RUAN JANSEN VAN RENSBURG
TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
The design of an innovation farm in Mamelodi
The project proposes an innovation farm adjacent
to the Eerste Fabrieke train station in Mamelodi in an
attempt to contribute responsibly to the dilapidated
socio-economic structures and provide the community
with educational platforms to strengthen self-
sufficiency while contributing to micro-economies in
the area. The investigation deals with two core ideas
and the Innovation farm mediates between them.
On the one side, the project investigates Mamelodi,
specifically Eerste fabrieke station and its surrounding
neighbourhoods as experimental ground for this
study, and on the other side, the positive attributes of
Cannabis plants specifically cannabis sativa (Industrial
hemp), as an accessible and affordable alternative
resource, predominantly as a construction material
in an underdeveloped context.
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Poor social structures, infrastructure and living
conditions overshadow the cultural vibrancy of
local design, entrepreneurship and innovation in the
area and suggest an opportunity for architectural
intervention to promote local agriculture and socio-
economic upliftment. The programmes within the
innovation farm becomes interactive and accessible
to the surrounding community and public through
a series of platforms which showcases the
applications of hemp through social spaces and the
tectonics of the building. Communal manufacturing,
production, trading and educational facilities
integrate the building with its surrounding urban
fabric and aim to establish a sense of ownership
and acknowledgement from stakeholders within
the community.
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