Mandela’s Yard, Alexandra

Documentation of Informal Settlement as a Research Tool for Learning about Space and Place
Peter Rich Architects, Johannesburg

I have gone from you, many times,

I come back.
Alexandra, I love you;
Wally Serote

When Mandela moved to Alexandra Township in 1941, he was 23 years old; it was the beginning of the life that he would
lead away from the Transkei village where he had been born and had grown up. His first home in Johannesburg, in Alex-
andra, was a south-facing room in a row house: small and square with only one window which captured light from the sun
through a servitude. Although the room was not connected to any services, its rent took up a substantial portion of his sal-
ary so that the start of his working life was marked by the shortage of food and long walks into the city to save on transport
costs. He was surrounded by abject poverty but he recalls this time fondly, the sense of community, the uniting force of
rebellion against continued attempts at eviction, he described Alex as occupying a “treasure place” in his heart.

This piece of Mandela’s earlier life, even before he became a political activist, is what attracted an interest in the area as
forming part of the heritage component of the Alexandra Renewal Programme. A heritage area was defined around Man-
dela’s room and its affiliated courtyard as well as several other community courtyards which became the precinct known as
Mandela’s Yard. The area surrounding Mandela’s room was studied in detail, measured and drawn up by the Johannesburg-
based Architect, Peter Rich. His ‘in-situ’ studies of existing structures enabled him to establish a relationship with members
of the community who assisted in the process. The analysis did not only focus on the structuring elements of the settlement
but rather placed a focus on meeting the residents, getting a sense of how people use their space and how they live. By
actually being in the space, Peter was able to witness the ingenuity involved in the furnishing of this world: the subtleties of
possession in the absence of ownership and how this has been interpreted through the use of defensible space.

Above: Mandela’s Room within the Mandela’s Yard Conservation area

Aerial photograph - Iwan Baan
Above: The ‘archi-jazz’ of the south facade animates the street scene; translucent polycarbonate sheeting creates a dialogue between the
exhibition on the interior and the external world that is being described. The Alexandra Heritage Centre becomes a bridge over the street
allowing visitors to the centre to become ‘players’ within the context of street life. Photograph taken by Peter Rich.

An extension of the heritage experience is the Alexandra Heritage Centre which is across the road from Mandela’s room.
At present, the centre is 85% complete and at the completion of the project it will fulfill its intended heritage function as a
community centre. The design was informed by the studies conducted within Mandela’s Yard and the centre will play a role
in the portrayal of what life in Alexandra is really like, where previously untold stories of the local inhabitants can be cap-
tured and placed in the public view. In the conceptualization of this project, Mandela was very clear that there were enough
people telling his story already; he wanted the focus to be on the achievements of the people that live within Alexandra, not
just on the struggle but on their successes and what people can learn from their experiences. The project, upon completion,
will expose the incredible value that Alex has in its role as a settlement, as the centre of a struggle and in its future role and
integration with the rest of the City of Joburg. Both the Interpretation Centre and the upgrading of Mandela’s Yard are com-
munity projects; their evolution within Alexandra involves an unfolding process, which aims to reinforce a sense of owner-
ship and pride amongst the inhabitants.

“Life in Alexandra was exhilarating and precarious. Its atmosphere

was alive, its spirit adventurous, its people resourceful.”
Nelson Mandela

Called the “dark city” due to its lack of electrical and water connection,
at the heart of the system which is Alexandra Township, is the life of the
street and the multifunctional courtyards around which homes in various
configurations, are grouped. The street and the yard operate as the centres
of ritual life, in unique ways, which involve interactions associated with
entrepreneurial endeavor and community life.

Left : 3d showing the location of the Alexandra Heritage Centre in relation to Mandela’s
room, including the pavilion to receive visitors. The bridge is seen as a symbolic gateway
that speaks to the context and the community as well as becoming a means of delineating
the components of the exhibition in terms of past, present and future. Image by Peter Rich.
The Street

Due to the organic evolution of the township, the street is the public space. It is the place of interaction; life spills out onto
the street. The sprawling carpet of low-lying dwellings is punctuated by the entrances to the yards, which feed off from the
streets. Informal trading occurs along the street edge and is concentrated at corners, small businesses and spaza shops also
benefit from the constant flow of people. As a corridor of activity, the street feeds off residential life, generating a small
economy in response and introducing a legibility which allows for the navigation of the social and physical structure of the
place. The streets frequently become places of waiting for the many unemployed within Alex. They are also places of watch-
fulness; children play in the streets, guarded by the many small windows which connect the public realm to the interior life
behind the walls.

Above : Learning from the street - The informal sector creates a quality of street edge which takes on an enabling role, its infrastructure
open to interpretation. Photographs taken by Peter Rich.

The lack of formalised public space brings people to the street and breathes life into the heart of Alexandra. The physical
structure becomes a point of mediation: the city as courtroom. Neighborhood disputes are settled here but there are also
street gangs making their presence known; problems arise from the street and are dealt with on the street.

The street edge, which is lined with buildings rather than by the garden walls of suburbia, becomes a point of contention
between public and private. The encroachment onto the pavement of many residences, results in the roadway becoming
the public walkway. The narrow nature of these routes creates a scale, which just seems ‘right’ within the context. Planning
standards by comparison in suburbia, result in streets too large to offer a pleasure of use. The residential life in Alex plays
out onto the street, as additions to homes nudge closer and over the buildings lines, the street becomes a place for people.
The motorcar is kept at bay; there is space enough for its movement through but no place for it to be stationary. People
claim the street edge by placing bollards of concrete or stone in order to prevent the car from taking over. All over Africa,
the car violates the streetscape and here, people in their small ways, are reclaiming space.
Out of the reinterpretation of infrastructure, the street becomes an amphitheatre, lined by stairs and bits of signage which
are being used as seats. The street is constantly watched, as it is the main source of economy and the main gathering point;
it is an important recognition, this cognisance of inherent and established modes of existence which hold the community
together. Any intervention within this condition would need to work within the systems that are in place. Intervention
here would not call for a total restructuring, pulling the rug out from beneath, but rather subtle responses that reinforce
the current situation such as the relaxation of street by-laws; the legalization of something that is already established and is
already making a positive contribution to the nature of the space.

Above: Mandela’s Yard

Defensible space / intermediate thresholds of privacy
Measured documentation by Peter Rich

The Yard

The yard is a shared space, usually an average of ten to twelve families reside around their courtyard which provides a meet-
ing point for social activities, creates a spatial rhythm and promotes self-organisation within the community. Their evolu-
tion was an organic one, as additions were made to the inherited ‘structural bones’ of the settlement, the early homes of the
service men left over from when Alexandra began its journey in 1912.

The yards become places of seclusion and refuge; they pro-

Above: Mandela’s Yard
Existing buildings built by the authorities in 1920’s / 1930’s
Measured documentation by Peter Rich
vide safety due to the defined threshold of entry which leads
off from the street. They are usually defined by a commer-
cial or residential building which is at the entrance, behind
which might be one or two yards. This transitional entrance
becomes like a throat; a threshold of control, which allows
the residents to determine and protect the various, assigned
functions within the yard. At the time of the documentation
each yard had collective areas for access to water, showering
and clothes washing. These functions alter the more general
use of these spaces and create drainage issues; graywater is
thrown onto the public space and in certain instances people
have formed sumps to let it soak away. Due to the lack of
ownership, it is left up to individual pride as to whether or
not people care for the public realm.
Despite the lack of tenure, people make their claim using fencing or walls to demarcate ‘their’ areas where they might sit or
plant vegetables. Each yard is different as the extensions to buildings form sub-courts, some cutting in and others extend-
ing outward, demarcating and communicating the shared space of the yard. The creation of thresholds between the yard
and the home is handled in ways unique to the origin of the inhabitant: the rural and vernacular interpretation makes use
of batter walls in order to create a raised platform or ‘stoep’ whereas the urban scavenger resolves design problems with the
use of found objects. What becomes evident in the various resolutions of level change is that the demarcation of the way
of entry, the shaping of the threshold, arises from a sense of its value which is intrinsic to the human condition. In their
shaping of defensible space, the yards as places of retreat, serve as threads which tie together the densely packed assortment
of homes and streets.

Above: Images of the western court opposite to Mandela’s room. The yard plays an integral role within the social and domestic life of
the inhabitants. Photographs taken by Peter Rich.

Waves of change

Post 1994 saw large numbers of the displaced moving into Alexandra to begin squatting in and amongst the existing resi-
dents. This escalated tensions and completely altered the nature of the original township as services were stretched to the
limit and the invaded residents suddenly had many people occupying their ‘garden’ space. It is the township that developed
from this that gave rise to the 2008 xenophobic attacks and it is this spatial condition that was later mapped for the pur-
poses of the heritage research.

The original buildings from the time that Mandela lived there and earlier became the physical terms of reference around
which everything grew. The long and square buildings provided by the authorities provided a framework against which
growth could take place; this was different from the way that a squatter camp usually forms. The typologies that have
evolved show an ingenuity in the way that ventilation and orientation are handled, given the spatial constraints. The need
to extend has resulted in a number of solutions: in the case of the long house residents have added on incrementally to the
north, unusually for townships there are some double storey homes which have risen above their neighbors and many have
extended into the servitudes, erecting backyard shacks which can be rented out to accommodate the influx of people mov-
ing into Alexandra.

Alexandra has always been politicized and is even more so after the attacks. The brutality of these attacks arose from a
feeling of injustice: life in Alexandra has not changed for many and people feel that they have been forgotten. The lack of
tenure has not stopped residents from investing in their homes but the whole community lives in constant fear of eviction.
Above: Mandela’s Yard
Established Families that have illegally tapped into community ablution facilities
Measured documentation by Peter Rich

Upgrade

The intention of the heritage intervention is the upgrade of the public realm putting to use the lessons learned from
observing the daily operations of Alexandra. The yards are viewed as an important connection between the heritage centre
and Mandela’s room, becoming examples of best practice in the way that they grow: this would involve paving, a focus on
health standards, the introduction of efficient graywater systems, access to services and availability of water as well as the
effective means of dealing with human waste. Any infrastructure introduced should make use of innovative and sustainable
technologies that are appropriate in the context; the upgrading process should involve education about sustainable practices
and include the demarcation and planting of vegetable gardens as part of an urban agricultural scheme. Residential densifi-
cation would improve the viability of Alexandra as a residential area in close proximity to the Sandton business district; this
could be done by vertical expansion with the use of lightweight frame construction and attention to firewalls.

Presently, Mandela’s room is not accessible to the public, being caught up in a situation of conflict. Previously unknown
as the room in which a young Mandela lived, the room has been occupied by various families over the years. While it is
understood that the current occupants do not have tenancy, authorities need to broker the situation in such a way that
the position of the family is bettered and the room availed for heritage conservation. Government and role-players within
heritage tourism need to step in to realise the potential of the upgrading of the precinct. This upgrade should include a way
of receiving the public who make the pilgrimage to Mandela’s Yard. In addition to its heritage value, the implementation of
this project would be of economic benefit to local residents and entrepreneurs.
 Government needs to fulfill its mandate in making Mandela’s room avail-
able to the public as part of honoring his legacy. The renewal programme
was a promise that was made to the people: its intent to unstitch the
conditions set up during apartheid. Alexandra is situated on some of the
best real estate in Johannesburg. Its prime position has in the past made it
a target for victimization but now it has become a priority for upgrading
which should be done in such a way that any intervention is respectful to
the character of the area.

Peter Rich - Principal Architect & Researcher

Written by Patricia Theron

Left and below: Interiors of homes within the yards showing the life that is created
out of the space available. The photograph on the left shows the interior of one
of the existing ‘long buildings’, these were built originally as row houses by the
authorities. The photograph below shows the interior of an informal shack which
was built post 1994. Photographs taken by Peter Rich.