World renowned architect for Park Station precinct
D_ZA presents Adjaye’s first project in South Africa
DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA (D_ZA) in collaboration with the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and the Mayor of Johannesburg are proud to announce the construction of an urban pavilion designed by world-renowned architect David Adjaye OBE. To be constructed in a public space within the Park Station Precinct in Johannesburg’s inner city, the project will highlight this historical junction in the city, while activating underutilised public space using innovative design.
Initiated and managed by DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA, the exciting project is the next major local and international collaboration for the organisation. Zahira Asmal, founder and director of D_ZA, inspired by the anniversary of South Africa’s democracy, saw 2014 as an opportune time to invite global collaboration in creating new South African spaces. Asmal has identified the need to reconceptualise the role of public space in the city through sound architecture and design. Her long-standing working relationship with David Adjaye combined with his immense knowledge of African spaces, histories and challenges meant that there was no contest in Asmal’s mind as to who was best to lead the design on this project. Through D_ZA’s experience of working with the JDA, and with support from Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau and the Passenger Rail Association of South Africa (PRASA), the city has become an essential partner in realising the pavilion.
It is estimated that about 1 million people pass through the Park Station Precinct every weekday, and millions of Rands change hands each day through small retail transactions and cross-border trade. The Park Station Precinct is busy, congested and noisy. In many ways it is the bustling centre of a thriving but largely unregulated economic network that spans most of the continent.
The pavilion at Park Station will not only be a beautifully designed structure, but will form part of a much larger project to cement a space for food and culture in the inner-city, reigniting the old station concourse into a bustling public space once again.
In order to make the most of Adjaye’s participation, the JDA has appointed a firm of local architects, Urban Works, through a competitive tender process, to work with Adjaye Associates in the production of the pavilion. Urban Works is responsible for the design of the Food & Culture Hub phase of the Park Station Precinct development, and they have provided a briefing on the context and opportunities presented by the site; they will advise on materials, and will play a quality assurance role during the production and installation of the pavilion.
The urban pavilion, currently in design, will reflect the colonial and historically unequal past of South African cities by echoing the grand arches in the old train station, known as the Blue Room, in the public space outside the building. Instead of replicating these arches, lead architect David Adjaye will reinterpret them in alternative materials, creating an architecture of hybrid references. Designed to provide visitors with an immersive and multi-sensual experience, the pavilion at Park Station is like a giant piece of architectural furniture that continues David Adjaye’s investigation into single forms.
