UJ_Unit2_P1 // Jeppestown Neighbourhood Immersion

UJ_Unit2_P1 // Jeppestown Neighbourhood Immersion

The neighbourhood immersion project, which took place in the Jeppestown neighbourhood of the Johannesburg CBD, was a task with the objective of developing an understanding of the idea of what “community” is and means. Through exploring various new and unique methods of investigation, this understanding was to be represented in a manner so as to demonstrate the findings to a broad, and not exclusively architectural audience. This short essay seeks to summarise the research experience of the project.

The documentation exercise was an enjoyably enlightening experience. Through the various discussions, interactions and encounters one had on the site, it became very evident that the things which one perceives of a context, especially upon arrival as an “outsider”, are only a surface representation of the many assorted realities that exist beneath what meets the eye. The initial question in this investigation was: “Do the people who work in Jeppestown actually live in the area?” Through the interactions, one also became curious to know what people understood the term “community” to mean. The process of engagement included a survey and spending the night in the neighbourhood, which also offered helpful insight.



Process of engagement 

It was interesting to note the findings one uncovered, through various informal conversations. One encounter included four ladies sitting on a pavement. This engagement brought to light the reality of families living in abandoned buildings, their perceptions and fear of the Maboneng developments, who they count as being a part of the Jeppestown “community”, and so on. Much of which could not be discovered from the more objective “mapping” process.

The lessons which one may take away from the exercise is the realisation that a deeper understanding of a place and its peculiarities is gained by going beyond the objective data of an area, but rather that the “fine grain” details, social interactions, and people (groups and individuals) contain clues to a wider body of information about a given area, which may possibly be imperceptible at first until further probed. 

Survey used to gather some of the data 

Final artefact of my interpretation of what I uncovered. The horizontal words are from the surveys, and the vertical are from my own interpretation of the collective understanding of what makes up a "community"