Designation (Vol 1): an annual journal of art, design & architecture

designation an annual journal of art, design & architecture

THE REPRESENTATION OF MIGRATION

Vol 1

THE REPRESENTATION OF MIGRATION

Speculation on the use of architectural representation and communicating dynamic relationships in migratory communities

Steffen Fischer

DESIGNATION www.designation.city

Published by Steffen Fischer (2017) ISBN 9781549927287 Independently published Printed series _ of 20 Copyright Steffen Fischer Editor Steffen Fischer Copy editor Stephen Steyn & Margot Bertelsmann Proofreader Charles King Printed by FourColourPrint Cover Plike card, Japanese hand stitch All rights reserved Š All images by Steffen FischerŠ unless otherwise stated Steffen Fischer PO Box 652872 Benmore 2010 South Africa stefelino@gmail.com

Printed on Cyclus Offset paper, produced from 100% recycled fibres, with a manufacturing process that requires one-tenth of the energy used to produce virgin fibre papers making it virtually carbon neutral - considered to be the most environmentally friendly paper the world.

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ST EF F EN F I S C H ER MASTERS PORTFOLIO

Acknowledgments

Dedicated to my parents, Patricia & Ulrik.

Their undivided support, love and care feed my daily inspiration that sees me strive to be a better person.

Philippa Tumubweinee for opening up my critical architectural consciousness and always challenging me to go the extra mile right back from first year.

Denver Hendricks for always being there, providing guidance and engagement when (ever) needed. Eric Wright & Claudia Morgado for investing in my confidence, work ethic and creativity in university and the workplace. André Croucamp for our never-ending critical engaging conversations. Fiver Löcker for opening my creativity in this ‘new’ found medium.

Leigh-Anne Maurtin for your tender love, support and our late night telephone conversations filled with laughter.

Stephen Steyn & Patricia Theron for guiding me through this incredible process of self discovery.

i

“

How will the redistribution of people be organised?

Humankind should get ready to live in a more ‘plastic’ and nomadic way. One thing is clear: national sovereignty will have to be radically redefined and new methods of global co-operation and decision-making devised.

Slavoj Žižek (2015)

”

“

...what Landscape & Memory tries to be [is] a way of looking; of rediscovering what we already have, but which somehow eludes our recognition and our appreciation.

Instead of being yet another explanation of what we have lost, it is an exploration of what we may yet find.

Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory (1995)

ii

”

Uarchitecture N IT 10 is aimed at producing through the development of

iterative processes that exploit productive reflexivities between context and form. . .

Ultimately, we are interested in the transformation of society. We want to imagine for ourselves and our communities a recognisable but different way of living, seeing and being together.

The past several years I have been involved with a refugee bridging school programme called ‘Three2Six’ where I have curated and facilitated exhibitions to raise funds and awareness for refugee children within the Johannesburg inner city.

My involvement with this topic continues a dialogue of engagement within the city.

Over the course of the year I have further explored and researched issues around migration and refugees within Johannesburg. The method and process of making have always aided my conceptual ability to find purpose and create a narrative through using different tools and ways of doing. Making with my hands and later rationalising a design has become a process-driven method in which I have enjoyed exploring.

Making linographs has aided me in using this art form as an alternative medium and a way of thinking about architectural representation. The conceptualised linographs were used as a tool for understanding current relationship dynamics and unpacking spatial organisations, institutional and social structures which informed the design process.

The penultimate project, Interiority Complex uses various mediums to explore the architecture and spatial process of making — linographs, conceptual models and 3D glasses aid the reader in experiencing the journey a refugee takes throughout my project and through the city, which becomes a way of understanding through self-exploration. The work has been formulated into a magazine-format publication, the first volume is intended to be the beginning of further research and inquiry into the global topics of migration, movement and identity.

iii

collection

Part Nulla

Part I

Arm Yourself

01

Part III

Typological Miniatures 03

Part IV

Drama

Part VI

12

Part V

Longing 22

The City of Capital / The Capital City

Part II

Ground Breaking

Metamorphosis 34

28

Part VII

Intermission

Interiority Complex 38

Final Review 48

Annexure A

Theory & History, Will it blend?

108

Annexture B Safe Space 110

114

Part Nulla

Arm Yourself A short exercise to describe on a single A4 piece of paper, what my forthcoming weapon of mass arch itectural seduction will be.

1

2

Part I

Ground Breaking Blow is a documentation of the fluid movement of sand through the use of an architectural infrastructure that creates a sculpture within the landscape. The grains of sand become a metaphor for the making of cities.

The symbols below each of the photographs indicate the position of the architectural infrastructure, that being the straw within the cardboard box.

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vignettes showcasing the construction

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01 .0

model

00.1

mechanics 5

01 .1 sand

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01 .2

sand, plaster of paris

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01 .3

sand, plaster of paris

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01 .4 wax

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01 .5

stop frame video

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Part II

Typological Miniatures

The comic strip is a commentary on social events and happen ings through the h istory of Johannesburg. It tells the narrative of those, seen and unseen , who arrive in the city with hopes and aspirations of th is place, that it will provide the elusive wealth . The fallacy of wealth , the fa iled search of it, d isprove the cl iché of ‘The City of Gold ’. The previous work, Ground Breaking , portrays th is illusive luxury to the few who have it and the utopian dreams of wealth those search ing for it aspire to.

12

???

13

“ Ev e ryt h i n g i n t h i s p la c e H a s b e e n m i n d - b o g g l i n g ly Spectacular...”

...Where am I? I s t a n d b e f o r e a va s t place...

“

...Mockeries of a time long, long ago.

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“

My d r e a m h a s c o m e t r u e , A n e w b e g i n n i n g c a n n o w b e b u i lt , d r e a m s f r o m constellations are in front of me...

“

“ 15

P r o m p t ly t a k e n away as fast as they appear...

S pa c e s f o r t h e rich and famous, lu m i n o u s a n d e nv i o u s . . .

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...This place is ev e r c ha n g i n g , ebbs and flows with no sea in sight.

“

“

I c a n n ot c o n t i n u e a ny f u r t h e r . T h i s place is making a mockery out of me, us, them... YOU!

NO M ORE! ! !

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???

Where am i?

Who am I? What am i?

How am I?

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B ox e s p la c e d w i t h i n b ox e s .

B ox e s t ha t f o r m squares, piazzas, s h o e b ox e s . . .

“

5

. . . T r a m p l i n g b ox e s . I a m w h o I a m , a n d I w i l l m19a k e i t o u t o f t h i s p l a c e !

. . . B u t n ot u n t i l I leave for w hat I came for...

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procession

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Part III

Drama

Unmasking: Politics of Space Th is work is a social commentary on the arch itect Rahul Mehrotra , and h is design rationale on h is build ing, the KMC corporate office. The section is critiqued in such a way to d issect how the build ing was designed around the notion of Th ings .

The female gardeners ma inta in the vertical fol iage on the exterior of the glass façade to the office build ing. The d irectors of the company are in an a ir-cond itioned room , viewing the activity on the outside.

Th is notion in theory was to show the ‘transparency’ of social orders with in the build ing, however, it has done the opposite and separated the d irector and gardeners accord ing to social status in what is seen through a lens of possession and real ity.

The gardener is referred to the humil iation of the th ing, and the threshold l ine in section referred to the proscenium . The question is asked: who is the aud ience and who are the actors? The viewer becomes a participant in th is particular drama .

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emancipated?

The building employs 20 labourers who maintain the gardens and the

social vs. (anti) social

throughout the year, performing in unity with the men and woman who cut back their leaves. The ‘catwalks‛ on which they traverse are the same level as the different thing gently separates two social classes by a transparent material.

when the envelope becomes the facade it operates as a representational device adding to its crucial environmental and territorial roles. The building envelope forms the border, the frontier, the edge, the enclosure and the joint: it is loaded with political content. 1

Hello, it‛s me I was wondering if after all these years you‛d like to meet To go over everything They say that time‛s supposed to heal ya But I ain‛t done much healing Hello, can you hear me? 5

150mm reinforced concrete upstand, inner skin, 600mm from outer skin, openings as per window schedule, standard aluminum frames with 12mm thich glazing

worker (white collar)

worker (blue collar)

the transitional layer of space which becomes the stage of the performance acted out through orders of a social class

scrim

proscenium

social & psychological

economical

MASK

KSAM

The threshold is a complex geography of inclines, drops, barriers and smooth ledges which the body can negotiate in many different ways 6

suspended in reality, suspended in time. relfected in space between human and nature, the ideal state of the earth and ecosystem

things:

rather than political subjects and natural objects

± 1700mm human species, male, educated london technical university, born to middle class indian parents, married, 1 x son,

± 1650mm human species, female, uneducated, born poor, married, 5 x children, lives in slum, gardener 50mm custom aluminum trellis as per

“You cannot be an architect in India, unless you are also a humanist” 3

“I want to be more than just an architect. I believe that my work can impact people‛s actions and eliminate thresholds between different groups.” 4

bars at intervals as per trellis schedule and elevation with pre-cast concrete hydroponic trays and drip irrigation, lined with 150 micron DPM, integrated for growing a variety of plant species theatrical performance of a social class

community of humans? utopia

reality

is velope The en lt of an u s e r e th e on violenc act of eres. h p s both

the increasing facelessness of the client gives architects license to invent the building‛s interface. 2

lithosphere closed private

The Politics of the Envelope (C-Lab Columbia, A Z Pollo 2008) Rahul Mehrotra (India, 2012) Adele (Song lyrics, 2015) 6 Betwixt and Between (London, Q Stevens 2007)

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audience

open humiliation of the

thing

no social integration: separation of the classes

public actors

PANOPTIC Hyderabad, India.

1:50 skin section

20%

of Johannesburg’s residents believe that all foreign nationals should be allowed to stay in the country

*Data is sourced from the Gauteng City- Region Observatory’s Qual ity of Life Survey 2013 . More than 27 0 0 0 respondents across Gauteng were randomly surveyed .

reinforcing a rationalisation

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Part IV

Longing

The Order of Chaos The plan has been situated in a h istorical part of Johannesburg, where the first alluvial gold was in itially d iscovered .

Using explorations from Part I , the metaphor of sand for city making was extended further so that the ind ividual gra ins are cast as role players and citizens of the city landscape. Taking h ints from the situational urban ists and how they used the dĂŠrive to assist the journeys through the city. The process of the plan becomes a documentation wh ich enables and promotes awareness to the cond itions that are needed with in the city. The plan looks at a lexicon of binaries reinforcing a rational isation for: chaos and order, formal and informal ity, cultural and residential , the plan can be seen as a commentary for the lack of services provided with in the Johannesburg inner city, and how iron ies are performed in obscure spaces .

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FRASER STREET

SAUER STREET

KORT STREET

MARKET STREET

COMMISSIONER STREET

A

Binaries

Lexicon door step activation courtyard privacy ritual 29

room riots pool slaughter ord inary

DAY STREET

SIMMONDS STREET

RISSIK STREET

HARRISON STREET

D C

B

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A The cow’s experience of the city is a un ique one.

Perhaps best in soup.

B Only one person is currently in the pool , surrounded by a fence and umbrellas .

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C Ferrari is driving down the street, met with a cacophony of obstructions .

Be careful of the dog!

D Riots or perhaps just a gay pride parade.

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like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives

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Part V

Metamorphosis The City of Constructs The continuation of the plan from Part IV, the plan has been rotated 90 degrees to form the section , wh ich demarcates social orders formally in layers . Who are the role players, actors and aud iences observing the theatrics of our city spaces? One elevates themselves through the build ing, where social constructs either fall away or become more formal ised as one ‘ascends’ up through to the top. Infrastructure injects itself into the city. Informal ity becomes the new formal .

34

Level 75 . development A Level 72. roof & a pa r tment 7694e

Level 67. pa rking

Level 63 . pedestria n street & a pa r tment 6389d

A Level 57. ma in entra nce

Level 55 . a rriva l Level 50a . development B

Level 10 . gate B1 / 72

Level 4 . depa r tu re

Level 0 . grou nd

B 35

Level -4 . metro a rriva l Level -6 . engine room

A The son questions when next he will see h is mom since they arrived here 2 months ago.

B Ferrari is not happy to be driving a tra in underground .

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creative understanding in a roundabout way

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Part VI

The City of Capital, The Capital City The Mimetic City Based on Peter Sloterd ijk ’s theory of spheres in organ isation stud ies, the M imetic City organ ises itself into 3 d imensions: somnambul ism , expl icitation and pheromones . The city has no beginn ing nor end . Each part is connected with the next. A trajectory through the city acts as a tool and mechan ism that allows the inhabitant to read the city creating an ulterior to place and memory.

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Binaries

Lexicon

anarch ism memory atmosphere connectedness

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ind ividuated recogn ise traject dĂŠrive

EXPLICITATION

SOMNAMBULISM

PHEROMONES

A nolli map of the relationsh ip between publ ic and private spaces . Keeping people either in or out of experiences .

Traversing becomes the experience of the city.

What is our perspective?

Are we conscious where we are going, or are we sleepwalking creatures of habit?

Intersections create atmospheres together, sometimes reveal ing the pol itics of space.

Th is city has a monument, Stations terminate and an identity. connect through build ings to h igher level parks .

Density versus urban green spaces interconnect d istricts to one another.

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41

Explicitation

Somnambulism

Quasi-objective pol itical organ isastion of atmospheres

Semi-conscious connectedness

Pheromones Layers of tuned spaces

Dimensions Each embroidery ring or cell makes up its micro-world , “society is imitation and imitation is a kind of [transitional] state�

(Borch 2009). The rings depict three d ifferent worlds that make up The M imetic City: a nolli map with a park system overlay, a perspective exploded axonometric and a metro tra in and trajectory system .

42

Hatfield

Rosebank Fourways

Park

Sandton

Cradle

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Soweto

Marlboro

A city map depicting the metro tra in and above-ground trajectory systems . Each area zone specific to their function , the map looks at the crossover spaces that read as the ‘mimetic’ man ipulations and connections for the city.

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Elements taken from both cities, Johannesburg & Pretoria were used with in the M imetic City. Parks, h ighway systems, urban grid layouts, metro ra ilway l ines and density patterns .

Traversing the city becomes how we experience it.

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physical built model .

100 x 100 cm .

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the days of our lives

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Part VII

Interiority Complex Architectural Speculation Johannesburg is Southern Africa’s largest city for cross-regional migration; a place of settlement potential where 70 000 asylum seekers arrive annually to find better opportun ities (National Immigration Information System publ ished in the Government Gazette Green Paper on International M igration in South Africa , 2016). Refugees are integral to the function ing of the city, contributing sign ificantly to local economies . Recently Johannesburg has endured waves of xenophobic attacks wh ich has compromised refugees’ freedom with in the city. The stance of Johannesburg’s current Mayor, Herman Mashaba , is that “ foreigners ...are not the responsibil ity of the city”; th is reflects the currently unsuccessful top-down approach to refugee integration . Th is complexity, coupled with a potential new bill , the Border Management Authority Bill (B9-2016) by South African legislature, threatens the treatment and safety of refugees thus exacerbating their volatile presence. In response, th is design proposes an alternative integration of refugees through a med ium of arch itectural representation at a grassroots level .

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Linographs Triptych

A series showcasing a migrant ’s arrival into the city: i Mode of transport, ii Entry point, iii Placement with in the city.

2017. Prints on fabriano rosaspina bianco. 71 x 21,5 cm .

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i

ii

iii 50

Concept Models Th is series of models encapsulates the thought process and development of the build ing concept. From left to right, the in itial hourglass of the first l inograph was used envision ing two monol ith ic walls wh ich hold a sequential series of programmatic places with in a central atrium space. The next model played with form - cutting, bend ing, puncturing and deal ing with thresholds . The resultant concepts ended with two monol ith ic walls each hold ing their own programme of spaces l inked together with sky bridges . The build ing herald's being a leader, bridging social constructs and l inking commun ities together.

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52

53

1:1 print 54

55 viewing deck

biometrics

reflection pockets

skills centre

cl in ic

immigratio n

sleeping pods

visas

Programme

Conceptual linograph

arrival

services

security

deportatio n

home affa irs magistrate ’s court

nursery marriage chapel

Programming of spaces through places: Design acts as a tool for understand ing current relationsh ip dynamics and unpacks organ isational and social structures .

2017. Print on fabriano rosaspina bianco. 29 x 100 cm .

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57

“For a refugee, ordinary life is dramatic already.”

Ai Weiwei (2017)

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Section Conceptual linograph

A framework for human interaction , wh ich investigates better integration in the city for refugees through programmes as an alternative solution , wh ilst defin ing the principles of social and pol itical identities .

2017. Print on fabriano rosaspina bianco. 51 x 61 cm .

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Trajectory Introduction

The circulation is broken up into three separate journeys (or trajectories), that of the immigrant, the return ing refugee and the asylum seeker. Each journey begins the same, through the point of arrival , however issues based on social class, race and national ity play an important role into how long a person stays with in the build ing and how fast one can exit.

The trajectories ease the real ities and compl ications wh ich migrants face upon arrival in the city. These real ities are arch itecturally compensated through thoughtful spatial programmes such as wa iting and pause areas, a cafĂŠ, a hybrid park and a skills centre.

Immigrant The immigrant has a very short journey upon arrival . Wealth , employment and opportun ity play an important role in defin ing th is person , who is afforded choice and freedom of movement with pre-approved documentation .

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security & exit

home affairs

disembarking

immigration

2017. Print on fabriano rosaspina bianco. 27 x 71 cm .

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clinic

Trajectory Returning Refugee

The return ing refugee has their documents in hand , ready for inspection .

These documents are previously issued .

The journey through th is trajectory can be swift, should all the stamps and bureaucracy be function ing on the day, should they not be, generous pause spaces have been included in the design to accommodate for any process d isturbances .

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skills centre offices

home affairs

hybrid park

waiting & pause area

security & arrival

disembarking immigration

2017. Print on fabriano rosaspina bianco. 52 x 71 cm .

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2017. Print on fabriano rosaspina bianco. 73 x 71 cm . knowledge bank

waiting area

exit to street

auditorium

Trajectory Asylum Seeker

The trajectory of the asylum seeker is a long, and pragmatic journey. To mitigate th is cond ition , the trajectory includes a ‘civic order’ of spaces wh ich facil itate the complex bureaucratic processes and accommodates the user through pause and wa iting spaces . Th is action takes the user out of the ord inary and current bureaucratic systems, becoming a ‘one-stop shop’ wh ich holds a series of programmes from a pol ice station , birth ing cl in ic, bank accounts and home affa irs department (even a wedd ing chapel).

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waiting area

finance

skills centre

clinic waiting area

administration

housing

magistrate court

visas

fashion store

auditorium

waiting area hybrid park

police offices

home affairs cafe

waiting area

chapel

disembarking

immigration

security & arrival

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disembarking

departure local

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immigration

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exit

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waiting area

security

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marriage chapel

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home affairs

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home affairs administration

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cafĂŠ

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distribution centre

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skills centre

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learning centre

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wardrobe / clothing

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police & administration

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magistrate court

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clinic & birthing centre

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echo chamber / ideas and resources exchange

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hybrid park

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placement & job office

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knowledge bank

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financial banking & credit facilities

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viewing deck & hybrid park

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Plan Design acts as a tool for understand ing current relationsh ip dynamics and unpacks spatial , organ isational (or institutional) and social structures .

Th is provides a framework for human interaction , wh ich investigates (or interrogates) better integration in the city for refugees through programmes as an alternative solution wh ile defin ing the principles of social and pol itical identities . The design is a conceptual space for research that generates and proposes new structures for the function ing of society.

90

47%

of Johannesburg’s residents believe that only documented foreign nationals should be allowed to stay

*Data is sourced from the Gauteng City- Region Observatory’s Qual ity of Life Survey 2013 . More than 27 0 0 0 respondents across Gauteng were randomly surveyed .

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Cross Section 1:500

Sky bridges span the open-air atrium and are a continuum for the trajectory as one ascends through the different processes and departments within each building. The bridges allow for impromptu meetings, slowing the procession between buildings while creating spaces for self-reflection and understanding. The two towers symbolically resemble a gateway - an access point into the city.

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Longitudinal Section 1:500

The Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), together with the railway tracks act as a palimpsest to the site. The railway tracks are the metaphorical lifeblood of the building, while JAG, an exquisite corpse, roots the building to the immediate urban context of historical and cultural heritage. The building occupies leftover and disused space within the city, where it stands as a metaphor, a herald announcing a new approach to migration politics. It is a hub of recognising and defining new social and political identities - and, as such, the building becomes a living and breathing organism.

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Faรงade Study

A series of surfaces moulded from scraps of lino, the moulds were used to inspire and inform the faรงade.

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33%

of Johannesburg’s residents believe that all foreign nationals, whether documented or undocumented, should be sent home

*Data is sourced from the Gauteng City- Region Observatory’s Qual ity of Life Survey 2013 . More than 27 0 0 0 respondents across Gauteng were randomly surveyed .

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South Elevation 1:500

The façade of the building is derived from the memory of carved lino used for creating a ‘positive’ image or print. Instead of a print on paper, a cast of the lino was moulded in plaster of paris and allowed to dry. The cast was photographed and traced with a computer software programme resulting in a monolithic form for the building. The puncturing of the façade with holes create a memory, however also becomes a protective membrane and threshold between the city and internal spaces. The loss is a form of knowledge and through the puncturing process of the façade, loss symbolically is the advantage ability to find oneself.

The texture of the elevation attempts to evoke a feeling in the literal sense. The ability to feel the design permeates the emotional senses of the brain on a more human level. This textured and puncturing of the façade creates a symbiotic threshold, both public and private. The hierarchy of the thresholds allows the users of the building to see framed views and glimpses of the city. The exit from the building (and point of arrival into the city) is celebrated with a large opening and visual connections through both buildings.

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cavernous belly

3D glass insert red lense to left eye 103

tax evasion

Anaglyph

A user interpretation through a migrant's experience What emotions are evoked when we become our own tour guide through the lens of a migrant arriving in the city? This experience becomes a journey of self exploration and understanding.

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arrival city

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thresholds

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I mage: D ickson Adu-Agyei

I mage: D ickson Adu-Agyei

Intermission Final Review The final quarter review held at The GAP (Graduate Arch itecture Platform) situated at the former M useum of African Design in the inner city of Johannesburg.

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Annexure A

th. Theory & History Will it blend?

Marina Abramovič’s The Artist is Present and Bruno Latour’s Spheres and Networks: Two Ways to Reinterpret Globalisation

by Steffen Fischer

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Artificial Space: How ideas are spread through objects.

To be a performance artist, you have to hate theatre, theatre is fake...The knife is not real, the blood is not real, and the emotions are not real. Performance is just the opposite: the knife is real, the blood is real, and the emotions are real — O’Hagan 2010:1.

Marina Abramovič is recognised as one of the most influential performance artists of the past half-century. She continues to bemuse and engage audiences at the age of 64, maintaining a strong role in performance, which is enhanced because of the discourse she has woven through the history of her work leading up to her retrospective, The Artist is Present . Abramovič is able to lead and transform her audience, in this process testing the limits of her own body through the use of objects . The presence of the audience becomes transformed; from a spatial perspective, objects are manipulated through the context of the exhibition. The objects are spatially placed in the performance which have intention and direct purpose within her performance. The manipulation of the space is deeply connected with an intentional script and role players from the audience. Abramovič presents us with a project , The Artist is Present .

Abramovič presents us with an object of familiarity - the performance presented as tabula rasa - white space, with simple lights and devoid of unnecessary objects . This sets the stage for a manufactured environment, where space becomes pure, void, reinstating the intimacy of performance through a transfer of emotion and sentiment; the emptying of the space is a constructed emptiness. Latour says, the whole enterprise around spheres and networks — which superficially looks like a reduction, a limitation, to tiny local scenes — is in effect a search for space, for a vastly more comfortably inhabitable space (Latour 2009:140). Abramovič’s retrospective performance amplifies the idea of an inner calling that perhaps each of us should be conscious of connecting on a greater level, ordinary life scenarios are played through the function of the object .

Suddenly we realise that it is the “profound question” of Being that has been too superficially considered: Dasein has no clothes, no habitat, no biology, no hormones, no atmosphere around it, no medication, no viable transportation system even to reach his H ütte in the Black Forest. Dasein is thrown into the world but is so naked that it doesn’t stand much chance of survival — Latour 2009:140.

Latour informs us the only way this world can be real, objective and material, without being ‘natural’ is first to have redistributed and localised science. He says, even the material physical objects making up the world do not stand in the world according to what would be expected of them, as extended things (Latour 2009:140).

Abramovič provides us with readings of her performance through the way in which her retrospective, The Artist is Present is set up. Through this process, the bodies of both the performer and ‘the visitor’ become a metaphor for the object. The performance becomes a manipulative provocation through space aimed at the audience, showing things that are not really there. The spatial quality of this work attempts to control 111

time, that of the audience and her own. The simplicity of the space in which predetermined objects are placed, is intentional. The two simple timber chairs and table divides artist from the visitor, and the crowd of people around the centre stage becomes important and are a powerful aspect of the performance. In this manner Abramovič seems to slow time, creating an intimate sphere of proceedings within her immediate environment.

Abramovič’s performance becomes a true evocation of Latour’s theory, the placement of familiar objects in the performance return back to primitiveness and sense of togetherness uncluttered by artificial space and ornamental objects “...if you empty the space of all entities there is something left: space” (Latour 2009:142).

Latour argues that the opposite strategies of naturalisation and socialisation are able to stupefy the mind only because they are always thought of separately. However, as soon as the two moves are combined, one must realise that nature and society are two perfectly “happy bedfellows whose opposition is a parody” (Latour 2009:141).

The metaphor of an immune system enclosing architectural environments suggests a world model where social constructs adhere to on an artificial level. Christian Borch comments on “[o]bserving organisations as foam therefore means taking into account at once their a-centric nature, their immunity strategies, their imitations and their spatiality” (Borch 2009:10).

During the course of Abramovič’s performance, the table is removed from the stage. This removal suggests that the visitor’s intuition is transformed because the performance, similar to that of our lives is scripted. This artificial sense of intuition is the same as what spaces begin to achieve.

The act of removing this object has further connected the artist and visitor by this simple gesture altering the entire environment, making it more vulnerable and intimate.

In Borch’s essay, he relates the anecdote of the bathroom in the workplace, and how it becomes the environment of what is expected, through the eyes of Peter Sloterdijk’s Foam Theory. This simple space is a place in which the bathroom is known and familiar — the space of the bathroom becomes incredibly reassuring to identify with on a psychological level. To have something so basic and ‘scripted’, in this instance the placement of the table as an object , becomes a point of familiarity in the scripted performance acting as the safety-net of the immediate environment. The incredible detail scripted by the artist for the performance makes the visitor at ease, highlighting their sense of place through the placement of familiar objects .

Since foam bubbles are fragile and protected by frail membranes, immunity maintenance is a crucial concern. This has a clear spatial and architectural dimension, as architecture is one way of producing immunity vis-à-vis the outside world — (Borch 2009:10).

References: O’ Haga n , Sea n . 2010 . I nterview: Ma rina Abra mović. [O] . Ava ila ble: https://www. thegua rd ia n .com/a r ta nddesign/2010/oct/03/interview-ma rina-a bra movicper forma nce-a r tist Accessed 19 Septem ber 2017.

Latou r, Bru no. 20 09. Spheres And Networks: Two Ways To Reinterpret Globa l ization .

Ha rva rd Design Magazine 30 (Spring / Su m mer): 138-144 .

Borch , Ch ristia n . 20 09. Orga n izationa l Atmospheres: Foa m , Affect a nd Arch itectu re.

Orga n ization On l ine First: 1-19.

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Annexure B

Safe Space “Safe Space is a GSA in itiative created to provide a platform for students, from d iverse environments such as South Africa , Namibia , Zimbabwe, Burund i, Guinea and Ghana , to come together and voice challenges and d iscuss possible solutions to the problems arising from the complex and d ivided environments in wh ich we find ourselves . Safe Space is conducted in sessions and in each of these students go through exercises that are intended to challenge assumptions about ind ividual identity, identity of ‘the other’ and to develop conversations around these themes” (Adu-Agyei 2017).

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DECLARATION

I, Steffen Fischer, hereby declare that the work in this Masters design portfolio submitted, apart from the help organised, is my own work and has not previously been submitted to another university or institution of higher education for a degree.

Signature: Date: 22 October 2017

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notes

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D ES I G NATI O N M a gazi ne is pu bl ished a n n ua l ly by Stef fen F ischer, i n Joha n nesbu rg , Sou th Afr ica . Reprod uction withou t per m iss ion is str ictly proh i b ited . Al l content i n th is pu bl ica tion , i ncl ud i n g bu t not l i m ited to a l l tex t, visua l d ispl ays , i ma ges , a nd da ta (content) is the proper ty of D ES I G NATI O N a nd its content su ppl iers u nder the Sou th Afr ica n a nd i nter na tiona l copyr ight l aws . The com p i l a tion of a l l content i n th is ma gazi ne, i ncl ud i n g bu t not l i m ited to the col l ection , a r ra n gement, assem bly, a nd coord i na tion of content, is the excl us ive proper ty of D ES I G NATI O N a nd is protected by Sou th Afr ica n a nd i nter na tiona l copyr ight l aws . The content i n th is ma gazi ne may be viewed as a n i n for ma tion ga ther i n g resou rce . D ES I G NATI O N ca n not be hel d respons i bl e for a ny u nsol icited ma ter ia l . Any other use, i ncl ud i n g bu t not l i m ited to, the pu bl ica tion , reprod uction , mod i f ica tion d istr i bu tion , tra nsm iss ion , repu bl ica tion , d ispl ay, crea tion of der iva tive wor ks , or per for ma nce of the content, or a ny other use of the content for com mercia l reasons , is str ictly proh i b ited withou t the express wr it ten consent of D ES I G NATI O N a nd Stef fen F ischer. I f you wish to use content or a r twor k from D ES I G NATI O N pl ease ema i l for per m iss ion . Th is ma gazi ne has been bou nd by ha nd .

I S B N 9781549927287