The Urban Kunsthuis is a multifunctional building offering public gallery space, various studios and an apartment for a possible live-work environment. The building sits at the top of a linear axis that runs throughout the city, linking Table Mountain with the area known as the 'Bo-Kaap', a significant Cape Malay residential Apartheid era. The siting of the 'Kunsthuis' therefore has a metaphorical role with regards to the historical notions of the area and forms a link between Cape Town city centre and the 'Bo-Kaap'.
The light weight steel structure forms the circulation of the building, inviting the city up and into the different levels. An inclusive invitation to the public to cross the divide over Buitengracht street. It also has facilities for members of the Bo-Kaap to use levels within this structural system for the growth of micro-vegetables, promoting the idea of urban agriculture and breaking down cross-cultural barriers by including different cultures and economic levels in the same building.
The solid structure that forms the studios, gallery and living space acts as an anchor for the steel structure and ensures a feeling of safety within the building, as a metaphorical idea and a physical manifestation.
An analysis into the historical built environment of the city of Cape Town, and the character of the 'Bo-Kaap'
Investigating the linear axis that links the site with the rest of Cape Town
Views of Table Mountain across the city bowl.
Analysis of the character of the existing area
Existing streetscape & collage of the different building types and styles
Site on a large scale - note the linear axis ending at this point & the divide created by Buitengracht Street.
An invitation for the public to partake in the building through circulation
Massing model displaying the organisation of the different components and the seperation of circulation
