mary k coughlin
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cape town, south africa
This class was an option studio in Urban Design at the Harvard GSD. The course itself focuses on rapid urbanization and the broad theme of infrustructures within Cape Town, South Africa. The studio looks at the rapid urbanization of a large golf course within the city. During normal circumstances, the class would have traveled to South Africa for preliminary research and observations however due to the Covid-19 pandemic the class of 10 worked virtually across six different time zones. However, this class was unique in that it was the first class not only at Harvard University but within the world design community to be held within virtual reality. Not only were our projects to be completed within VR Sketch on our Oculus headsets but we conducted our daily classes, pinups, and reviews within virtual reality as well. None of the students, including myself, had experience using VR Sketch, however we learned and produced extensive projects and exercises throughout the course.
Below is the description of my final project I completed with a partner. For our final project my partner and I assumed the role of designers hired by an NGO.
Final Project
Urban Design Option Studio
Harvard Graduate School of Design
May 2021
As designers for an NGO, we agree on the significance of a secure home for those without, but also know housing alone does not generate vibrant societies. We believe that creating thriving communities starts from within, so our proposal aims to create a community network of third places based on the different levels of social energy and human need.
Third places are those outside the home and workplace; they should be open and accessible and foster social interaction and engagement. We argue that third spaces should be considered a basic service, with the same priority as utilities, sanitation, and transportation. They are the fundamental city-building element we chose to focus on and prioritize in order to invite different types of activities and behaviors. The three different types of thirds spaces include:
the personal - spaces surrounding the home created by neighbors
the professional - spaces created by economic development and commerce, and
the planned - those planned open spaces such as a sports field or park.
We designed our spaces based on a combination of rules related to social psychology and human interaction as ultimately, the most important part of the city is it’s people. While there are limits to ideas and principles, and the fact people cannot be forced to behave in a specific manner, the hope is that these ideas will create the building blocks of an area that will flourish over time.
The personal space offers a courtyard structure. Here, residents may make the space their own, whether gardening, having space for children to play, or arranging and using outdoor furniture to their liking. These spaces offer more intimacy and privacy than the other two. Additionally, the housing block structure should offer familiarity and a smaller communal identity. People would likely know everyone they share a courtyard with, which could aid in not only building community but overall safety.
The professional spaces offer places that draw people around commerce. Whether this is an open space outside a daycare or shop- the space will benefit both the establishment and its patrons. The sidewalk can also act as a third space where vending and gathering can encourage people to spend more time in the area. The additional presence of residents can bring more livelihood and energy to the street.
The planned spaces offer various activities such as for sports, children’s playgrounds, and larger green spaces. There should be spaces that offer something appealing for residents of all genders, ages, and races.
Like the other two typologies, it is particularly important to have culturally relevant spaces that are not generic. Additionally, these planned spaces are an asset in urban environments that otherwise may be more dense and contained.
In its existing condition, the golf course is home to many mature trees. We hope to keep as many as possible to provide environmental benefits and increase the overall desirability through provided shade and closeness to nature. The flood zone covering the site will not have any housing built in it but instead be used as a space for temporary uses or recreation fields.
Our imagination for reducing societal divisions is by focusing on the very spaces where society interacts. We hope to grow and improve the social fabric that can facilitate a new infrastructure of care and belonging.
Historically, the idea of the public sphere has been heavily theorized, including by Hannah Arendt and Jürgen Habermaus, who do not limit public spaces to a physical space but focus on ideas and actions that can transcend space through communicative interactions. Arendt argues, “everything that appears in public can be seen and heard by everybody and has the widest possible publicity” (1958, 50). In her ideal public, one can transcend differences and particularities of identity to exchange speech. Similarly, Habermaus’ ideal public sphere envisions a mixing of different interests, opinions and people, increasing diversity and rationality through increased engagement.
For our site, Cape Town’s colonial and apartheid history created exclusionary, violent and white- supremacist conditions that also demonstrate how public space is not an innocuous luxury but can represent control and power. We hope our proposal can ultimately bring about added safety, social cohesion, spatial justice, economic opportunities, and joy. This is not to suggest a utopia where conflict never arises, but a place that accommodates conflict and differences through spaces that allow people to create strong social ties.
Our design hopes to find a balance between creating spaces that encourage interaction (with prescribed uses and shared cultural significance) and places that amplify citizens making and remaking spaces for themselves. Thus the success of our design depends on how well it can provide basic necessities while creating spaces that enable and inspire positive human interactions.
Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Charles R. Walgreen Foundation Lectures. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958.
Habermas, Jürgen. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. German 1962 English Translation 1989). Thomas Burger. Cambridge Massachusetts: The MIT Press.