Not Another Museum?
by Sean O'Toole
"This place was once known as the gateway to Africa," states Makena Makeka. There is more than a sense of deflated irony as the young architect points towards a four-lane stretch of tarmac, the Heerengracht.
A gloomy part of Cape Town's inner city, the Heerengracht feeds off Adderley Street and terminates under the N2 flyover near Duncan Dock. The modest public space here is largely concreted over and hemmed in by towering brutalist facades. Amidst the bustle of cars, the statues of Jan van Riebeeck and Marie de Quellerie stand frozen on inaccessible tufts of green, public space that has been cheapened to become traffic islands.
Notwithstanding the drab state of this historically significant district, Makena is upbeat about the Heerengracht's possibilities. The imminent opening of the International Convention Centre (ICC) is likely to reverse this bit of downtown's ailing fortunes. Makena hopes to add further momentum to this with his own initiative, the Africa Gateway Millennium Precinct. Still under discussion at local government level, the project proposes the construction of a vibrant cultural precinct on the Heerengracht.
I asked Makena how he thought his particular project could transform the Heerengracht into an appealing cultural destination and, more importantly, how it would dialogue with the existing history of the area.
Can you briefly introduce yourself first?
I am an odd fish, coming from conflicting contexts. I was born in Transkei, but I grew up in Lesotho with my family. My dad was the ambassador from Lesotho to the UN so I actually grew up in New York for a large portion of my youth, until I was 12 years old. After that he was recalled back to Lesotho, so I did my high school there and then in 1994 I came and did my tertiary education at UCT. After graduating I worked for Revel Fox [Cape Town's architectural doyen], and was a runner-up in a competition to redesign Robben Island.
Can you briefly summarise the Africa Gateway Millennium Precinct?
The project has a few components: a Museum of Conflict and Genocide, an unsung heroes square, a community radio station, an open-air cinema and theatre as well as the Africa arts park on Pier Place. It is modelled on Ireland's Temple Bar precinct. I don't want it to be centred around commerce and buying, because that is just another mall.
You should be able to come to this place with no money and be able to have fun. I see it as seed for other people to look at and say hold on. Empowerment means leaving the scheme open enough for people to interact with it to take ownership. It is a mixture between being rigid and flexible about the principles behind it. I like to use public space as a place of protest and celebration. It is about giving people a platform and a voice, something that could play off events happening in the ICC.
Interesting that you talk about public space, a project like this must confront you with the complexities of working with public space. Any insights?
The way people in positions of authority express power is through public space, and in the manner public space is used. Places such as this have a potency that is however stronger than the regime. For example, the Dutch put up the Castle, but as soon as the British took over they appropriated the same space and gave it another layer of meaning. In terms of where I position myself, I have a problem if one simply supplants symbols to replace the old without trying to develop a discussion about what the old is and what the new is. Because then it is simply changing the baton of oppression, and that is a problem. I think there is a lot of value to be gained using places that have historically been associated with power, and asking how they can be transformed into places of empowerment.
But why specifically the Heerengracht site?
For many reasons. Firstly the site talks about South Africa's history in a very unique way, one that not many people know about. It is called the Heerengracht because it was one of the earliest canals built by the Dutch settlers, and led up to the gardens. What is also interesting is that this used to be the old town pier, and was designed in 1912 to celebrate the Union of South Africa. Even then there was a sense of how do people celebrate their coming of age. This space offers a prize view of how history is layered.
Part of the intrigue of this site also has to do with the fact that it is a space of representation. It is probably the most appropriate place to develop a discussion about Jan van Riebeeck and about where we are today. It is not about imposing a new order here, but rather about acknowledging a particular facet of history. I am not interested in the erasure of history, or cultural perspectives, which is why in the project I proposed for this site, I said it is important that Jan van Riebeeck's statue be retained. Some of the people I have been talking to in the middle tiers of government were a bit dismayed that I wanted to keep Jan van Riebeeck's statue. They asked me why? My reply: I am not trying to perpetuate the mistakes of the past.
Do you think there is a modesty underpinning the celebration of our democracy?
Without a doubt. But then South Africa has also learnt a lot, not only from itself but also from other countries about how a state imprints its expression. Architecture is not literal, it never can be. It is a political act; you occupy space, you take it away or you give it, depending how you see it. All we can do as practitioners is be wary of making things that can be open to abuse.
An abbreviated version of this interview was first published in Elle Decoration (Summer 2002). Thank you to Kerryn du Preez for permission to run the full interview.
