beautiful.
WORK IN THE GARDEN 06:30 - 15:30
COMMUTE
FINISH AND RETURN
05:00 - 06:00
15:30 - 17:30
Her commute is long. She takes the taxi then train, then walks, often in the dark.
She cleans her tools, changes and heads home. The journey home is long and she is often home after dark.
17:30 - 19:00
04:00
HOME
RETURN HOME
She wakes in the dark, gets ready, packs her lunch and leaves before the sun rises.
She returns home and begins her household responsibilities. Tomorrow it begins again.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GARDEN MAINTENANCE WORKER Figure 38
IZIKO SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
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The Garden Caretaker
The garden caretaker is one of many caretakers of public and private space within Cape Town’s socio-economic systems. Garden maintenance and domestic work are integral forms of reproductive labour upon which many institutions and stakeholders within the urban environment rely. The Company’s Garden depends upon the daily labour of the garden caretaker. She works manually each day to ensure that the garden remains a civic breathing space within the urban centre. Through planting, pruning, cleaning, mowing, watering and repairing, she sustains both the ecological and social systems that allow the garden to function. Yet her labour is often overlooked and undervalued. Maintenance workers perform essential services that ensure public space remains functional, safe and supportive of everyday inhabitation. The maintenance of public landscapes requires continuous stewardship. The daily presence of the garden caretaker contributes to a sense of safety by providing stewardship, assistance and “eyes on the street.” When interviewed as part of this research, the garden caretakers described a number of daily security concerns and their reliance on the presence of CCID security. They noted that the disproportionate occupation of the garden by men, particularly after hours, can create discomfort and feelings of being unsafe. Their work takes place outdoors during daylight hours, making their experience of public space closely tied to its changing rhythms of occupation and safety.
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From Fear to Care
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Chapter four A Care-Centred Reading of the City
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From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Spatial Practice Through the Lens of an Architecture of Care
Existing spatial condition
Spatial tool of care
Towards an intended impact of care
Figure 39 Page 68
Spatial Practice Through the Lens of an Architecture of Care
An Architecture of Care is an approach to practice that recognises care as a fundamental spatial condition. It is not defined by the gender of the architect, nor by a particular architectural expression. Rather, it positions the architect as a spatial practitioner who understands the importance of care, reciprocity, guardianship, stewardship and maintenance in shaping the built environment. The intention of this approach is to support existing systems of care and strengthen the relationships that already exist. Design decisions are neither singular nor driven solely by efficiency or function. Instead, they are informed by the ways in which space can encourage occupation, participation and collective presence. This architecture of process shifts the role of the architect to that of facilitator. Rather than imposing new systems, the architect acknowledges existing networks of care and uses architecture as a means of strengthening them. In this way, architecture becomes the design of a system rather than a singular building. It provides a spatial framework within which communities can be sustained. It creates a living environment that evolves through occupation, seasonal cycles, collective maintenance and changing needs. It is an incomplete, living system that recognises care as civic infrastructure. An Architecture of Care therefore understands architecture not simply as the production of buildings, but as the cultivation of the social, spatial and ecological conditions through which care can be practised, sustained and shared. An Architecture of Care therefore understands architecture not simply as the production of buildings, but as the cultivation of the social, spatial and ecological conditions through which care can be practised, sustained and shared.
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From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Reading the City
Reading the city
Deliberate Blindness Spaces of deliberate blindness (a term adapted from the “Handbook of Tyranny”) describe spatial conditions in which visual feedback is intentionally or structurally limited. In these environments, the built form mediates visibility in ways that shape how bodies are perceived, anticipated or obscured. These conditions are not neutral: by regulating sightlines, depth and exposure, space participates in determining who is seen, when and under what circumstances. Examples include blank or closed plinths, long and narrow alleyways and parking podiums where reduced visibility, constrained escape routes and limited oversight converge. For many women navigating the city, spatial safety is closely linked to the ability to anticipate conditions ahead and to remain visibly present within the public realm. Spaces of deliberate blindness undermine these capacities by limiting awareness and reducing opportunities for mutual visibility, subsequently increasing uncertainty during everyday movement. Car Dominance The car-dominated city scale links to environments designed primarily around vehicular movement. The street sizes, parking infrastructure and lighting systems prioritise vehicular efficiency over pedestrian presence. In the urbanised city centre of Cape Town, there are many wide multilane roads and parking garages which dominate the ground floor and lower levels of buildings, which increases distances between street sides and reduces pedestrian connection. In car dominant cities, lighting infrastructure often reinforces the imbalance. Tall overhead streetlights, such as the mast lights on Strand Street, are designed for roadway visibility. This results in bright streets and dark pavements. This contrast produces dark shadows at pedestrian level and limits facial recognition. “The Handbook of Tyranny”, highlights how lighting functions as a mechanism of selective importance, indicating which movements are prioritised within public space. For many women navigating the city,
these spatial conditions shape how comfortably and confidently urban environments can be read and navigated. Defensive/Surveilled Spaces Defensive and surveilled spaces are environments where security is predominately expressed through monitoring, restriction and control. In these spaces, protection is used as a visible architectural and infrastructural condition. However, this form of control does not necessarily equate to spatial safety. As highlighted in “The Handbook of Tyranny,” surveillance is often aligned with domination rather than care and observation is used as a substitute for spatial support. Architecture that relies on surveillance prioritises monitoring over support. Surveillance, such as CCTV, is largely retrospective, becoming useful only after an incident has occurred rather than contributing to immediate spatial safety. Defensive spaces include areas dominated by surveillance infrastructure, observation lighting, hostile architectural elements (such as electric fencing, barbed wire, spikes and burglar bars) and environments that depend on security presence to police behaviour. Ambiguous Guardianship Ambiguous guardianship occurs in spaces where ownership, responsibility and stewardship are unclear. These environments often fall under uncertain or overlapping jurisdictions, making it difficult to determine who is responsible for care, oversight and intervention. Ambiguous guardianship is commonly found in semi-public zones, including squares attached to institutions, gardens without designated caretakers, and parking areas adjacent to large buildings. A lack of visible maintenance and care further reinforces this ambiguity. Spaces that appear unattended or poorly maintained tend to suggest neglect or absence of ownership, contributing to a perception of spatial uncertainty. As described in “The Handbook of Tyranny,” this could be understood as a form of control through institutional vagueness, where blurred
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responsibility produces environments that feel abandoned. For many women navigating the city, spatial comfort relies on the ability to read social and spatial cues, who is present and who is responsible for the space.
Lack of Un-Surveilled Rest Lack of un-surveilled rest refers to a spatial condition described in “The Handbook of Tyranny” as control through the denial of rest. In these environments, people are permitted to pass through space but are discouraged from remaining, resting or occupying. This limits opportunities for pause, belonging and participation in the public realm. Examples include spaces with lack of seating, hostile or exclusionary seating elements and a lack of sheltered waiting areas. Transit environments such as bus stops and transport interchanges often reinforce this condition through narrow platforms, minimal weather protection, hard surfaces and layouts that prioritise circulation over lingering. Additional indicators include constant surveillance and bright overhead lighting without spatial enclosure. When constant movement is enforced, physical fatigue and heightened alertness are consequent, which increases vulnerability during everyday navigation of the city.
after-hours access (i.e. gardens) and transport zones that are not adjacent to activity. This highlights the relational nature of safety, which is shaped not only by physical form but by patterns of occupation and presence. As foot traffic decreases, informal oversight and shared visibility diminish, increasing spatial isolation. Environments that primarily serve dominant economic rhythms, such as corporate districts, illustrate how time-based patterns shape uneven experiences of safety.
Temporal Safety Temporal or time-bound safety in the built environment refers to spaces where perceived comfort and safety are dependent on temporal conditions such as time of day, season or patterns of use. This is particularly evident in monofunctional urban areas, where environments feel accessible and active during peak hours but become unwelcoming or exposed outside of those periods. For example, spaces that feel safe and occupied at noon but hostile by 6pm. Spatially, temporal safety may be caused by single-use zoning, buildings that become inactive after office hours, plinths with dead edges once stores close, spaces with restricted
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From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Reading the City
Deliberate Blindness Thresholds and barriers Boundary walls prioritise interior protection while disengaging from public space. Residual buffer zones are not active thresholds. Alleyways are transitional gaps between defined program and stewardship. Limited visual connection. Absence of passive surveillance. Defensive architectural elements (walls, fences, controlled access) emphasise separation.
Urban alleyway of forced proximity Narrow width in relation to height creates a vertically enclosed space. Buildings rise on both sides creating limited lateral visibility. Movement is channeled through a linear path with minimal opportunity to divert. Entry points are clearly defined and exit options are limited. Reliance on passive surveillance from adjacent buildings. Uncertain visual connections between indoor and outdoor result in questioned guardianship. Uneven and often sparse lighting creates shadowed zones.
Building as a physical barrier The plinth is experienced a solid spatial threshold which limits visual and physical permeability . Lack of passive surveillance due to lack of openings, activity and overlook. Pedestrian movement is controlled by predetermined perimeter routing. No visual feedback. Priority is given to the car. Facade on higher levels predominately closed, creating little overlooking connection to public space.
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30m
Car Dominance
150m
PRIORITY
Vertical horizontal domination of vehicles Parking garages dominate horizontal base and lower vertical levels of buildings. Vehicular infrastructure is primary interface with street. Hierarchy of urban buildings structured around parking. Active or occupied spaces displaced higher up. Ground level facades of parkings are often blank or screened, limiting passive interaction with public space. Removal of inhabited street-overlooking spaces for passive surveillance. Temporal usage of mono-functional parking areas creates dead zones. Structural depth, low ceilings and blind spots. emphasise separation.
The scale of the city is based on the scale of the car Large, dominant streetscapes catered to the scale of the car rather than the pedestrian. Pedestrian zones are interrupted and secondary. Reduced visual and spatial relationship between sides of streets due to larger distances. Dominant mast lighting creating shadows on pedestrian level.
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From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Reading the City
Defensive/Surveilled Spaces
Physical barriers of spatial separation Barbed wire, electric fences, CCTV surveillance cameras, high boundary walls, fences, spikes, controlled access, garage barriers, no openings onto the street.
Thresholds of spatial barriers Sequence of layered barriers rather than active thresholds. Boundary wall as hard separation. Off street parking as secondary buffer zone. Burglar bars and reinforced openings. Access is limited and controlled.
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Ambiguous Guardianship
Visible architectural neglect Surfaces show signs of deterioration such as stains, cracks, lack of basic visible maintenance. Broken fixtures, unkept vegetation, degraded materials. Lack of visible physical upkeep sparks uncertainty in stewardship of the space. Does anyone care for the people in the physical space if nobody cares for the physical space itself?
Proximity is not guardianship No visible interaction between institution and parking space. Unclear guardianship. Temporal occupation. Physical proximity is not accompanied by direct access, entry or programmatic connection. No interaction with ground level facades. Boundary walls are enclosing with no ground floor facade interaction. Maintenance is minimal with little visible active stewardship. Neither public nor institutional space.
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From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Reading the City
Lack of Un-Surveilled Rest
Placemaking in transport infrastructure Transport spaces designed for passing through not occupation. Bus stops lack comfortable and inclusive seating. Shelter does not create spatial enclosure. Exposed, narrow waiting zones. Proximity to busy roads. Segmentation of spaces discourages prolonged use. Does not support dignified waiting.
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Temporal Safety
Temporal safe and unsafe spaces Physical configuration of space remains consistent but patterns of use differ and dictate safe and unsafe perceptions. Levels of human presence differ according to conditions. Active edges during peak hours become inactive outside of programmed use. Reduced foot traffic affects visibility and passive surveillance.
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From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Spatial Principles of Care
Spatial Principles for an Architecture of Care Mapping the existing city through the lens of an Architecture of Care identified an inventory of spatial principles that reveal the underlying power structures embedded within the built environment. Designing spaces that foster care requires an architectural toolbox of intentional spatial interventions. These principles respond to existing spatial conditions that reinforce separation and marginalisation, transforming them into environments that support occupation, participation, lingering, visibility, stewardship, guardianship and exchange.
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Spatial principles of a care Existing Spatial Conditions
Spatial Tool
Intended impact
Deliberate blindness
Porosity, multifunctional programming, all-sided buildings, diffused sight lines, hierarchy, open facades in alleyways, outside spaces as passive surveillance, layered transparency
Visibility
Car dominance
Human scale lighting, green buffer zones, pedestrian crossings, redesigned parking garages, bollards as social objects
Belonging
Defensive / surveilled spaces
Non-violent barriers, passive surveillance, active thresholds, low permeable boundaries, temporal barriers, prevention through materiality
Participation
Ambiguous guardianship
Visible maintenance, functioning infrastructural amenities, maintenance free materials, programmatic connections, visible stewardship, gradual edges
Guardianship
Lack of safe rest
Ergonomic seating, levelling, integrated spaces of rest, weather protection, pocket “courts,” view distorting partitions
Lingering
Temporal safety
Motion reactive lighting, reversible boundaries, programmatic overlaps, functional layering
Occupation
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From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Spatial Principles of Care
Responding to Deliberate Blindness Porous plinths Transparent ground floor facades with sufficient visibility replace blank walls and barriers. Clear visual exchange between inside and outside enables passive surveillance and shared guardianship. The street becomes visually connected to the interior, and the interior remains engaged with the street. There is less room for anonymity.
PLINTH
PLINTH PLINTH
GF
GF GF
1. Porous plinths
1. Porous plinths
1. Porous plinths
Multifunctional ground floors Active ground floor programming that reacts directly to the streetscape strengthens the inside-outside relationship. Public uses and mixed functions increase foot traffic and create interaction between users inside and out at different times of day. Continuous and varied occupation supports diversity and a stronger sense of belonging in the streetscape. PLINTH
GROCERIES
GROCERIES
CAFE
BAR
CAFE
BAR
GF
GROCERIES
CAFE
BAR
1. Porous plinths
2. Multifunctional ground floors
2. Multifunctional ground floors PLINTH
FACACDE 1
FACADE 2 FACACDE 3
FACACDE 2
FACADE 2 FACACDE 1
FACADE 1
FACACDE FACACDE 2 2
FACADE 1
FACADE 2
FACACDE 2
CAFE
FACACDE FACACDE 1 1
2. Multifunctional ground floors
Buildings with active edges Active facades on all sides prevent the building from turning its back on the street. Openings and entrances respond to the surrounding context and strengthen the inside outside relationship. Continuous frontage increases visibility, sightlines and shared guardianship. GROCERIES
FACADE 1
FACADE 1
GF
1. Porous plinths
FACACDE 2
BAR
FACACDE 1
CAFE
FACACDE 4
GROCERIES
2. Multifunctional ground floors
BAR
2. Multifunctional ground floors
3. All sided building
FACACDE 3
MIRRORED FACADE
4. Blank facades with mirrored material offering diffused sightlines 3. All sided building
FACACDE 4
FACADE 4
FACACDE 3
FACADE 3 FACACDE 2
FACACDE 2
FACADE 2
FACACDE 1
FACADE 1
3. All sided building
3. All sided building
3. All sided building
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MIRRORED FACADE
Blank facades with mirrored material offering diffused sight lines Where a facade must remain blank, reflective MIRRORED FACADE material can reduce the barrier it creates. Mirrored surfaces provide diffused sightlines and extend visual awareness along the street. Users gain increased perception of movement and presence in the public realm.
4. Blank facades with mirrored material offering diffused sightlines
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MIRRORED FACADE MIRRORED FACADE
4. Blank facades with mirrored material offering diffused sightlines
4. Blank facades with mirrored material offering diffused sightlines 4. Blank facades with mirrored material offering diffused sightlines
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FACADE 3
Horizontal and vertical hierarchy The proportion between building height and alley width should avoid extreme enclosure. Widened passageways reduce forced close encounters and allow clearer navigation and LATERAL WIDENING escape. Increased lateral space creates room for responsiveness and reduces opportunities for cornering.
LATERAL WIDENING
7. Layered transparency: porous
LATERAL WIDENING
5. Alleyways get equal horizontal and vertical hierarchy
5. Alleyways get equal horizontal and vertical hierarchy
ADDRESSES THE ALLEY
5. Alleyways get equal horizontal and vertical hierarchy
Open facades in alleyways Alleyways must not become building backsides. Facades facing alleys should include openings, light and visible entries to prevent dark tunnel conditions. Active edges increase passive surveillance, provide refuge points and allow clearer spatial reading of potential danger.
ADDRESSES THE ALLEY
ADDRESSES THE ALLEY
5. No blank facades in alleyways
5. No blank facades in alleyways
5. No blank facades in alleyways
VERTICAL GUARDIANSHIP
Threshold spaces open onto alleyways Balconies, loggias and verandas facing alleys create vertical occupation and passive surveillance. These threshold spaces act as buffers between private interior and public passage. Added depth and plasticity reduce VERTICAL and increase oversight at multiple isolation GUARDIANSHIP levels.
6. Outside spaces onto alleyways
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VERTICAL GUARDIANSHIP
6. Outside spaces onto alleyways
6. Outside spaces onto alleyways
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Layered transparency Where closure is required, exoskeletal facades and porous screens such as brisesoleil or perforated brick maintain visibility. Filtered transparency preserves sightlines while providing privacy. Light and shadow pass through, reducing dark zones and anonymity along the facade. 7. Layered transparency: porous screens
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A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Spatial Principles of Care
Responding to Car Dominance
Human scale lighting infrastructure Pedestrian level lighting should replace high intensity overhead glare. Softer warmer light reduces extreme contrast and deep shadows while maintaining consistent ambient visibility. Lighting becomes relational at ground level rather than an imposed flood from above.
SIDE MOUNTED
1
HUMAN SCALESCALE HUMAN
DIFFUSED DIFFUSED SOFT SOFT WARMWARM
1. Human infrastructure 1. scaled Humanlighting scaled lighting infrastructure
Safe pedestrian crossings Clear and direct crossings at street level or raised above traffic prioritise pedestrian movement within car dominated streets. Designs must avoid tunnels or leftover dark space below bridges. Continuous visibility and open space beneath structures ensure safe and legible passage.
PEDESTRIAN PRIORITY
LIGHT
Page 82 3. Safe pedestrian crossings
3. Safe pedestrian crossings
Reimagining parking garages parking as a conveyor belt Mechanised4. Parking parking assystems can move an underground conveyor belt car storage below ground and remove the vertical bulk of conventional garages. Street facing hubs operate at human scale with visible and safe waiting areas. This reduces mono-functional dead zones and limits the spatial dominance of parking over pedestrian life.
GREEN PEDESTRIAN
BELT 1
BELT 2
BELT 3
4. Parking as an underground conveyor belt 4. Parking as an underground conveyor belt
Bollards as social and functional social objects Bollards can integrate infrastructure, planting, seating and fresh water fountains into a single element. Low permeable barriers to protect pedestrians from cars and vehicles, they do not create permanent separation but porous protection.
SIDE MOUNTED
5. Bollards as functional social objects
5. Bolla
HUMAN SCALE
DIFFUSED SOFT
5. Bollards as functional social objects
WARM
1. Human scaled lighting infrastructure
5. Bollards as functional social objects
Green buffer zones and breaks Insert planted buffer zones to interrupt long car dominant street corridors. Alternating widening and narrowing calm traffic and introduce pedestrian priority edges alongside the planting. The streetscape shifts from vehicle conduit to inhabitable space at human scale.
PEDESTRIAN GREEN
GREEN
Page 83 2. Breaking up the road with green
GREEN PEDESTRIAN
From Fear to Care
SOFTENED
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Spatial Principles of Care 1. Non violent safety barriers
Responding to Defensive/ Surveilled Spaces
VISIBILITY
VISIBILITY
Non-violent barriers Where separation is required, barriers should avoid hostile forms such as barbed wire, spikes or electrified fencing. Solid but permeable systems such as perforated brickwork provide enclosure without visual aggression. Transparent mass maintains sightlines while reducing the symbolism of violence.
GUARDIANSHIP
VISIBILITY OPEN
INTEGRATED
GUARDIANSHIP
POROUS GUARDIANSHIP
SOFTENED
1. Non violent safety barriers
2. Outside spaces as passive surveilance
VISIBILITY
VISIBILITY
Active and delayed thresholds Property lines should be layered rather than defined by high walls or hard barriers. Gardens, setbacks and outside rooms create gradual transitions between private and public space. Soft edges maintain visibility while allowing separation through depth rather than enclosure.
GUARDIANSHIP
PRIVATE
SEMI-PRIVATE
GUARDIANSHIP
PUBLIC
2. Outside spaces as passive surveilance
3. Active delayed thresholds
Outside spaces as passive surveillance Verandas, balconies and terraces facing INTEGRATED public space prioritise passive oversight over camera based control. Vertical occupation introduces bystanders and shared 1. Non violent safety barriers guardianship. Lived presence replaces isolated security infrastructure.
SOFTENED
POROUS
LOW BARRIER
4. Low permeable boundaries
PRIVATE
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VISIBILITY
SEMI-PRIVATE
PUBLIC
3. Active delayed thresholds
VISIBILITY
VISIBILITY
GUARDIANSHIP
GUARDIANSHIP
GUARDIANSHIP
POROUS LOW BARRIER
4. Low permeable boundaries
2. Outside spaces as passive surveilance
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VISIBILITY
PRIVATE
SEMI-PRIVATE
PUBLIC
3. Active delayed thresholds
COLLECTIVE
Low, permeable boundaries High walls and solid fences sever the relationship between private plots and the street. Introducing permeability through openings, screens or partial transparency restores visual exchange. Increased porosity strengthens guardianship and shared visibility without removing separation. 5. Temporal barrier (Barrier in reaction to safety at the time)
POROUS LOW BARRIER
4. Low permeable boundaries
VERTICAL
SHINGLES
Prevention through materiality Where prevention is required, it should be embedded within the material language rather than added as hostile hardware. Vertical ribs or downward facing textures reduce climbability without spikes or aggressive devices. Integrated detailing provides resistance while maintaining architectural care.
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4. Low permeable boundaries
6. Prevention through materiality
Temporal barriers Barriers should respond DURING toNO BARRIER time and THE DAY occupancy rather than remain permanent. Flexible walls, partitions, screens and gates can close space during vulnerable periods and retract during active use. Conditional enclosure prevents the normalisation of fixed defensive boundaries.
BARRIER AT NIGHT
REACTIVE FLEXIBLE
OPEN
POROUS
COLLECTIVE PROTECTED
5. Temporal barrier (Barrier in reaction to safety at the time)
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A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Spatial Principles of Care
Responding to Ambiguous Guardianship Visible maintenance Maintained planters and vegetation signal active care and oversight. Visible upkeep communicates that the space is watched and valued. Material cues of maintenance reinforce shared guardianship.
MAINTAINED
MAINTAINED
STEWARD
STEWARD
PLANTER
PLANTER Functioning infrastructural amenities Operational infrastructure signals active oversight and responsibility. Broken lights, damaged fixtures and neglected systems imply abandonment and weak guardianship. Working traffic signals, consistent lighting and maintained amenities communicate that the environment is monitored and cared for.
1. Maintained planters
1. Maintained planters
TRAFFIC LIGHT STOP STOP
SLOW TRAFFIC LIGHT SLOW GO GO
STOP SLOW GO
FUNCTIONING
STREET LIGHT SUNSET - SUNRISE: ON STREET LIGHT SUNSET - SUNRISE: ON DAYLIGHT: OFF OFF DAYLIGHT:
SUNSET - SUNRISE: ON DAYLIGHT: OFF
FUNCTIONING
Maintenance free materials Visible deterioration implies neglect and ambiguous guardianship. In spaces with limited oversight, durable materials such as brick and stone age without signalling abandonment. Material longevity reduces visual cues of neglect and supports perceived oversight, guardianship and care.
2. Functional public amenities
2. Functional public amenities BRICK
BRICK
STONE
STONE
3. Maintenance free materials (brick, stone)
3. Maintenance free materials (brick, stone) Page 86
GO
FUNCTIONING
BRICK
DAYLIGHT: OFF
2. Functional public amenities STONE
BRICK
STONE
Programmatic connection between inside and outside, public and private The programmatic functions of the interiors should visibly address the street through open facades and layered functional thresholds. Clear functional expression at the edge reduces ambiguity of use and responsibility. Active connection generates oversight through occupation and exchange.
3. Maintenance free materials 2. Functional public amenities (brick, stone)
3. Maintenance free STONE materials (brick, stone)
BRICK
3. Maintenance free materials (brick, stone)
CONNECTION CONNECTION
CONNECTION
4. Programmatic connection between inside and out
Visible stewardship Visible help desks and information points prioritise stewardship over security. Dedicated staff or stewards responsible for guidance and way-finding reinforce care and accountability within the space. Clear assistance reduces uncertainty and strengthens perceived safety through human presence.
4. Programmatic connection between inside and out
WAYFINDING
4. Programmatic connection between inside and out
CARETAKER
PROTECTED OPEN SIGHTLINES WAYFINDING ACTIVE STEWARD PROTECTED WAYFINDING
PROTECTED OPEN SIGHTLINES
CARETAKER
PASSIVE GUIDANCE
HELP
CARETAKER
PASSIVE GUIDANCE
HELP
OPEN SIGHTLINES ACTIVE STEWARD
PASSIVE GUIDANCE
HELP
ACTIVE STEWARD
5. Stewardship desk
5. Stewardship desk
5. Stewardship desk
Gradual edges Arcades and overhangs create softened thresholds between building and street. Sheltered edges invite occupation and extend activity into the public realm. Increased presence along the facade strengthens visibility and signals shared care.
INTERIOR
ARCADE
PRIVATE INTERIOR PRIVATE
ARCADE
SEMI-PUBLIC
6. Gradual threshold
INTERIOR 6. Gradual threshold
SEMI-PUBLIC
PRIVATE
6. Gradual threshold
STREET STREET PUBLIC
PUBLIC
ARCADE
STREET
SEMI-PUBLIC
PUBLIC
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From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Spatial Principles of Care
1. Ergonomic and comfortable seating
-0.8m
Responding to Lack of Un-Surveilled Rest
2. Levelling to provide indirect privacy Ergonomic seating while preserving sight lines Public seating should be dimensioned for +0m comfort and extended occupation. Divided benches, angled surfaces, anti-sleeping devices undermine belonging and care. Generous and level seating spaces support rest, lingering and presence in the public realm.
300 450mm
-0.8m 400 450mm
2. Levelling to provide indirect privacy while preserving sight lines
300 450mm
400 450mm
Levelling: vantage points Raised seating platforms provide separation from ground level while maintaining clear oversight of the public realm. Elevated position allows users to assess movement and approach without becoming isolated observers. Height introduces refuge with continued visual connection and shared presence.
1. Ergonomic and comfortab 1. Ergonomic and comfortable seating
Levelling: indirect privacy with preserved sightlines Sunken seating provides partial enclosure without creating blind corners. Lowered ground allows privacy while maintaining continuous sightlines to surrounding movement. Users remain aware of approach without full exposure. 3. Levellingand topresence provide vantage points
3. Levelling to provide vantage points +0m
-0.8m
2. Levelling to provide indirect privacy while preserving sight lines
Integrated spaces of rest 3. Levelling to provide points Architectural elements suchvantage as plinths, steps and facade bases should double as seating to invite occupation. Rest is embedded into the edge rather than added as furniture. Non hostile detailing replaces spikes and angled surfaces, encouraging loitering and presence.
Page 88 4. Seating integrated into the facade
4. Seating integrated into the facade
Weather protection Shading devices such as pavilions, screens Pocket and pergolas protect6.users from"courts" sun, rain and wind while resting. Shelter is essential to create durable comfort and belonging in public space. Protected rest areas support longer occupation and consistent use across seasons.
4. Seating integrated into the facade CARETAKER
7. Public toilets based off of women's needs
CARETAKER
5. Weather protection pavillions
7. Public toilets based off of women's needs
View-distorting partitions Resting spaces in open plazas often create 8. Partitions that distort views but do not full exposure and a fishbowl condition. create blind spots Angled, porous or spaced partitions distort direct views while preserving sightlines and awareness. Filtered screening 6.movement Pocket "courts" adds privacy without generating blind spots or concealed zones.
5. Weather protection pavillions
8. Partitions that distort views but do not create blind spots
Pocket courts Small clusters of seating, shelter and social amenities form pocket courtyards within the public realm. These nooks support both functional pause and unstructured occupation. Spatial grouping creates defined places of belonging without enclosure.
7. Public toilets based off of women's needs
8. Partitions that distort views but do not create blind spots Page 89
6. Pocket "courts"
From Fear to Care
A Care-Centered Reading of the City: Spatial Principles of Care
Responding to Temporal Safety Motion reactive lighting Temporal risk requires adaptive response. Human scaled motion reactive lighting increases ambient illumination when activity is detected and reduces prolonged darkness in low use periods. Light distribution must remain continuous to avoid creating new dark pockets or opportunities for concealment.
1. Motion censored lighting, warm toned lighting at a pedestrian level
Reversible boundaries Screens, gates and shutters should respond to temporal conditions rather than remain fixed. They can close during vulnerable periods and retract when surrounding activity provides safety. Barriers 1.remain Motion censored lighting, warm toned OPEN lighting at a pedestrian level conditional elements rather than permanent features of the built environment.
OPEN
CLOSED
CLOSED
OPEN
CLOSED OPEN
CLOSED
2. Reversible and reactive boundaries
2. Reversible and reactive boundaries Page 90
OPEN
CLOSED CLOSED
OPEN
Programmatic overlaps Layered programming allows one space to host multiple functions across different times of day. Hybrid OPEN use increases continuous occupation and reduces mono-functional dead periods. Temporal overlap 2. Reversible and reactive boundaries sustains presence and shared guardianship.
CLOSED
2. Reversible and reactive boundaries
08 - 12 COFFEE
13 - 18 RESTAURANT
13 - 18 RESTAURANT
08 - 12 COFFEE
18 - 02 BAR
18 - 02 BAR
FLEXIBLE PROGRAMMING
Functional layering Mono-functional zones become vacant and vulnerable during off hours. Layered mixed use programming sustains movement and occupation across the day. Continuous activity reduces temporal dead zones and strengthens perceived safety.
FLEXIBLE PROGRAMMING
OFFICE
OFFICE
HOUSING HOUSING
HOUSING HOUSING
HOUSING
HOUSING
COMMERCIAL
COMMERCIAL
3. Functional layering
3. Functional layering
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From Fear to Care
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Chapter five Spatial Practices of Care
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Contextual Precedents of Craft and Care
Figure 40
Page 94
Contextual Precedents of Craft and Care South Africa offers numerous precedents that demonstrate the relationship between craft, care and the built environment. The practices of South African women, past and present, provide valuable insights into forms of making, maintenance and stewardship that continue to inform contemporary architectural thinking. Indigenous Spatial Practices Textiles, craft and weaving South Africa’s textile history reflects an intersection of indigenous knowledge, colonial influence and contemporary creative practices. Prior to European colonisation, indigenous communities such as the Khoisan peoples utilised natural materials including grasses, reeds, plant fibres, and animal hides to produce woven and crafted items. These materials were used for clothing, shelter, mats, bags, and ceremonial objects, serving both practical and symbolic purposes within their societies. Indigenous reed construction Indigenous construction traditions in the Cape were rooted in locally sourced natural materials and environmentally responsive design. Khoisan pastoralist communities were generally seminomadic and relied primarily on lightweight portable structures rather than permanent earthen buildings. Nevertheless, earth-based materials such as clay, mud plaster and lime coatings were commonly used alongside organic construction systems.
Woven reed screens and shading devices were also used to create sheltered outdoor spaces and wind protection. These lightweight permeable systems are increasingly referenced in contemporary Cape architecture through woven facades, reed ceilings and shading structures that prioritise sustainability, local craftsmanship and indigenous spatial knowledge. Women in construction Women played a central role in constructing, maintaining and caring for the home within many indigenous building traditions. In Khoisan culture, women were responsible for weaving the reed mats used to enclose the home. It was the role of men to erect the wooden frame, upon which women would place woven reed mats. In Ndebele and Nguni cultures, they were the earth plasterers, the floor layers and the artistic creators. It was common that men erected wooden structures and women shaped the homes around the structures using mud, clay or sun-dried bricks. The women plastered these structures with a layer of earthen clay mixed with animal dung. Once the building was complete, the role of maintenance fell under the responsibility of women. They regularly polished, and replastered the homes to keep them structurally and thermally integral.
One of the most significant indigenous architectural forms associated with Khoisan communities is the matjieshuis (reed mat house). These circular dome-shaped structures were made from flexible wooden frameworks covered with woven reed mats that could be rolled up and transported during seasonal migration. The structures provided ventilation, climatic comfort and efficient communal spatial organisation while reflecting a strong relationship between mobility, landscape and resource stewardship.
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Spatial Practices of Care: Contextual Precedents of Craft and Care
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Contextual Precedents of Craft and Care
The Motif of the Circle The motif of the circle holds deep cultural, spiritual and architectural significance within South African indigenous traditions, particularly among the Khoisan peoples who are widely recognised as the earliest known inhabitants of the Cape region and among the oldest indigenous communities in Southern Africa. They developed spatial, social, and cultural systems deeply connected to the landscape, climate, and communal life of Southern Africa. In Khoisan cosmology and settlement patterns, circular forms symbolised collectivity, protection, continuity and the cyclical relationship between people, nature and ancestry. Traditional Khoi and San shelters were lightweight circular structures made from natural materials and organised around communal hearths that fostered storytelling, ritual, healing and social cohesion. Similarly, the rondavel evolved as an enduring form of indigenous circular architecture, valued for its structural efficiency, climatic responsiveness, and communal spatial organisation. Traditional settlements were often arranged around central gathering spaces such as kraals or fires, reinforcing visibility, safety and collective identity. Today, these indigenous spatial principles offer powerful architectural precedents for trauma-informed and womencentred design, where circular forms can support healing, dignity, protection and architecture conceived as civic infrastructure for collective care.
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Contextual Precedents of Craft and Care
Figure 41
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Contextual Precedents of Craft and Care
The Bo Kaap The Bo-Kaap, also known as the Malay Quarter, was built between 1790 and 1825 for the artisans of Cape Town, by the artisans of Cape Town. After the abolition of slavery in 1834, formerly enslaved people moved in to the area alongside the Malay people who had been living there. Architecturally, the precinct consists of long rows of small, mainly single-storey houses with flat roofs. The houses are staggered down a steep incline and all houses face the street with a front door onto the street and a stoep. The stoeps have low brick walls and integrated seating in each. The houses are brightly coloured with parapets decorated through moulding. The houses are a combination of Cape Dutch and Cape Georgian architectural styles. Constructively, the foundations of the houses are made of stone and they support walls made of sun-dried bricks in mud mortar covered in lime plaster. The roofs are held up by yellowwood beams. Historically, the roofs were flat, lime-plastered roofs over timber beams (but following restorations, many of the roofs are now made of corrugated aluminium). The scale of the Bo Kaap is inherently pedestrian. This creates the street as a social landscape where people are able to gather, play, talk and linger. The stoeps and streetfacing facades create eyes on the street and reinforce passive surveillance and collective guardianship. The Bo-Kaap offers an important architectural precedent for an Architecture of Care. Its human scale, street-facing thresholds and shared public life demonstrate how the built environment can foster community, reciprocity and collective care.
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Care Becomes Spatial
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Spatial Speculations of Care in Cape Town 2025 Case Study, P6 Design Studio
Figure 42-48
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Care Becomes Spatial
Care Becomes Spatial: Functional Studies What are spatial functions of care? To begin responding to the research question, which calls upon architecture to act as a vessel for facilitating care, it is necessary to examine the spatial forms that care already takes. Existing care infrastructure includes everyday civic typologies such as post offices, hair salons, marketplaces, bus stops and public toilets. These are spaces that support care by enabling people to care for themselves, care for others and carry out essential daily activities in a safe and dignified manner. The spatial priorities of care, safety and justice are not abstract values or symbolic gestures. Rather, they must be materially and spatially embedded in the way space is organised, experienced and inhabited.
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POROUS THRESHOLDS
SOFTENED EDGES
SIGHTLINES
FACADE BENCH GRADIENTED
TEMPORAL BOUNDARIES
OPEN BOUNDARY DAY TIME
CLOSED BOUNDARY NIGHTTIME
BUFFER
Figure 49
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Care Becomes Spatial
LEVELS TRANSPARENCY
RAISED ROUTING
PASSIVE SURVEILLANCE
SIGHTLINES
VISIBILITY
GUARDIANSHIP
BLURRED EDGE
PLAY
VISIBLE MAINTENANCE
Figure 50
Page 104
INVITATION TO STAY AND BELONG
VANTAGE POINTS
GATHER
SOFT EDGES
PLACEMAKING IN TRANSIENT ZONES
ERGONOMIC REST SHADE
PLACEMAKING
PROTECTION
WAIT REST
PEDESTRIAN
COLLECTIVE
Figure 51
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Care Becomes Spatial
Care Becomes Spatial: Expression Studies How can space support physical care? Although architecture cannot create care on its own, it can establish the spatial conditions that enable and strengthen it. Open corners improve visibility and shared oversight. Careful consideration of levels and sight-lines enhances spatial awareness and allows users to anticipate movement and activity. Diffused boundaries increase visual connection between public and private space, reducing isolation while supporting interaction, guardianship and collective presence.
OPEN EDGES
CLAY, EARTH, STONE, THATCH, TIMBER, SHEET METAL
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Figure 52-55
LEVELS & SIGHTLINES
DIFFUSED BOUNDARIES
CLAY, EARTH, STONE, THATCH, TIMBER, SHEET METAL
CLAY, EARTH, STONE, THATCH, TIMBER, SHEET METAL
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Spatial Practices of Care: Care Becomes Spatial
Care Becomes Spatial: Massing Studies
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Figure 56 -58
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Material, Metaphor and Memory
Material, Memory and Metaphor Materials are not neutral. Beyond their structural and environmental performance, they carry histories, cultural associations and symbolic meanings that shape how architecture is understood and experienced. Within an Architecture of Care, materials are selected not only for how they perform, but for the relationships, memories and forms of collective life they evoke. The following material precedents demonstrate how timber, stone, earth and vernacular construction techniques can contribute to an architecture grounded in place, stewardship and care.
The symbolism of rock is deeply embedded in female South African history. The protest slogan “You strike a woman, you strike a rock,” originating from the Women’s March of 9 August 1956 – during which over 20 000 women of all races marched to the Union Buildings in opposition to unjust laws – aligns women with resilience and collective strength. This association is further reinforced by the precinct’s precolonial history, including Khoisan rock paintings that position stone as a medium of memory and acknowledgement of original inhabitants.
Rock
Additionally, the rock bearing “Eve’s Footprint,” is exhibited in the adjacent history museum and is understood as a fossilised human footprint symbolising deep human presence and origins in the Cape region. Mitochondrial Eve refers to the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend through an unbroken maternal line. Eve’s Footprint, discovered at Langebaan Lagoon in South Africa in 1995 and dated to approximately 117,000 years ago, is widely interpreted as having been made by an anatomically modern human, and popularly associated with a woman through the metaphor of “Eve”.
You strike a woman, you strike a rock The concept of bedrock functions as both a material strategy and a symbolic framework. Engaging the bedrock of the site works directly with the geological foundation of Cape Town while acknowledging the deeper social and cultural foundations that underpin the city. The site is underlain by ancient geological formations, including the metamorphic shales and siltstones of the Malmesbury Group, intruded by Cape Granite and overlain in places by the resistant sandstones of the Table Mountain Group within the Cape Fold Belt. These formations record processes of pressure, erosion and endurance over deep time. Exposing and working with the bedrock situates the project as inseparable from its context. Structurally, bedrock symbolises support and permanence – the substrate upon which building depends. Socially, the term “bedrock of society” refers to the fundamental structures and relationships that enable a stable and functioning community. Within this framework, women have been understood as a metaphor for being foundational to social life.
Local Cape stone (sandstone, granite and slate) acts as both material and metaphor, grounding the project in the physical and symbolic bedrock of place. In the Cape context, stone carries geological memory, anchoring the architecture within the terrain from which it emerges. The phrase “you strike a woman, you strike a rock” speaks to resilience, permanence and collective strength, positioning stone as a material expression of endurance and dignity. In relation to local vernaculars, stone has historically been used in ways that work with the land through dry-packed walls, kraal enclosures and landscape markers that follow natural contours.
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Figure 59
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Material, Metaphor and Memory
Figure 60
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Figure 61
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Material, Metaphor and Memory
Figure 62
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collection AL2547 “You strike a woman, you strike a rock,” originating
The symbolism of rock is deeply embedded in
female South African history. The protest slogan from the Women’s March of 9 August 1956 – during “You strike a woman, you strike a rock,” originating Lilian leading anti-pass march which over 20 000Ngoyi women of all races marched to from the Women’s March of 9 August 1956 – during in the 1950’s, Creator: Photographer the Union Buildings in opposition to unjust laws – nctions as both a material strategy and a which over 000 women all races marched to f unknown, Source: SAHA collection Mitochondrial Eve20refers to theofmost recent woman aligns women with resilience and collective strength. ging the bedrock of the site works directly Union Buildings in an opposition to unjust laws –li Stone AL2547 humansthe descend through unbroken maternal This association is further reinforced by the precincts Site surface, Rock aligns women with resilience and collective strength. tion of Cape Town while acknowledging discovered at Langebaan Lagoon in South Africa in precolonial history, including Khoisan rock paintings Stone is used in its most grounded and tactile This association is further reinforced by the precincts ural foundations that underpin thethat city.position stone as a medium of memory approximately 117,000 ago, is believed to belo precolonial history, years including Khoisan rock paintings form through (dry-stonerepresents packing, stacked and acknowledgement of original inhabitants. oldest knownasfootprints of an that the position stone a medium of anatomic memory ncient geological formations, including Additionally, the rock bearing “Eve’s Footstep,” is and acknowledgement of original inhabitants. masonry and gabion structures). The durability nd siltstones of the Malmesbury Group, exhibited in the adjacent history museum and is Additionally, the rock bearing “Eve’s Footstep,” is exhibited in the adjacent history museum and is understood as a fossilised human footprint symbolising and overlain in places by the resistant Rammed earth emerges directly from the and weather resistance of stone reduce visible South African resistance silkscreen Mitochondrial Eve refers to the most recent woman from living understood as awhom fossilisedall human footprint symbolising Mountain Group within the Cape deep Foldhuman presence and origins in the Cape region. ground, forming an architecture that is both
anite and ct in rock tone oring rom trike ks to ctive erial gnity. tone that cked cape ours.
poster, Creator: Judy Seidman (MEDU deep human and origins in the Cape region. humans descend through an unbroken maternal line. presence Eve’s Footprint, ART ENSEMBLE), Source: materially SAHA and conceptually rooted in place. discovered at Langebaan Lagoon South Africa in 1995 and dated to collection AL2547 As a practice, rammed earth inand adobe
deterioration, limiting visual cues of neglect while117,000 reinforcing perceptions of stewardship approximately years ago, isNQPIUVCPFKPI believed to belong to a woman and DWKNFKPI VGEJPKSWGU TGƃGEV and care. across It allows while represents thelong-term oldest known footprints of an anatomically modern human. earth-building knowledge the for durability African continent. Inpermeability. this practice, soil is maintaining Stone forms the Local Cape stone (sandstone, granite transformed into structure through processes and slate) acts as both material and of the and design and will be found in plinths, Rammed earth emerges directly from ofthebase compression continuous care. metaphor, grounding the project in ground, forming an architecture that is boththresholds and retaining edges, especially in the physical and symbolic bedrock Rammed earth construction focusses on materially and conceptually rooted in place. of place. In theof Cape stone layerswhere of soil within formwork to meets the The concept bedrockcontext, functions as both a material and a rammed earth and adobe the areas the building ground. AsEvestrategy arefers practice, Mitochondrial Eve refers to the most Mitochondrial to the most recent woman from whom compacting all living symbolic framework. Engaging the bedrock of the site works directly carries geological memory, anchoring create dense, load-bearing walls. These layers humans descend through an unbrok humans descend throughVGEJPKSWGU an unbroken maternal Eve’s Footprint, DWKNFKPI TGƃGEV line. NQPIUVCPFKPI Its weight and texture contrast with the light with the geological foundation of Cape Town while acknowledging the architecture within the terrain from discovered at Langebaan Lagoon in remain discovered atearth-building Langebaan in South Africa in across 1995 and dated knowledge the tovisible once the formwork is removed, the deeper social cultural foundations theLagoon city. approximately 117,000 years ago, is b which it emerges. Theand phrase “you strike that underpin expressing the of process making and the come from approximately 117,000 years ago, is believed to belong to a woman and softness the of materials that the African continent. In this practice, soil is represents the oldest known footprint a woman, you strike a rock” speaks to formations, of the land itself. Each wall and oldest known footprints of an anatomically moderncomposition human. The site is underlain by ancient represents geological the including transformed into structure through processes notion of theunique tree,and while the visibility of its resilience, permanence expression completely irreplicable. the metamorphic shalesand and collective siltstones of the Malmesbury Group, of by compression and continuous care. strength, positioning stone as a material intruded by Cape Granite and overlain in places the resistant Thelayering material and provides thermalearth stability Rammed emerges directly the irregularity reinforces anfrom honest Rammed earth emerges directly from the sandstones of the Table Mountain Group within the Cape Fold expression of endurance and dignity. an architecture that is both while maintaining a soft,ground, tactileforming presence. ground, forming an architecture that is both Belt. These formations record processes of pressure, erosion and conceptually rooted in place. own origin and memory. In relation to local vernaculars, stone Rammed earth construction focusses onexpression of itsmaterially andand endurance over deep time.inExposing materially conceptually rooted place. and working with the
ecord processes of pressure, erosion time. Exposing and working with the ject as inseparable from its context.
As a practice, rammed earth and adobe
has historically been used in ways that
layers of soil within formwork to bedrock situates theearth project as adobe inseparablecompacting from its context. As a practice, rammed and DWKNFKPI VGEJPKSWGU TGƃGEV NQPIUVCPFKPI work with the land through dry-packed create dense, load-bearing walls. These layers earth-building knowledge across the DWKNFKPI VGEJPKSWGU TGƃGEV NQPIUVCPFKPI walls, kraal enclosures and landscape earth-building knowledge across the remain visible once the formwork is removed,Rammed Earth African continent. In this practice, soil is Local Cape stone (sandstone, granite markers that follow natural contours. transformed into structure through processes African continent. this timber practice,frame soil is Rammed earthInand of making and the andexpressing slate) acts as the both process material and of compression and continuous care. transformed into structure through processes composition of the theproject land itself. Each wall andRammed earth emerges directly from the metaphor, grounding in of compression and continuous care. the physical and symbolic bedrock
earth construction focusses on expression completely unique and irreplicable.ground, formingRammed an architecture that is both
of place. In the Cape context, stone
compacting layers of soil within formwork to
Thegeological material provides thermal stability Rammed earth construction focusses on carries memory, anchoring create dense, load-bearing walls. These layers materially and conceptually rooted in place. compacting layers of soil within formwork to thewhile maintaining a soft, architecture within the terrain from tactile presence. remain visible once the formwork is removed, create dense, load-bearing walls. These layers which it emerges. The phrase “you strike expressing the process of making and the remain visible once the formwork is removed, a woman, you strike a rock” speaks to composition of the land itself. Each wall and As a practice, rammed earth unique and and adobe expressing the process of making and the resilience, permanence and collective expression completely irreplicable. The material provides thermal stability composition of the land itself. Each wall and strength, positioning stone as a material building techniques reflect longstanding expression of endurance and dignity. while maintaining a soft, tactile presence. expression completely unique and irreplicable. The material provides thermal stability In relation to local vernaculars, stone earth-building knowledge across the has historically been used in ways that while maintaining a soft, tactile presence.
African continent. In this practice, soil is Clay represents a material of transformed into structure through processes transformation shaped through Stone is used in its most grounded and Local timber cladding JCPF YCVGT CPF ƂTG KPVQ of compression and continuous care. Rammed tactile form through (dry-stone packing, elements of collective assembly. stacked masonry and gabion structures). earth construction focuses on compacting In the local vernacular, clayThe durability of stone as a material is low Stone wall based construction maintenance and weather resistant, which layers of soil within formwork to create dense,has long supported climate responsive plays with the notion of visible guardianship load-bearing walls. These layers remain visible building practices. Clay based - and the lack thereof neccessary, thus lack of will be used to create visible neglect. It allows for durability while once the formwork is removed,bricks expressing the distortions and layers of maintaining permeability. Stone forms the process of making and the composition the permeability -ofpredominately base of the design and will be found in plinths, in the form of Clay briserepresents soleil a mater thresholds and retaining edges, especially in Clayitself. represents material land Eacha wall andofexpression completely and semi permeable spatial shaped thr transformation the areas where the building meets the ground. Stone is used in its most grounded and transformation shaped through Stone is used in its most grounded and YCVGT CPF ƂTG boundariesprovides that areJCPF not barriers. unique and irreplicable. The material tactile form through (dry-stone packing, Its weight and texture contrast with the light JCPF YCVGT CPF ƂTG KPVQ elements of collective asse tactile form through (dry-stone packing, softeness of the materials that come stacked masonry and gabion structures). from the Clay represents a material of In the local vernacular, thermal stability while maintaining a soft, tactile elements of iscollective assembly. The durability of stone as a material low stacked masonry and gabion structures). transformation notion of theshaped tree, while the visibility of its through based construction has rounded and maintenance and weather resistant, In the localwhich vernacular, clayThe durability of stone as a material is low JCPF presence. layering and irregularity reinforces an honest supported climate respo YCVGT CPF ƂTG KPVQ plays with the notion of visible guardianship one packing, work with the land through dry-packed walls, kraal enclosures and landscape markers that follow natural contours.
based construction has long
building practices. Clay b maintenance and weather resistant, which elements of collective assembly. expression of its own origin and- and memory. the lack thereof neccessary, thus lack of n structures). supported responsive bricks will be used to c visible neglect. It allows for durability climate while the notion of and visible guardianship In the local vernacular, claymaterial is plays low with Rammed earth metal distortions and layers maintaining permeability. Stone forms the building practices. Clay based sistant, which Clay - and the lack thereof neccessary, thus lack of based construction has long permeability - predomin base of the design and will be found in plinths, supported climate responsive bricks will be used to create guardianship visible neglect. It allows for durability while building practices. Clay based thresholds and retaining edges, especially in a material of transformationin the form of brise Clay represents y, thus lack of distortions and layers of and semi permeable s maintaining permeability. Stone forms the bricks will be used to create the areas where the building meets the ground. urability while permeability - predominately Its weight and texture contrast with the light shaped through hand, water and fire into boundaries that are not ba ne forms base the of the design and will be found in plinths, distortions and layers of softeness of the materials comeform from theof brise soleil inthat the thresholds and retaining edges, especially in permeability - predominately und in plinths, ofofcollective assembly. In the local notion of the tree, elements while the visibility its and semi permeable spatial , especially inareas where the building meets the ground. in the form of brise soleil the layering and irregularity reinforces an honest and semi permeable spatial vernacular, clay-based construction has boundaries that are not barriers. ts the ground. expression of its own origin and memory. Its weight and texture contrast with the light boundaries that are not barriers. with the light
long supported climate responsive building practices. Clay-based bricks will be used to create filtered transparency and layers of permeability - predominately in the form of brise soleil and semi permeable spatial boundaries that are not barriers.
softeness of the materials that come from the
ome from the of the tree, while the visibility of its visibility ofnotion its layering Earth and irregularity reinforces an honest ces an honest and memory. expression of its own origin and memory.
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Material, Metaphor and Memory
Cinder Blocks Vernacular building techniques Concrete masonry units or maxi bricks are a cornerstone of local architectural vernacular throughout large areas within South Africa. They are a characteristic building material in both townships and RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) housing. They are used for their ease of construction and affordability. Within the context, they are very often not plastered but rather “bagged” (which refers to a process of application of a thin cement paste which seals the blocks) and then painted. Their characteristic blockwork appearance remains recognisable. As a material, these cinder blocks hold a great weight of history. In post-apartheid South Africa, there was an era of mass construction. New suburbs were built and concrete blocks became a symbol of modernity, becoming associated with modernisation and mass housing programmes. Within an Architecture of Care, even ordinary construction materials can be reimagined. Concrete masonry units are transformed from purely functional building elements into spatial devices that filter light, encourage visual connection and establish soft boundaries between public and private space. Their reinterpretation demonstrates that care is not embedded in expensive materials, but in the way familiar materials are assembled to support dignity, belonging and everyday occupation.
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Figure 63
Figure 64
Cape Town RDP Housing
Salt Architects
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Material, Metaphor and Memory
Timber Justice Under a Tree “Justice under a tree” is a recurring visual metaphor at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, communicated through art. The Court logo shows a tree sheltering a diverse coming together of humans of all races, sexes, and genders. Trees also appear in the architectural design of the Court’s building, and in many artworks in the CCAC. The idea of justice under a tree comes from traditional African societies’ rituals where people gather in the open, often under trees, to resolve disputes. An imbizo, an isiXhosa word that has an equivalent in the terms kgotla and lekgotla of the Sotho and Tswana communities of Southern Africa, is a participatory and transparent meeting of people of a community to discuss important issues and to serve as a judicial court. The image of a tree roots the practice of seeking justice as indigenous to southern Africa. It is a deliberate shift away from the symbols of colonial and apartheid laws. Like a tree, the Constitution is a source of protection for all, indicating a new value-based ethos and culture after apartheid. As much as the tree protects the people, the people also look after it, thereby establishing an interconnected relationship between the Constitution and its governing subjects, and between nature and humankind.” Constitutional Court Art Collection, ccac. concourttrust.org.za
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Figure 65
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Material, Metaphor and Memory
Timber Inspired by the idea of justice under a tree invoked by the Constitutional Court logo and architectural design, 15 women each made a leaf on which they told their stories of facing injustices in their community in Nieu-Bethesda, Eastern Cape, including interconnected issues of alcoholism, hunger, and domestic abuse. The bugs eating the tree represent the ongoing challenges they face. - Constitutional Court Art Collection, ccac. concourttrust.org.za
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Figure 66
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From Fear to Care
Spatial Practices of Care: Material, Metaphor and Memory
Figure 67
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oje 96 per
Timber Timber carries associations of gathering, assembly and collective life. In many South African cultures, the tree is not only a natural resource but a site of gathering; where dialogue, decision-making and forms of justice unfold in the open. Working with timber as a material that carries cultural meaning allows this spatial logic to extend into the built environment, translating the presence of the tree into both structure and spatial framework. The architecture is therefore not imposed onto the existing environment, but emerges from it as an additional layer responsive to context, climate and community use. Locally sourced timber reflects an ethic of care for surrounding ecologies, reducing reliance on extractive construction practices. In this way, timber contributes to an architecture of spatial justice by enabling environments that invite participation, accessibility and collective presence.
Local timber framing
Timber as a structural and supportive material allows for a return to simplicity in construction. Techniques such as modular framing and adaptable joinery support incremental growth, repair and long-term stewardship. The tactility of timber reinforces a human-scaled materiality that is essential when designing spaces rooted in warmth, care and intentionality, particularly within an Architecture of Care. The visibility of joints, grain and weathering reinforces an honest material language, where the building reveals its making, modesty and lived reality, evolving over time alongside its users.
Local timber cladding
Thatch as a material
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From Fear to Care
T a k A fa c w Q w s th d s ta C th a to
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Chapter six An Architecture of Process
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From Fear to Care
An Architecture of Process
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How can architecture spatialise care through systems of visibility, occupation, guardianship and collective participation across the city?
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From Fear to Care
An Architecture of Process
What is an Architecture of Process
How can architecture facilitate spatial justice? This project advances an architectural response that resists reductive or singular solutions to a deeply complex social condition. Rather than presenting safety as a resolved outcome, it positions architecture as an enabling framework: a designated space intentionally designed to facilitate sustained engagement with the spatial dimensions of women’s safety in South Africa. In this sense, the project operates as a platform for inquiry, dialogue and experimentation, bringing together affected communities, architects, researchers, technologists, policymakers and allied practitioners to collectively investigate how the built environment produces, reinforces and mitigates vulnerability.
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FROM FEAR TO CARE
From fearexperience to care nct: An architecture of process addressing women’s through spatialising collective care in C An architecture of process; addressing female experience through spatial intervention.
rcle of Care
xchange Alley
athering Place
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Women sustaining Cape Town navigate daily urban environments shaped by fear and insecurity.
PROJECT AIM
Establishing architectural networks of protection for women navigating the contemporary city.
ARCHITECTURAL METHODOLOGY
Embedding systems of care and protection within the city’s public fabric.
SOCIAL
SPATIAL
PHYSICAL
The creation of three zones that support daily use, community interaction and collective occupation:
The organisation of three connected spatial zones that move from small-scale support spaces to larger civic gathering areas:
The introduction of built structures and public infrastructure that support continuous use and occupation of the sites:
Liminal Support
Liminal Support
Liminal Support
Provides spaces for rest, safety, childcare, washing and shortterm support during daily movement through the city.
Uses sheltered thresholds, seating areas and enclosed support spaces positioned along movement routes.
Includes lighting, seating, water points, storage, ablutions and sheltered structures.
(In)formal Exchange
(In)formal Exchange
(In)formal Exchange
Accommodates informal trade, skills exchange, smallscale enterprise and shared maintenance activities.
and outdoor spaces that can adapt to different daily and seasonal uses.
Incorporates adaptable stalls, work surfaces, covered circulation and shared service infrastructure.
Collective Gathering
Collective Gathering
Collective Gathering
Creates space for meetings, events, performances, workshops and community-led gatherings situated within a culturally
Establishes a larger open spatial framework designed for both programmed and informal occupation.
Provides an open gathering platform with shaded areas, durable surfaces and multipurpose built elements.
Stewardship - Collective participation as a currency LIMINAL SUPPORT - Supporting daily navigation and immediate needs This zone addresses the liminal transitional conditions that women encounter in the city. Conceived as an “exploded home” the intervention reimagines how domesticity can extend to privacy, collectivity and care as feminist principles which are embedded within the urban fabric. Page 129
From Fear to Care
An Architecture of Process: Context
Political context
The political acknowledgement of gender- based violence and femicide gained significant momentum in 2019 following a series of high-profile cases. The murder of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana at the Clareinch Post Office became a catalyst for a nationwide movement demanding greater action to address genderbased violence and femicide. Over the next few years, multiple protests took place nationwide, culminating in the “Post Office to Parliament” protest where hundreds of people marched down Roeland Street, to Parliament demanding action. At the time, the development of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for GBVF was proposed to address the situation. On the 20th of November 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster. The declaration legitimises and reinforces the urgency of the fight. It is a call for sustained nation wide action, which strengthens mandates to protect survivors and to support vulnerable members of the nation. The declaration aims to expand access to shelters, safe spaces and community programmes, while improving access to criminal justice, health services, policing and education. Officially, the classification allocates resources to accelerate budget allocation without waiting for new fiscal years, increases the need for institutional accountability and expands support service programmes. On the 21st of November 2025, there was a nationwide shutdown led by the NGO Women for Change. The protest took place on the eve of the G20 Summit in South Africa and it was a call for women to withdraw from all forms of labour to highlight their socio-economic contribution. The protest aimed to force the government to declare genderbased violence and femicide a national disaster in light of a previous dismissal shortly before. “Before the G20 meets to talk about growth and progress, South African women will show them what happens when we disappear. You cannot speak of economies while women live in fear,” Women for Change.
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Social context
The social life of Cape Town’s city centre is sustained by formal institutions as well as informal networks of care. Daily commuters, informal traders, caregivers and service workers collectively support the functioning of the city through systems of exchange, maintenance and reciprocal support. These everyday practices reveal an existing infrastructure of care that operates alongside the city’s political and economic systems, forming an important foundation for the spatial proposition developed in this research.
Spatial context
The project examines patterns of spatial navigation – particularly those experienced by women – within Cape Town’s city centre. It investigates movement flows, traffic zones, pedestrian and vehicular movement networks, perceptions of safety and the temporal conditions that shape everyday occupation of the city.
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From Fear to Care
An Architecture of Process: Context
Movement Routes and Flows Cape Town City Centre
Buitengracht Street
Strand Street
Adderly Street
Castle Street Kloof Street
Roeland Street
Orange Street
CAR INFRASTRUCTURE PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE CAR TRAFFIC ZONES DENSITY OF PEOPLE (RED HIGH DENSITY) CAPE TOWN CITY CENTRE, CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
MOVEMENT ROUTES AND FLOWS
0
Figure 68
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75
150
225
300m
Pedestrian Movement Axis Cape Town City Centre
AXIS GOVERNMENT AVENUE & ADDERLY STREET EXISTING PEDESTRIAN NETWORKS BORDER OF AXIS PRECINCT ENTRANCES TO GARDENS
CAPE TOWN CITY CENTRE, CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT AXIS
0
75
150
225
300m
Figure 69
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An Architecture of Process: Context
Safety
Cape Town City Centre
Hotspot
Car dominance Hotspot Deliberate Blindness Security
Hotspot Temporality Hotspot
Hotspot Deliberate Blindness
Hotspot
Temporality
Lack of safe rest
Deliberate Blindness
Hotspot
Defense Security Security Surveilance reliance
Temporalty
Hotspot
Visibility
Temporal isolation
Temporality
Defensive surveiled Guardianship Porosity
Temporality
Guardianship
Temporalty Edges Visibility
Visibility
Controlled Porosity
UNSAFE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH UNSAFE QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH UNSAFE PERSONAL OBSERVATION
CAPE TOWN CITY CENTRE, CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
SAFETY BASED ON TYPES OF RESEARCH
0
Figure 70
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75
150
225
300m
Network Logic
Cape Town City Centre
Edge of axis
Belonging
Memory
Visibility
Dignity
Temporality
Visibility
Visibility
Care
Guardianship
Visibility
Edge of axis
Porosity
LIGHTHOUSES FOR SAFE MOBILITY (SMALL SCALE) TYPOLOGY OF BELONGING & DIGNIFIED REST (SMALL SCALE) INFORMAL TYPOLOGY OF CARE (MEDIUM SCALE) INTERVENTIONS OF GUARDIANSHIP & VISIBILITY (MEDIUM SCALE) LAYERED INTERVENTIONS ONTOP OF EXISTING SYSTEM CAPE TOWN CITY CENTRE, CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
NETWORK LOGIC
0
75
150
225
300m
Figure 71
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From Fear to Care
An Architecture of Process: Context
Where Care Already Exists Cape Town City Centre
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Temporary Settlements
Commuter Convergence Point
Informal Vendors
Walking on Daisies
Informal Vendors
INFORMAL TRADERS Grand Parade Taxi Rank
MARKET VENDOR
TAXI RANK COOK
Food Vendors
Flower Market
TAXI MARSHALLS
Informal Vendors
INFORMAL ECONOMIC SUPPORT
Informal Vendors
FLOWER SELLER HAIRDRESSER SPAZA SHOP STOREKEEPER
STREET CLEANER
Informal vendors
JUICE VENDOR ARTIST ADVOCATES Post Office to Parliament Protests
SHELTERS
Security Guard
GARDEN CARETAKERS DOMESTIC CARETAKERS Parking Lot Caretakers
Parking Lot Caretakers Resting Space
STREET CARETAKERS Children Play
CAMPUS CARETAKER
Campus
Campus
Security Guard
HOTEL CARETAKER
SECURITY GUARD
Campus
LATE NIGHT ATTENDANT Security Guard
24/7 Petrol Attendants
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From Fear to Care
An Architecture of Process: Context
Existing Systems of Care Cape Town City Centre
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EXISTING SYSTEMS OF CARE HEALTH Clinic Traditional healer Community health worker
NOURISHMENT
EXCHANGE
Taxi rank cook
Hair salon
Juice vendor
Stokvel
Market vendor
Spaza shop Lay-by + Izikweletu/UkuBoleka credit networks
COMMUNITY Childcare Grandmothers Neighbours
LANDSCAPE AND RITUAL Garden caretaker Indigenous knowledge Sacred gathering
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From Fear to Care
An Architecture of Process: Context
An Architecture of Care Cape Town City Centre
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TOWARDS AN ARCHITECTURE OF CARE
SPATIAL CONDITIONS Deliberate Blindness Car Dominance Defensive/Surveilled Spaces Ambiguous Guardianship Lack of Un-Surveilled Rest Temporal Safety
SPATIAL PRINCIPLES
DESIGN RESPONSE
Visibility
amaCircle of Care
Participation
amaExchange Alley
Exchange
amaGathering Place
Guardianship Stewardship Maintenance
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From Fear to Care
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Chapter seven amaPrecinct
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From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct: An Introduction to The Site
amaPrecinct as an Architecture of Care Cape Town City Centre
“Ama” is a word coming from many South African Nguni languages that is associated with values of interconnectedness and mutual responsibility. It expresses an understanding that one exists as a part of many. In isiXhosa and isiZulu, amaas a prefix is used to indicate the plural many nouns, particularly those referring to people, places and things. The use of ama as the prefix of the project intends to evoke the idea that these are spaces of the collective. They offer a shared identity and value the importance of caring for one another as an interconnected community.
The existing site functions as a commuter corridor, a space of temporal occupation and one of the city’s few breathing spaces. Together, these three nodes form an urban support network embedded within existing institutional and pedestrian corridors.
The project introduces three interventions along an existing commuter and institutional corridor. The sites were selected based on visibility, existing patterns of occupation, institutional adjacency and gaps within the existing support infrastructure. Site 1 is the support zone, amaCircle of Care Site 2 is the exchange zone, amaExchange Alley Site 3 is the gathering zone, amaGathering Place Together they form a distributed network rather than a single protected enclave, amaPrecinct The project is grounded in the daily routines of the women who sustain the city. These routines reveal recurring spatial conditions: long commutes, periods of waiting, a lack of places for rest, vulnerability during moments of transition, and exclusion from institutional space. The project therefore focuses on moments of transition rather than isolated buildings.
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AMAPRECINCT AS A SYSTEM OF CARE amaPrecinct
amaCircle of Care
amaExchange Alley
amaGathering Place
ROLE OF CARE
Support
Exchange
Belonging
SPATIAL ROLE
Liminal Threshold
Connector
Destination
TEMPORALITY
Daily, with emphasis on dusk and dawn
Daily, commuter axis
Daily and for events
SCALE OF PARTICIPATION
Individuals
Neighbourhood
Civic
ATMOSPHERE
Intimate
Active
Collective
USERS
Women in transit
Traders, craftswomen and commuters
Community
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From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct: An Introduction to The Site
1. amaCircle of Care
2. amaExchange Alley 3. amaGathering Place
Figure 72 - 73 Page 146
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From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct: An Introduction to The Site
Urban Support Network
Embedded within existing institutional and pedestrian corridors. Care is sustained through support, exchange and collective memory. Site 1 The site operates as the liminal support zone, responding to the immediate needs that arise during movement through the city. Located on a parking area adjacent to Parliament, it positions care infrastructure directly alongside institutional power. Site 2 The site focusses on exchange. It formalises the informal systems that already sustain the city. Located on an existing parking area adjacent to the Iziko South African National Gallery, the site currently separates St John’s Street from the Company’s Garden, acting as a barrier between the museum precinct and the surrounding streets. Site 3 The site supports rest, gathering and the longterm cultivation of collective memory. Located within the Company’s Garden, this intervention introduces a stronger female presence into a historically institutional landscape.
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within a culturally
and informal occupation.
multipurpose built elements.
Stewardship - Collective participation as a currency LIMINAL SUPPORT - Supporting daily navigation and immediate needs This zone addresses the liminal transitional conditions that women encounter in the city. Conceived as an “exploded home” the intervention reimagines how domesticity can extend to privacy, collectivity and care as feminist principles which are embedded within the urban fabric. Collective Kitchen
Laundromat + Mending
Health + Menstruation
Shelter
Existing system: Woman who cooks at the taxi rank supplies the transport network with food.
Existing system: Laundry and clothing repair are domestic tasks traditionally reserved for women.
Existing system: Health care and menstruation support (products & education) are slow, far and inaccessible.
Participation in cooking activates space and creates visibility.
Participation moves the task closer to work, can happen during waiting period.
Positioning affordable and free facilities along transport route makes it accessible.
Existing system: Many domestic spaces are unsafe for women. Many women make a dangerous and long commute into the city daily to serve a city they cannot afford to participate in.
Renumeration for participation is to take food home to family.
Skill exchange in mending station, facility use is free in exchange for presence while the task takes place.
Menstruation and traditional/clinical health clinic provide care and products for free
Domestic role of clothing separated from private space, waiting moment is protected, moment for rest and gathering energy before undertaking the rest of one’s journey home.
health basic needs).
Domestic role of nourishment separated from private space, becomes collective act.
Participation in the space activates the public realm. Situates self care at the heart of daily life, making it integral. Providing access to taboo topics.
Short term housing spaces allow women to live closer to opportunity or away from danger. Housing in exchange for maintenance of the building and gardens. Participation in scheme keeps space active 24/7. Private domestic space made a publicly accessible support and space to assess next step.
(IN)FORMAL EXCHANGE - Turning participation into sustained systems This zone brings together spaces that highlight the importance of informal systems in keeping Cape Town active and connected. These systems support participation, community and encourage shared responsibility, care and sustained stewardship of the surrounding safe space. Market Space
Bank + Financial Support
Craft Workshop
Caretaker’s Home
Existing system: Informal vendors sustain everyday urban life.
Existing system: Cash-based informal systems expose women to risk, while formal banking remains inaccessible. Stokvels (a community-based savings collective built on trust and mutual support) offer trusted alternatives.
Existing system: Indigenous craft traditions (weaving, braiding, earthen building) held by women are disappearing.
Existing system: Caretakers and maintenance workers sustain space but are only present during working hours. Housing in the city is inaccessible and unaffordable.
Creation of a dedicated spatial reservation recognises informal vendors as essential infrastructure and makes them equally visible and secure. Vendors have access to stall space through a permit (just like the street) and in exchange, they provide care and maintenance for the building and ensure the space is used and active. Active, visible edges create a collective zone where oversight is shared and sustained, making transitional zones safer.
hub embeds safe saving and exchange into everyday life. Trust, knowledge, and collective saving in exchange for security and access. As a result, there is reduced cash vulnerability, increased visibility and strengthened women.
The architecture sustains the craft through embedding it into the construction and maintenance of the building. The craft workshop facilitates the exchange of this knowledge to keep it alive. Public can participate and receive the sought-after traditional craft knowledge and subsequently they help maintain the buildings. The building is maintained by the collective (users and public volunteers), ensuring the continuity of craft, culture, and shared ownership.
On-site housing embeds continuous care within the architecture and addresses the need for housing - even for one person or family. The caretaker lives in the space and provides ongoing presence after hours ensuring the space remains cared for, in exchange for a secure home. Extended occupation creates stability, visibility, and safer environments for women. The informal systems are sustained by reliable, embedded support structures.
COLLECTIVE GATHERING - Building long term presence This zone operates at the intersection of structured programming and indeterminate use. It provides a spatial “shell” that accommodates collective practices shaped by women’s needs – ranging from recreation and care to celebration, advocacy and ritual. Through spatial visibility and proximity, these practices are repositioned as central to institutional value, located next to fundamental national institutions. The intervention therefore navigates a combination of formal frameworks and more informal, community-led forms of occupation. Multifunctional Gathering
Sacred Practices
Library + Oral History
Celebration of Krotoa
Existing system: Collective spaces are often exclusive, leaving few free and accessible places for community use.
Existing system: Sacred and spiritual practices (especially non-institutional) are at risk of marginalisation and often excluded from central urban space.
Existing system: The collective memory of the city often does not fully acknowledge the lives and histories of its women.
Existing system: Existing memorials in the precinct hold memorials of power, injustice and legacy. They
An open library and oral archive for recording, sharing and learning allows women’s stories to be made visible and lasting.
male-centred narratives of power and memory.
An open, informal gathering space allows unrestricted participation. The space is sustained through use, presence and community led activity. Continuous occupation fosters safety and belonging. A space like this provides physical spaces for women to express, connect and gather.
An open, inclusive sacred space is provided which recentres diverse practices within the city. Presence and shared use are exchanged for collective care. The addition of this layer supports wellbeing, diverse cultural belonging and and participates in creating safer, more inclusive environments for women
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Stories, expriences and knowledge are exchanged for recognition, preservation and access. As a result, the space creates a growing, living archive which embeds women’s voices into the city’s collective memory both physically and
A commemorative memorial that centres a powerful female women’s histories without erasing the past. Krotoa was a Khoi woman whose colonial encounter and erasure. An abstract memorial to Krotoa expands the city’s collective memory, inviting women to see
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct: An Introduction
Existing Spatial Conditions
Site 1 The existing condition is highly exposed, vehicledominated and largely inactive after hours. Despite its institutional significance, it provides almost no support infrastructure for the women who move through it each day.
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Figure 74 - 79
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amaPrecinct: An Introduction
Existing Spatial Conditions
Site 2 The existing site is currently reserved for vehicle parking and exemplifies conditions of ambiguous guardianship, where even the caretaker’s hut receives little spatial acknowledgement.
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Figure 80 -83
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amaPrecinct: An Introduction
Existing Spatial Conditions
Site 3 The existing site operates as a commuter axis, a space of temporal occupation and as a rare breathing space in the city.
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Figure 84 - 89
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amaPrecinct:amaCircle of Care
Figure 90 Page 156
Liminal Liminal support: support: spatial spatial facilitation facilitation
amaCircle of Care
amaCircle of Care is conceived as an exploded domestic infrastructure in which functions traditionally confined to the home are redistributed into public space. The constellation of buildings forms a liminal support node that creates visibility, refuge and everyday care during moments of transition.
Built Built anchors anchors Built Anchors
Softened Softened boundaries boundaries Softened Boundaries
Guardianship Guardianship Guardianship
Collective oversight Collective oversight Collective Oversight
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From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaCircle of Care
Figure 91 Page 158
She wakes before the sun, prepares food, packs ingredients, wakes children, gets the day started.
RETURN HOME LATE NIGHT
She cleans, packs, carries what is left, takes another long journey home and begins her domestic role.
Tomorrow it begins again.
amaCircle of Care
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A TAXI RANK COOK
ROELAND STREET
Housing
Collective commons
Universal health clinic
ST JOHNS STREET
Collective kitchen Laundry and mending
PLEIN STREET Menstral hub
Breastfeeding
Prayer Toilet
Daycare
“Living room”
Rest pod Lockers Phone chargers
“Living room”
24/7 helpdesk
Figure 92 Page 159
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaCircle of Care
Figure 93 Page 160
Louis Botha statue
ROELAND STREET
HOPE STREET
ST JOHNS STREET
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Ladles of Love
The Hope Exchange
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amaCircle of Care Daycare
Transport drop & go
Courtyard
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Collective kitchen
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Laundry & mending
Universal health clinic
Temporary residences
St Mary’s Cathedral
daycare
toilets
prayer
breast feeding
temporary residence
indigenous medicinal garden
universal health clinic
collective courtyard
kitchen
drop and go
SUPPORT AS A SPATIAL SYSTEM
Figure 94 Page 161
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaCircle of Care
Figure 95 Page 162
amaCircle of Care
ama Circle of Care How can support infrastructure support collective daily occupation?
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menstural hub rest
recharge information
Living room
quiet
shaded seating
24/7 helpdesk
waiting
collective “courtyard”
Outdoor overflow
Menstural care hub
protected
Toilets, prayer, breastfeeding
Protected terrace
Informal gathering
D STREET
COMMERCIAL STREET Cape Town Cruiseship Hospitality Training Department of Justice & Constitutional Development
ST JOHNS STREET
PLEIN STREET
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5 2 6 3
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Louis Botha statue
ROELAND STREET
HOPE STREET
ST JOHNS STREET
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Daycare
Ladles of Love
The Hope Exchange
Transport drop & go
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Courtyard
12
Collective kitchen
Laundry & mending
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Universal health clinic
Temporary residences
St Mary’s Cathedral
daycare
toilets
prayer
breast feeding
Figure 96 Page 163
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaCircle of Care
Figure 97 Page 164
amaCircle of Care
ama Circle of Care How can support infrastructure support collective daily occupation?
DELIBERATE BLINDNESS Existing spatial thresholds and barriers tend to prioritise interior protection and disengage with the surrounding public space. There is an inherent violence in these additional layers of fortification, such as burglar bars, electric fences and barbed wire. Limited visual connection and absence of passive surveilance call for an architectural response. When there is a need for a physical barrier, that barrier needs to allow for continued connection and oversight to the public realm. Maintenance of sightlines is essential for passive surveilance.
PRIVATE
CONSTRUCTION Built through artisanal bricklaying, the screen uses locally made clay bricks in a dogtooth bond with controlled gaps to filter light, air and sightlines. Fabric canopies, designed and sewn by local women, transform shading into storytelling. Each canopy carrying meaning, memory and identity.
THE NEED FOR POROSITY
Where closure is required, exoskeletal facades and porous screens such as brise soleil or perforated brick maintain visibility. Filtered transparency preserves sightlines while providing privacy. Light and shadow pass through, reducing dark zones and anonymity along the facade.
A dedicated workshop enables women to create, repair and share craft, sustaining both skill and space.
AGING
SEMI-PRIVATE
The soft and hard materials will weather over time at different speeds.
Sewing - traditionally a task that falls under the role of the female in domesticity.
Brick develops a permanent patina, and will remain integrated into the permanent architecture. The fabric will need to be repaired, replaced and adapted seasonally.
The locally sourced fabric will be used as the shadings for the softened canopies on the edges of the buildings. These canopies encourage lingering and delayed departure.
Light cotton provides summer shade, while waterproof canvas protects against winter rain and wind.
Fabric weathers, tears and is repaired. Its maintenance becomes a visible act of care. Through continuous mending, the architecture is kept alive, signalling presence, guardianship and shared knowledge.
REPAIRING Participation becomes a non-financial currency.
SEMI-PUBLIC
Users maintain and replace the shading seasonally, and in return gain access to shared services. Participation in such activities feeds the collective with presence and oversight, further activating the space and reinforcing safety. The mending workshop teaches sewing skills, where crafted pieces feed back into the building, which in turn sustains both its fabric and its stories.
SEMI-PERMEABLE BRICKWORK MAINTAINS SIGHTLINES
PUBLIC
brise soleil1
Axonometry
VISIBILITY THOUGH POROSITY - BRICKWORK
Detail legend: "Support"
1: Foundations - Reinforced concrete foundation 2: Plinth - 500mm x 220mm local sandstone plinth - Top height 150mm above exterior ground level - Top surface fall to exterior - 10mm drip groove - Damp proof course between stone plinth and timber facade wall 5
3: Clay brick masonry facade nish - 105mm x 70mm x 220mm local clay bricks - Mortar joints match the colour of the clay, recessed 25mm - 60mm cavity - Weep holes at base every 600mm - Stainless steel wall ties fixed to back timber frame (600mm horizontal spacing, 450mm vertical spacing) - Breather membrane (vapour open, windtight) - 12,5mm structural sheathing plywood - Timber stud frame - 260 mm bio-based cellulose (Lambda value: 0.040 W/mK) - 25mm gypsum board
Figure 98
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amaPrecinct:amaCircle of Care
Figure 99 Page 166
brise soleil1
Axonometry
amaCircle of Care VISIBILITY THOUGH POROSITY - BRICKWORK
Detail legend: "Support"
1: Foundations - Reinforced concrete foundation 2: Plinth - 500mm x 220mm local sandstone plinth - Top height 150mm above exterior ground level - Top surface fall to exterior - 10mm drip groove - Damp proof course between stone plinth and timber facade wall 5
3: Clay brick masonry facade nish - 105mm x 70mm x 220mm local clay bricks - Mortar joints match the colour of the clay, recessed 25mm - 60mm cavity - Weep holes at base every 600mm - Stainless steel wall ties fixed to back timber frame (600mm horizontal spacing, 450mm vertical spacing) - Breather membrane (vapour open, windtight) - 12,5mm structural sheathing plywood - Timber stud frame - 260 mm bio-based cellulose (Lambda value: 0.040 W/mK) - 25mm gypsum board
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4: Timber beam facade connection - 105mm x 70mm x 220mm local clay bricks - Mortar joints match the colour of the clay, recessed 25mm - Ventilation gap - 100mm bio-based cellulose insulation (Lambda value: 0.040 W/mK) - 300mm x 480mm CLT structural timber beams - Damp proof course between beam and clay facade - Steel angle plate for lateral resistance
5: Floor package - 25mm Timber floor finish - 30mm recycled gypsum fibre board - 25mm plywood structural sheathing - 120mm Dry mounted raised floor system - 100mm CLT floor panel - 300mm x 480mm CLT beams - 100mm acoustic insulation - 18mm air gap for construction - 25mm timber ceiling panels
6: Load bearing timber column beam structure - 300mm x 480mm CLT structural timber beams - 10mm compressible pad below beam - Damp proof course between beam and timber facade - Steel angle plate for lateral resistance - 300mm x 300mm CLT structural columns - Steel baseplate connects timber to concrete foundations 7: Ground oor package - 25mm local clay floor tiles - 25mm screed to fall - 30mm acoustic insulation underlay - 50mm bio-based cellulose insulation (Lambda value: 0.040 W/mK) - 300mm reinfor ed concrete c floor slab - Damp proof membrane (DPM) overlapping with wall damp proof course (DPC) - 100mm rigid perimeter insulation - Engineered compact earth 6
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1:20 Sectional detail illustrating the construction build up of ama Circle of Care. The materiality of the building is identified through stone and clay, with the build up being both material and metaphor. "Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo" an isiXhosa and isiZulu protest chant from the South African Women’s March in 1956 where 20 000 women marched against the apartheid pass laws. It means, “You strike a woman, you strike a rock” which symbolises the strength of women against oppression.
Figure 100 Page 167
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amaPrecinct:amaCircle of Care
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amaCircle of Care
Figure 101 Page 169
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaExchange Alley
Figure 102 Page 170
Sharing: spatial facilitation Sharing: spatial facilitation Sharing: spatial facilitation amaExchange Alley
amaExchange Alley is conceived as an informal exchange zone that supports collective oversight and positions participation as a form of social and economic value. Through daily occupation, it supports networks of collective care by providing space for economic participation. Central to the proposal is the provision of market infrastructure that legitimises and strengthe
Built anchors Built Anchors Built anchors Built anchors
Softened boundaries Softened Boundaries Softened boundaries Softened boundaries
Guardianship
Guardianship Guardianship Guardianship
Collective Oversight Collective oversight Collective oversight Collective oversight Page 171
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaExchange Alley
Figure 103 Page 172
She wakes up early, prepares her produce and gets ready for the day.
A long journey home with heavy loads to carry. Tomorrow it begins again.
amaExchange Alley
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A JUICE VENDOR
Observatory roof
AVENUE Iziko South African National Gallery
Collective courtyard
Housing fot caretaker and late night market vendors
ST JOHNS STREET
Indigenous edible flora garden
VREDE STREET
Maintenance and craft workshop Financial support and literacy (Stokvel inspired)
Informal market zone
Entrance
Figure 104 Page 173
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaExchange Alley
Figure 105 Page 174
Museum
6
PADDOCK AVENUE
Synagogue
Toilets
amaExchange Alley
7
Gardens Commercial High School
indigenous edible garden
Edible garden and kitchen
Holocaust Centre
observatory
market space
stokvel inspired bank
st john’s street
caretaker’s home indigenous edible garden
late-night market vendor rooms
kitchen and storage
craftsmanship workshop
active “alleyway”
st john’s street
market space
(IN)FORMAL EXCHANGE AS A SPATIAL SYSTEM
Figure 106 Page 175
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaExchange Alley
Figure 107 Page 176
amaExchange Alley
ama Exchange Alley How can economic participation become spatial infrastructure for collective care? St Mary’s Primary School
GALLERY LANE
1
Temporal barrier
2 Iziko South African National Gallery
Market lingering
3
Collective courtyard 5
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6
VREDE STREET 3
1
Informal vendors 2
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ST JOHNS STREET
Financial support
South African Jewish Museum
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PADDOCK AVENUE
Synagogue
Toilets
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Gardens Commercial High School
indigenous edible garden
observatory
Edible garden and kitchen
Holocaust Centre
market space
stokvel inspired bank
st john’s street
Figure 108 Page 177
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaExchange Alley
Figure 109 Page 178
amaExchange Alley
ama Exchange Alley How can economic participation become spatial infrastructure for collective care? CONDITIONAL SAFETY
RAMMED EARTH
Time-bound safety refers to spaces where perceived comfort and safety are dependent on temporal conditions such as time of day, season or patterns of use. This is particularly evident in mono-functional urban areas, where environments feel accessible and active during peak hours but become unwelcoming or exposed outside of those periods.
Earth construction is rooted in South African architectural vernacular, predating colonial building techniques.
Spatially, temporal safety may be caused by single-use zoning, buildings that become inactive after office hours, plinths with dead edges once stores close, spaces with restricted after-hours access (i.e. gardens) and transport zones that are not adjacenct to activity. This highlights the relational nature of safety, which is shaped not only by physical form but by patterns of occupation and presence. As foot traffic is reduced, informal oversight and shared visibility are reduced which increases spatial isolation. Environments that primarily serve dominant economic rhythms, such as corporate districts, illustrate how time-based patterns shape uneven experiences of safety.
PRIVATE
Women historically maintained and adorned these spaces with mural inscriptions, embedding care and identity into their homes. Rammed earth reintroduces the knowledge of contemporary earthen PADDOCK construction, spreadingAVENUE awareness and knowledge through local artisans, grounding the expression in both material and meaning; “You strike a woman, you strike a rock.”
CONDITION-BASED RESPONSES Screens, gates and shutters should respond to temporal conditions rather than remain fixed. They can close during vulnerable periods and retract when surrounding activity provides safety. Barriers remain conditional elements rather than permanent features of the built environment.
CONDITIONAL BARRIER CREATES PROTECTION WITHOUT ISOLATION
SEMI-PUBLIC
CONSTRUCTION The construction process using rammed earth is low tech and participatory. The soil is compacted in layers within formwork to form the external load-bearing facade walls. The process is labour-intensive and relies on participation by local artisans. The intention of the process is to reintroduce and inspire the potentials of earthen construction in the building culture.
SEMI-PRIVATE
PUBLIC
The exposed layers of soil make the labour of construction a visible act. The maintenance layers on top emphasise consistent care and layers of stewardship.
AGING Rammed earth weathers over time, particularly in wet conditions. The facade is protected where possible, but its gradual erosion is anticipated. Maintenance becomes part of the architecture.
REPAIRING Through the stewardship programme, repair is a form of exchange. Walls are renewed seasonally through reapplication of earth. Labour and care are inseparable from the life of the building.
TEMPORAL PROTECTION - THROUGH REFLECTIVE MANUAL SLIDING FACADE BARRIER
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1: Roof package - Indigenous extensive vegetation flora roof - 300mm growing substrate - 100mm gravel - Geo-textile filter layer - Root barrier membrane - Damp proof membrane (DPM) - 200mm bio-based cellulose insulation (Lambda value: 0.040 W/mK) - 100mm CLT floor panel - 300mm x 480mm CLT beams - 100mm acoustic insulation - 18mm air gap for construction - 25mm timber ceiling panels 2: Floor package - 25mm Timber floor finish - 30mm recycled gypsum fibre board - 25mm plywood structural sheathing - 120mm Dry mounted raised floor system - 100mm CLT floor panel - 300mm x 480mm CLT beams
Figure 110 From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaExchange Alley
Figure 111 Page 180
the building culture.
PUBLIC
The exposed layers of soil make the labour of construction a visible act. The maintenance layers on top emphasise consistent care and layers of stewardship.
AGING Rammed earth weathers over time, particularly in wet conditions. The facade is protected where possible, but its gradual erosion is anticipated. Maintenance becomes part of the architecture.
amaExchange Alley REPAIRING
Through the stewardship programme, repair is a form of exchange. Walls are renewed seasonally through reapplication of earth. Labour and care are inseparable from the life of the building.
TEMPORAL PROTECTION - THROUGH REFLECTIVE MANUAL SLIDING FACADE BARRIER
10
1: Roof package - Indigenous extensive vegetation flora roof - 300mm growing substrate - 100mm gravel - Geo-textile filter layer - Root barrier membrane - Damp proof membrane (DPM) - 200mm bio-based cellulose insulation (Lambda value: 0.040 W/mK) - 100mm CLT floor panel - 300mm x 480mm CLT beams - 100mm acoustic insulation - 18mm air gap for construction - 25mm timber ceiling panels
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2: Floor package - 25mm Timber floor finish - 30mm recycled gypsum fibre board - 25mm plywood structural sheathing - 120mm Dry mounted raised floor system - 100mm CLT floor panel - 300mm x 480mm CLT beams - 100mm acoustic insulation - 18mm air gap for construction - 25mm timber ceiling panels 3: Ground oor package - 25mm local clay floor tiles - 25mm screed to fall - 30mm acoustic insulation underlay - 50mm bio-based cellulose insulation (Lambda value: 0.040 W/mK) - 300mm reinforced concrete floor slab - Damp proof membrane (DPM) overlapping with wall damp proof course (DPC) - 100mm rigid perimeter insulation - Engineered compact earth
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4: Foundations - Reinforced concrete foundation
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5: Plinth - 700mm x 500mm local sandstone plinth - Top surface fall to exterior - 10mm drip groove 6: Damp proof course - Between foundation and plinth - Between plinth and rammed earth 7: Timber frame structure - 300mm x 480mm CLT structural timber beams - 150mm bearing on rammed earth structural wall - Galvanised steel angle bracket for lateral restraint 8: Structural rammed earth wall - Natural rammed earth finish with tech dry waterproof sealant - 550mm load bearing rammed earth wall
9: Steel cap - Stainless steel cap with drip edge to fall off timber facade beam - Ventilated gap
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10: Planter balustrade - Indigenous flora intensive planting box vegetation - 100mm organic topsoil layer - 300mm susbtrate - 200mm drainage layer - 100mm water retention - Waterproof membrane - Steel planter box - Raised planter air gap buffer zone - Drainage outlets to exterior gutter, drainage falls away from facade 11: Timber frame internal structure - 300mm x 300mm cross laminated structural timber columns - Clay floor tiles continue up base of timber columns to form protective plinth (500mm height) - Steel baseplate connects timber to concrete foundations
FRESH JUICES 3 6
12: Timber facade pro le shading overhang - 800mm x 800 mm angled timber facade beam - Provides shading and water buffer
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1:20 Sectional detail illustrating the construction build up of ama Exhchange Alley. The materiality of the building is identified through rammed earth. A contemporary interpretation of traditional earthen building. Historically, local South African women have served as the custodians and caretakers of their earthen homes. The maintenance of mud homes was passed from mother to daughter, rendering women custodians of tradition and architecture.
Figure 112 Page 181
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amaExchange Alley
Figure 113 Page 183
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaGathering Place
Figure 114 Page 184
Gathering: spatial facilitation Gathering: Gathering: spatial spatial facilitation facilitation amaGathering Place
ama Gathering Place supports the longterm cultivation of collective memory by embedding gathering within institutional architecture. The design operates as an open civic framework, leaving many spaces available for less-prescribed forms of occupation. It supports informal assembly, non-institutional sacred practices, oral knowledge exchange, and spaces for celebration, ritual and justice.
Built anchors Built Builtanchors Anchors Built anchors
Softened boundaries Softened Softenedboundaries Boundaries Softened boundaries
Guardianship Guardianship Guardianship Guardianship
Collective Oversight
Collective oversight Collective Collective oversight oversight Page 185
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amaPrecinct:amaGathering Place
Figure 115 Page 186
She wakes in the dark, gets ready, packs her lunch and leaves before the sun rises.
She returns home and begins her household responsibilities. Tomorrow it begins again.
amaGathering Place
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GARDEN MAINTENANCE WORKER
IZIKO SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Multipurpose celebratory space (choir, prayer, dance, performance, exercise)
Unprogrammed gathering space (ceremony, memory, protest)
GOVERNMENT AVENUE
Oral history
Collective memory library
Language cafe
PADDOCK AVENUE
IZIKO SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL GALLERY
Figure 116 Page 187
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Figure 117 Page 188
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Iziko South African Museum Multi functional
amaGathering Place
Gardens Commercial High School
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Celebration
duck pond
celebrate, sing, dance, reflect, move
advocacy, sharing, ritual, education
MUSEUM ROAD
inspired by Krotoa
oral history reading room celebration of the South African woman
archive
repository
collective memory library
language cafe
caretaker’s office
gathering garden
COLLECTIVENESS AS A SPATIAL SYSTEM
Figure 118 Page 189
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amaPrecinct:amaGathering Place
Figure 119 Page 190
amaGathering Place
ama Gathering Place How can architecture sustain long-term collective visibility and cultural occupation? 1
Jan Smuts statue
The Company’s Garden Fountain
Memorial
Iziko South African National Gallery
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Garden
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MUSEUM ROAD
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Language cafe
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Collective memory library
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Synagogue 4
GOVERNMENT AVENUE
PADDOCK AVENUE Oral history
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Iziko South African Museum Multi functional
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Gardens Commercial High School
Celebration
duck pond
celebrate, sing, dance, reflect, move
advocacy, sharing, ritual, education
Figure 120 Page 191
From Fear to Care
amaPrecinct:amaGathering Place
Figure 121 Page 192
amaGathering Place
ama Gathering Place How can architecture sustain long-term collective visibility and cultural occupation?
LACK OF UNSURVEILED REST
AN INVITATION TO LINGER
Lack of unsurveilled rest creates control through the denial of rest. In these environments, people(s) are permitted to pass through space but are discouraged from remaining, resting or occupying. This limits opportunities for pause, belonging and participation in the public realm.
Architectural elements such as plinths, steps and facade bases should double as seating to invite occupation. Rest is embedded into the edge rather than added as furniture. Non-hostile detailing replaces spikes and angled surfaces, encouraging loitering and presence.
Examples are: Spaces with lack of seating, hostile or exclusionary seating elements and a lack of sheltered waiting areas. Transit environments such as bus stops and transport interchanges often reinforce this condition through narrow platforms, minimal weather protection, hard surfaces and layouts that prioritise circulation over lingering. Additional indicators include constant surveillance and bright overhead lighting without spatial enclosure. When constant movement is enforced, physical fatigue and heightened alertness are consequent, which increases vulnerability during everyday navigation of the city.
These softened edges increase occupation and allow respite. This occupation creates another layer of passive surveilance and protection.
CONSTRUCTION The building is constructed from a timber frame and load-bearing cinder block walls. Cinder block construction forms part of Cape Town's everyday vernacular; it is used because of its accessibility, durability and ease of construction. Using cinder blocks as a facade material elevates it, positioning a familiar and often overlooked material within a civic and institutional setting. The building recognises the cultural value embedded within ordinary building practices. The construction system is simple and modular. It can be assembled, repaired, replaced and, where necessary, disassembled with relative ease - supporting long-term stewardship and adaptation.
AGING Cinder blocks weather gradually through exposure to sun, wind and rain. The material is robust and low-maintenance; however, over time, subtle staining, discolouration and patina are inevitable. This patina is embraced, recording the passage of time and traces of occupation. The ageing process reinforces the material's honesty and reflects the continual use and stewardship of the building.
SEMI-PRIVATE
REPAIRING Cinder blocks are modular in nature, allowing incremental repairs with minimal intervention. Individual blocks can be replaced as needed, and damaged joints can be repointed without disrupting the structure. Maintenance remains visible and accessible.
THE BUILDING WRAPS AROUND TO FORM CLEAR GUARDIANSHIP AND MAINTAINED OVERSIGHT
SEMI-PUBLIC
AN INVTATION TO LINGER - THROUGH GRADUAL BUILDING EDGES AND PLACEMAKING FURNITURE
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Figure 122 Page 193 4
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Figure 123 Page 194
amaGathering Place AN INVTATION TO LINGER - THROUGH GRADUAL BUILDING EDGES AND PLACEMAKING FURNITURE
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5 1: Roof package - Indigenous extensive vegetation flora roof - 300mm growing substrate - 100mm gravel - Geo-textile filter layer - Root barrier waterproof membrane - Damp proof membrane (DPM) - 200mm bio-based cellulose insulation (Lambda value: 0.040 W/mK) - 100mm CLT floor panel - 300mm x 510mm CLT beams 2: Floor package - 25mm Timber floor finish - 25mm recycled gypsum fibre board - 20mm plywood structural sheathing - 120mm Dry mounted raised floor system - 100mm CLT floor panel - 510mm x 510mm CLT beams
3: Foundations - 190mm x 190mm cinder block foundation with concrete footings - Cinder blocks rotated horizontally to allow for airgap access of multispecies in foundation. - Min 300mm space below floor beam for multispecies inhabitation - DPC at top of foundation beneath cavity wall 4: Timber frame structure - 300mm x 510mm CLT structural timber beams - Bearing on structural timber column frame - Galvanised steel angle bracket for lateral restraint 5: Cinder block facade - 190mm cinder block exterior facade - 50mm ventilated cavity - 75mm rigid insulation - 190mm cinder block interior facade - Weep holes at 900mm intervals - Stainless steel wall ties (450mm vertically and 900mm horizontally)
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6: Timber facade pro le shading overhang - 800mm x 800 mm angled timber facade beam - Provides shading and water buffer
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1:20 Sectional detail illustrating the construction build up of ama Gathering Place. The materiality of the building is identified through cinder, raised above the ground to touch the earth lightly. “Justice under a tree” is a reflection of the ritual of “imbizo” - an isiXhosa word that refers to a participatory and transparent meeting of people of a community to discuss important issues. It acknowledges the spatial value of the tree as central to sheltering a diverse coming together of humans of all walks of lives.
Figure 124 Page 195
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amaGathering Place
Figure 125 Page 197
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Chapter eight Landscape as a Tool of Care
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From Fear to Care
Landscape as a Tool of Care: The Landscape Tells a Story
Helichrysum odoratissimum
Agathosma betulina
Aloe Ferox
Amaranthus thunbergii
Sutherlandia frutescens
Vigna unguiculata
Vachellia karroo (Sweet Thorn)
Salvia africana-caerulea
Diosma hirsuta
Leonotis leonurus
Lobelia erinus
Wachendorfia paniculata
Figure 126 Page 200
The Landscape Tells a Story
The historical role of landscape, and the contestation surrounding the Company’s Garden, provided a natural starting point for investigating the complex socio-spatial relationships that exist within Cape Town. This research highlights the ways in which landscapes shape the collective memory of a city. They are repositories of cultural knowledge, social practices and shared histories, with the power to acknowledge or erase. Due to the complex relationships between colonial histories and the erasure of local knowledge systems, the intention of the role of landscape in this project is to pay homage to indigenous vegetation. This research acknowledges the continued value of indigenous vegetation in the lives of women in contemporary Cape Town as both ecological infrastructure and repositories of memory, identity and wellbeing. Indigenous plant species support women’s health, nutrition and sacred practices; this notion supports the desire to highlight the fact that landscape is an active form of care infrastructure. Cultivation in indigenous communities, such as the pastoral Khoe communities and San huntergatherer communities, was not in the Eurocentric agricultural sense. Women were often custodians of generational ecological knowledge. They played a primary role in gathering plants for food and medicine, whilst simultaneously caring for children and sharing their knowledge on living off the land. They held a deep knowledge of seasons and cycles, water and varieties of species for diverse uses. The indigenous food systems relied on the understanding of seasonal movement, flowering cycles, fruiting periods, rainfall patterns and harvesting knowledge. Winter rain brought edible corms, spring flowering brought pollinators and summer fruits meant a seasonal harvest.
Plant gathering was an activity of daily life in Khoisan communities. Women collected edible bulbs, roots and tubers, fruits and berries, medicinal plants and fibres for domestic use. They were the custodians of knowledge relating to food preparation, medicinal remedies, childbirth, childcare, healing practices and seasonal resource availability. This knowledge was shared amongst one another through oral traditions and daily practices. Within the architectural and urban built environments, the collective memory of a city is shaped by the stories, spaces and institutions that are made visible, sustained and accessible over time. Gardens, unlike buildings, carry memory through living systems, cultivation practices, ecological knowledge and seasonal change. They do not preserve memory through permanence; rather, they reveal – and how – societies choose to preserve, protect and value. They also tell stories of layered notions of power, labour and land use. The site of the Company’s Garden is a prominent example of a garden that tells the complex and layered stories of contested histories. Today, it tells both the story of indigenous relationships with flora and fauna and the story of the Garden as a colonial provisioning landscape embedded within global trade networks. These histories continue to coexist.This particular garden holds immense cultural memory. It is an ever-changing living archive where collective memory is maintained, shaped and evolving. Within amaPrecinct, landscape is understood not as decoration or environmental mitigation, but as living civic infrastructure. Through ecological processes, seasonal change and indigenous knowledge systems, it actively supports health, nourishment, ritual, biodiversity and collective memory.
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Landscape as a Tool of Care: amaCircle of Care Medicinal Landscape
Figure 127 Page 202
amaCircle of Care: Medicinal Landscape
Universal health and menstruation clinics are incorporated in the design to embed care within reach of daily movement. The medicinal garden will be planted to support these practices. The practices will employ both institutional and traditional practices of care. The medicinal garden will encourage the growth of indigenous vegetation that was traditionally used locally to support women’s health and wellbeing. These needs include menstruation health, respiratory health, wound care, hormonal balance, inflammation, urinary health, skin health, digestive health, cardiovascular health and mental wellbeing. The garden will be planted in informal drifts, encouraging a mosaic of complementary species relationships and moving away from a monocultural and agricultural approach.
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Figure 128 Page 205
From Fear to Care
Landscape as a Tool of Care: amaExchange Alley Edible Landscape
Figure 129 Page 206
amaExchange Alley: Edible Landscape
The edible garden is placed adjacent to the building for the use of the market vendors. Many of these vendors currently undertake long daily commutes where they transport much of their fresh produce daily. The garden seeks to supplement these existing food networks through the cultivation of indigenous and seasonal fruits, vegetables and edible plants, reducing some of the pressures associated with daily trade. The species planted in the edible garden are included based on their abilities to support women’s wellbeing. There are species for menstrual health and blood-building, hormonal balancing, pregnancy and postpartum nourishment, nervous system and mineral support. The use of the garden as a source of produce increases the flow of knowledge regarding indigenous care practices and vegetation, supporting the transmission of indigenous ecological knowledge. Greater visibility of indigenous systems supports the transmission and recognition of knowledge that has often been marginalised by dominant urban narratives. Like the medicinal garden, the edible garden will also be planted in informal drifts. This rejects an imposed monocultural system and embraces spontaneous vegetation, mutually beneficial species relationships and the creation of a resilient, biodiverse, indigenous landscape.
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amaExchange Alley edible indigenous vegetation supporting women’s health
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Figure 130 Page 209
From Fear to Care
Landscape as a Tool of Care: amaGathering PlaceRitual Landscape
Figure 131 Page 210
amaGathering Place: Ritual Landscape
Non-institutional sacred practices and rituals continue to play a central role in within many diverse South African communities. The ritual garden forms a softened threshold of the amaGathering Place, demarcating the guardianship of the building. It welcomes the emergence of indigenous spontaneous vegetation and drifts into the gathering garden. The ritual garden, like the other two gardens, rejects monocultural planting and advocates for a diverse, complementary array of indigenous vegetation that supports ceremony, celebration, reflection, ancestry and transition. The gradient of the garden falls into the gathering garden with an additional layer of vegetation for ecological memory. Over time, the landscape is intended to catalyse the re-emergence of indigenous ecological systems as the planting matures.
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From Fear to Care
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Diosma hirsuta Usage: Sensory grounding
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Chapter nine The Role of Spatial Practice in Addressing Care
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From Fear to Care
The Role of Spatial Practice in Addressing Care
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Reflection
From Fear to Care began with questions about the relationship between architecture and gender-based violence in Cape Town. As the research unfolded, the focus shifted from designing against violence to designing for care. This reframing became the central proposition of the project, recognising care not as the absence of fear, but as a spatial condition that architecture can support.
A central finding of this research is that cities are sustained not only by formal architecture, institutions and infrastructure, but also by the everyday systems of care that often remain invisible within mainstream architectural discourse. Recognising the ways in which architecture has historically materialised power also reveals its capacity to materialise care.
This research has made it clear that architecture alone cannot prevent violence. Rather, it can be used as a tool to address spatial injustice by cultivating conditions that support care, belonging and collective responsibility. The project shifted my perspective away from understanding the physical role of a building towards understanding the spatial experiences that enable people and communities to flourish.
Perhaps the most significant realisation throughout this research was that care is not something architecture creates. It already exists within the everyday practices, relationships and informal systems that sustain the city. The role of architecture is therefore not to impose care, but to recognise it, strengthen it and provide the spatial conditions through which it can continue to evolve.
It is equally clear that architecture cannot solve gender-based violence, nor can it replace policy or social intervention. Likewise, care cannot be guaranteed through design alone. Buildings – and the systems they establish – continue to evolve long after construction is complete. The role of the spatial practitioner is therefore to create adaptable frameworks that remain capable of supporting changing communities over time.
Ultimately, this research suggests that the future role of the architect extends beyond the production of buildings. It lies in recognising, supporting and strengthening the existing systems of care that already sustain our cities. An Architecture of Care therefore asks not only what we build, but what relationships our buildings enable, what communities they nurture, and what forms of collective life they make possible.
The contribution of this research is the proposition of an Architecture of Care as a way of practising architecture that begins by recognising existing systems of care. It positions the architect as a spatial practitioner who understands the importance of care, reciprocity, guardianship, stewardship and maintenance. Design decisions are not driven solely by efficiency or function but are informed by the ways in which space can encourage occupation, participation and collective presence. This architecture of process shifts the role of the architect from designer to facilitator. In doing so, architecture becomes the design of a system rather than a singular building.
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Chapter ten Acknowledgements & References
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From Fear to Care
Acknowledgements and references
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Acknowledgements
Thank you This project would not have been possible without the support of many people who generously shared their time and knowledge with me. A sincere thank you to my graduation committee, Lada Hršak, Keneilwe Ramaphosa and Dr Natalie Dixon for sharing their wealth of knowledge, their thoughtful critique, their unique perspectives and their sensitivity. I have immense gratitude for the South African women who shared their knowledge, life experience and perspectives with me. Thank you to Avene Jongile, Vanessa September and all of the anonymous women who contributed to this research in conversation, interview and survey. Thank you to my classmates and colleagues at VMX Architects for the inspiration and support throughout this process. Finally, my deepest gratitude to my support system. Thank you Carolyn Parton, Guy Parton, Callum Parton, Aidan Versfeld and Georgina Firth for the unwavering support, strength and care, celebrating every milestone along the way.
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Figure references
Figure 1: Parton, J. 2026. Chart Illustrating Annual Statistics of Rape Reported to The South African Police Service. Figure 2: Parton, J. 2026. CCID, Cape Town, South Africa. Figure 3: Parton, J. 2026. Annual National Statistics of Sexual Assault Reported in The Cape Town Central Precinct. Figure 4: Parton, J. 2026. Annual National Statistics of Rape Reported in The Cape Town Central Precinct. Figure 5: Parton, J. 2026. The Minimum Cost of GBV in South Africa extracted from “Too Costly to Ignore” by KPMG in 2012. Figure 6: Parton, J. 2026. The Division of Cost of GBV in South Africa Extracted From “Too Costly to Ignore” by KPMG in 2012.
unknown. Unequal Scenes. Figure 14: Parton, C. 2026. Women in Transit Outside Parliament. Figure 15, 16, 17, 18: Parton, J. 2026. The Company’s Gardens and Surroundings. Figure 19: Parton, J. 2026. The VOC Vegetable Garden. Figure 20: Parton, J. 2026. St Georges Cathedral. Figure 21: Parton, J. 2026. An Inventory of Dualism in The Cape Town City Centre. Figure 22: Parton, J. 2026. The City at The Scale of The Car. Figure 23: Parton, J. 2026. The City at The Scale of The Street Vendor. Figure 24: Parton, J. 2026. St John’s Street.
Figure 7: Parton, C. 2026. Women in Transit, Cape Town CDB.
Figure 25: Parton, J. 2026. Queen Victoria Street.
Figure 8: Parton, J. 2025. Women, Space and Fear.
Figure 26: Parton, J. 2026. St Georges Cathedral Layers of Defence.
Figure 9: Parton, J. 2025. Strand Street Underpass.
Figure 27: Parton, J. 2026. St John’s Street Layers of Defence.
Figure 10: Krotoa. 2020. South African History Online.
Figure 28: Parton, J. 2026. Iziko South African National Gallery.
Figure 11: Map of the Fort of Good Hope and the surrounding lands, between Table Bay and False Bay. Date unknown. Collection Leupe, Dutch General State Archives (ARA) in The Hague, Netherlands.
Figure 29: Parton, J. 2026. Informal Vendors in the Company’s Garden.
Figure 12: Cape Town under the Group Areas Act. Date unknown. Illustration by Myriam HoussayHolzschuch, Olivier Ninot, and Emma Thébault.
Figure 30: Parton, J. 2026. Mubarak Superette. Figure 31: Parton, J. 2026. The Gates of Parliament. Figure 32: Parton, J. 2026. Children Playing in Their Lunch Break, The Paddocks.
Figure 13: Hout Bay / Imizamo Yethu. Date
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Figure 33: Parton, J. 2026. The Paddocks.
Principles of Care, Diffused Boundaries.
Figure 34: Parton, C. 2026. Beauty Lab and Fabric Shop in The City Centre of Cape Town.
Figure 56-58: Parton, J. 2026. Massing Studies Spatialising Collective Care, Option 1, 2 and 3.
Figure 35: Parton. 2026. Existing Caretakers in The City Centre of Cape Town.
Figure 59: Seidman, J, Medu Art Ensemble. South African resistance silkscreen poster. Source: SAHA collection AL2547
Figure 36: Parton, J. 2026. The Taxi Rank Cook as a Caretaker. Figure 37: Parton, J. 2026. The Market Vendor as a Caretaker. Figure 38: Parton, J. 2026. The Garden Caretaker. Figure 39: Parton, J. 2026. Layers of Defensive Barriers in St John’s Street. Figure 40: Parton, C. 2026. The Lalela Scarf, The Lalela Project. Figure 41: Sturgheons. 2021. BoKaap.
Figure 60: Unknown. Lilian Ngoyi leading antipass march in the 1950’s. Source: SAHA collection AL2547 Figure 61: Unknown. South African resistance silkscreen poster. Source: Transvaal August 9 AdHoc Committee Figure 62: NAARO. 2013. Bishop Edward King Chapel by Niall McLaughlin Architects. Figure 63. Unknown. Cape Town RDP Housing. Figure 64. Salt Architects. 2022. Calling Academy Stellenbosch.
Figure 42-48: Parton, J. 2025. The Women’s Movement. Figure 49: Parton, J. 2026. Design Studies Spatialising Collective Care, Option 1.
Figure 65: Goje, S. 1996. Making Democracy Work. Linocut on Paper. Figure 66: Bethesda Arts Centre. 2006. The Truth Tree. Applique.
Figure 50: Parton, J. 2026. Design Studies Spatialising Collective Care, Option 2.
Figure 67: KLG Architects. Dune House.
Figure 51: Parton, J. 2026. Design Studies Spatialising Collective Care, Option 3.
Figure 68: Parton, J. 2026. Movement Routes and Flows.
Figures 52: Parton, J. 2026. Architectural Principles of Care, Expression Studies.
Figure 69: Parton, J. 2026. Pedestrian Movement Axis.
Figures 53: Parton, J. 2026. Architectural Principles of Care, Open Edges.
Figure 70: Parton, J. 2026. Safety. Figure 71: Parton, J. 2026. Network Logic.
Figures 54: Parton, J. 2026. Architectural Principles of Care, Levels and Sightlines.
Figure 72: Parton, J. 2026. Precinct Plan.
Figures 55: Parton, J. 2026. Architectural
Figure 73: Parton, J. 2026. Site Plan.
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Figure references
Figure 74: Parton, C. 2026. Women in Transit 2, Cape Town CDB. Figure 75: Parton, C. 2026. Women in Transit 3, Cape Town CDB. Figure 76: Parton, C. 2026. Plein, St Johns and Roeland Intersection. Figure 77: Parton, C. 2026. Temporary Parliament on Roeland Street. Figure 78: Parton, C. 2026. Roeland Street Parking Lot at Night. Figure 79: Parton, C. 2026. Roeland Street. Figure 80: Parton, C. 2026. National Gallery Parking Lot. Figure 81: Parton, C. 2026. Caretaker’s Hut. Figure 82: Parton, C. 2026. National Gallery Parking Lot 2.
amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Liminal Support. Figure 91: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Diffused Barriers. Figure 92: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Axonometric. Figure 93: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Courtyard. Figure 94: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Section. Figure 95: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Temporal Residences. Figure 96: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Ground Plan. Figure 97: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Diffused Barriers 2. Figure 98: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Tectonic Fragment.
Figure 83: Parton, C. 2026. St John’s Street. Figure 84: Parton, C. 2026. The Paddocks in Autumn. Figure 85: Parton, C. 2026. Women in Transit 4, Cape Town CDB. Figure 86: Parton, C. 2026. Women in Transit 5 Cape Town CDB. Figure 87: Parton, C. 2026. The Company’s Garden in Autumn. Figure 88: Parton, C. 2026. The Company’s Garden in Autumn 2. Figure 89: Parton, C. 2026. The Company’s Garden by Night.
Figure 99: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Collective Kitchen. Figure 100: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Detail Section. Figure 101: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaCircle of Care, Massing Model. Figure 102: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Active Alleyway. Figure 103: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Market Entrance.
Figure 90: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care,
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Figure 104: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Axonometric.
amaPrecinct, amaGathering Practices Garden.
Figure 105: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Indigenous Edible Garden.
Figure 118: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Section.
Figure 106: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Section. Figure 107: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Active Alley and Market. Figure 108: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Ground Plan.
Place,
Sacred
Figure 119: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Rooftop Walkway. Figure 120: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Ground Plan. Figure 121: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Duck Pond.
Figure 109: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Nighttime.
Figure 122: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Tectonic Fragment.
Figure 110: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Tectonic Fragment.
Figure 123: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Collective Memory Library.
Figure 111: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Market.
Figure 124: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Detail Section.
Figure 112: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Detail Section. Figure 113: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaExchange Alley, Massing Model. Figure 114: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Reading Garden. Figure 115: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Reading Garden 2. Figure 116: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Axonometric. Figure 117: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care,
Figure 125: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct, amaGathering Place, Massing Model. Figure 126: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct Landscape Book. Figure 127: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct Landscape Book, amaCircle of Care Medicinal Landscape. Figure 127: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct Landscape Book, amaCircle of Care Medicinal Landscape Planting Plan. Figure 129: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct Landscape Book, amaExchange Alley Edible Landscape.
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Figure references
Figure 130: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct Landscape Book, amaExchange Alley Edible Landscape Planting Plan. Figure 131: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct Landscape Book, amaGathering Place Sacred Landscape. Figure 132: Parton, J. 2026. From Fear to Care, amaPrecinct Landscape Book, amaGathering Place Sacred Landscape Planting Plan.
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Julia Parton juliajparton@gmail.com
Master of Architecture Amsterdam Academie van Bouwkunst July 2026
Committee Lada Hršak Keneilwe Ramaphosa Dr Natalie Dixon
External Committee Ira Koers Marten Kuijpers From Fear to Care
From Fear to Care by Julia Parton