the racial state in south africa combined two technologies of power. in relation to blacks, both techniques of power and profit were, ever since the founding of johannesburg, centered on the body: the individual body of the migrant worker and the racial body of the populace.
maps of johannesburg from as early as 1897 – 11 years after the city originated as a settlements of tents – reveal the intensions of the municipal authorities to keep the racial groups apart. different areas clearly marked out for african, coloured, indian and white residents were strongly supported by the mining bosses, the rand lords. life in the state of south africa was based on principles of the apartheid regime, which declared white people the superior race. reserves and townships for the african population were part of the official urban planning schemes since the introduction of the land act of 1913. later, the group areas act of 1950 implied a particular urban planning framework which legalized and enforced consolidated residential areas for each racial group. although the group areas act was repealed in 1991, settlement structure of the apartheid regime remained etched on the landscape.
the first free elections in 1994 turned the whites’ political, social and economic position upside-down and inside out.(sw chu) the racial police state turned into a democracy, with unrescricted access to space for everyone along with massive economic discrepancies. crime rates soured to being the highest in africa. whites fled to the northern enclaves of the city or beyond the country’s borders, with some leaving their properties vacant. today, fear is one of johannesburg’s main design parameters; inhabitants of all races and cultural groups are extremely attentive to their surroundings. invisibility, control and various forms of private security extend the historical urban script of segregation.
greed, economy plus the persistent vision for a better life were some of the numerous and complex forces which drove hundreds and thousands of migrants to the ‘city of gold’. regional, national and international migrants have, since the beginning, shaped the veiled spaces of johannesburg within and beyond state powers. thus has resulted in a multiple power system consisting of rural, tribal, colonial, religious and racial origin.
the inner city of johannesburg has been nearly completely repopulated since 1994, with little evidence of architectural change.(m morojele) having been zoned as strictly ‘white’ for more than three decades, its color code after the abolition of racial zoning has become all inclusive and encompassing.
the formal and informal sector, drug and rent lords, cross-border traders, street prostitutes and business people share the spaces of the previously ‘forbidden city.’ some banks have kept their headquarters in the inner city operational. white, caged, chickens on streets corners are reminders of distant and nearby village life. vacancy and fires, destruction and unlawful occupation pose a challenge to accurately map certain interior spaces. this is the site of 'ndawo yami' - my place. from denver to dainfern: hidden city/ fear.
read review of resulting project
http://www.archined.nl/en/reviews/visionary-power-2/
