the impor
ArT in Arch
As SVA International wraps up its construction of a 1 000m², R12-million mu
Cape town – art has become a focal point for making a l
O
n a blistering summer’s day in the small Eastern Cape town
of Kareedouw, about 50 pupils from three of the area’s main
schools packed into the cramped municipal library.
Less than 100m away, builders powered on despite the heat,
working at wrapping up a project which has been several
years in the making: the town’s first dedicated, modern library
building. The building is set for completion during the second
half of this year.
Instead of the current library which has make-shift pine shelves and a couple
of computer terminals crammed into a 200m² room in the old municipal
offices, the town’s new 1 000m² stand-alone community library will boast an
airy atmosphere and an open-plan design. There will be room for children’s
reading areas; study areas; breakaway rooms; reading spaces in an open-air
courtyard; a dedicated area for online research and computers; as well as a
conference room.
The Kareedouw pupils were gathered as part of a project to breathe artistic
life into the new library, and to put a firm and lasting community mark on
what will be one of the largest community spaces in the town. The schools
represented included Paul Sauer High, Kareedouw Primary and Qhayalethu
FET. A creative workshop to bring to the fore their designs – which could
be used as murals, mosaics, fabric designs, sculptures, or other artworks in
the new building – was headed by celebrated Johannesburg cultural activist
and artist, Marcus Neustetter. Among a wide array of national artworks,
Neustetter has also been involved in Port Elizabeth’s iconic Route 67 heritage
art project.
“There are key exercises which I run with groups like this, which allows
creativity to come to the fore,” he said. “I come in trying really hard not to
prescribe which direction this creative journey will take.”
Neustetter, along with the SVA project team, is now in the process of
selecting the pupils’ various designs and establishing how they would best be
68 africandesignmagazine.com