Modiehi Mashiloane

A social infrastructure project addressing identified necessities of the community of Katlehong. The design intervention is derived from the spaza shop concept initially known as a convenience store in township communities. The idea of this project was to exhibit the transition of these stores in communities from 1994 to date, becoming an integral component in communities by providing platforms for social, cultural, entertainment, and knowledge exchange. The informal economy has always been regarded as subordinate in the economic landscape shadowing its complex nature and transformative role in reducing poverty and unemployment rates in South Africa. The idea is to analyze and highlight the importance of informal economies like spaza shops, and informal traders to society and their relation to formal retail domains, through the provision of permanent and temporary market spaces that serve all identified necessities that could benefit the community from a programmatic and social perspective. Township architecture was constructed under the scope of impermanence and recreational areas in communities were non-existent, hence spaza shops have provided platforms for social integration and empowerment. The building is a platform that gives an opportunity to experience the identity of townships through social and cultural agencies.