James Breytenbach

The site of this architectural enquiry contends with the remains of an apartheid buffer zone on the Southeastern border of Alexandra next to the Jukskei river (situated in Lombardy East). Today, this area still serves to restrict the southern expansion and integration of Alexandra’s urban fabric with the suburban surrounds through zoning restrictions and undesirable building conditions, thereby perpetuating the immense spatial and social pressures in Alexandra. The site currently stands as an interstitial space, a void that deters permanent inhabitation but invites ambiguous programme. The area is plagued by the illicit dumping of building waste and invasive alien species while cherished by football clubs and church groups, it exists as a hybrid and vulnerable landscape.