Informal Studio: Marlboro South
Exhibition Opening
29th October, 2014, 7.00 pm
UON, Department of Architecture & Building Science, Add Building, ground floor
Admission free
+254 (0) 20 222 4640
info@nairobi.goethe.org
At a time when thinking about housing is gradually shifting towards upgrading rather than the eradication of informal settlements, the need for suitably experienced professionals, community planners and officials who can engage in a process of participative planning is becoming increasingly urgent. In response, universities and professional bodies have been seeking new modes of education and practice.
The travelling exhibition Informal Studio: Marlboro South documents a university course on in-situ upgrading developed by 26’10 South Architects with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa in 2012. During a seven week period, fifty architecture students worked with community planners (residents) from the informally settled warehouses and open plots in the industrial area of Marlboro South bordering Alexandra Township.
The exhibition consists of four mini documentary films as well as text, maps, drawings and a comic. It documents the complexity of the negotiated relationship between students and community architects, as well as the opportunities opened up through participative planning.