Design Competition

As part of a competition to identify a brand which is African and responds to Retail in the African aesthetic, my entry was aimed at responding to the opportunities and constraints of the topic. The theory that major shopping destinations of first world countries have been saturated and Africa is the next opportunity for world class retail was part of the brief. The site for this interior project is a retail space in Sandton Johannesburg.

My response to the brief deals with two major issues in Africa. The two issues are, the misconception of what Africa is as a reality, socially, intellectually, culturally, and the second issue is the talent which is hidden in the poverty of Africa, future artists, doctors, lawyers etc are chained in the reality of the poverty of Africa.

The brand chosen for retail in the design is African Alternative Art. The argument is based on the idea that the world is changing rapidly, technologically.With the acceleration in technology globally, the gap between the top ten percent of finacially stable beings and the people living in developing slums is widening at a concerning rate.

Because of the fast pace change in technology and the desire of first world countries, the majority of up-market comodoties traded, is within the first world context. In order to simply survive in the day and age we live in today, many African people push Art and sculpture to the edge of their ability to create a finished commodotity which creates a desire for purchase by a foreigner. Due to the small budget and resources at hand, the art work of the finished product is often somewhat alternative and extremely creative.

The creativity and skills used to simply survive in this condition is in many cases at a first class level world-wide. World famous artists and designers often look to poor artists' work for inspiration. These artists and designers have the drive and skills to be famous on a global scale, with their alternative use of materials and the skill of their work.

Alternative art is the brand of choice, because of its quality and its message, the power it can be as a communicator. Being a popular commodoty traded in the top ten percent of wealthy people, the trading of art will allow for artists who were once hidden in the poverty of Africa to be put on a world stage to promote their work and skills to up-market traders.

The response of the design is one based on the concept of deception. What is perceived as an up-market shop from the exterior, is actually an artificial ant-heap or bee hive in the interior. With the the problem in part being a solution an a smaller scale, the shop is perceived as an African arts shop, but is in fact a digital art gallery for trading art from all over the continent. With subtle hints from the exterior of the digital screens featuring the art and telling the story of the artist, the interest and desireabillity as a destination issues are addressed.

The shop is alternative and sculptural in form, but the main intent is that it stands as a strong statement that Africa is not what one would perceive it as, but this is what Africa is about.

The competition hand in is in August 2013, so the design resolution will be worked on as the year progresses. This is very closely related to the work that I would like to handle as an architect one day on the African continent. "A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds" - John Fletcher.