ACCESSENABLEby

Andrew Chaveas

Thesis Presented to theFaculty Department of Architecture

School of ArchitecturePhiladelphia University

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE

Thesis Research FacultyThesis Studio Instructor

Susan I. Frostén

Academic Advisor: Carol Hermann

Professional Advisors:Tod Corlett

Christopher HarnishRichard DobsonPhumzile Xulu

Marketplaces evince an energy capti-vated both through the interactions be-tween buyer and seller, and encased within the space in which the market ex-ists. Historically, these markets often as-sociated with the industrial trends of the surrounding city, town or local communi-ty. However, over the past few decades, the influences of the Internet and digital technology have not only impacted the method of interaction between the us-ers, but it has also morphed existing marketplaces and invented new market spaces within which exchange occurs. By observing contemporary industry trends, an appropriate response might explore a new archetype that will devel-op a relationship between physical place and the virtual marketplace. The explo-ration of this relationship could generate an architecture that enables access to future market spaces and facilitates so-cial and economic interaction between “formal” buyers and “informal” traders.

This thesis attempts to explore this re-lationship, utilizing the potential of infor-mality as a method of integrating archi-tecture into existing conditions. Through successful integration into existing infor-mal structures, architecture can act as a filter that focuses and intensifies at-tributes of unfamiliar systems between two opposing perspectives. By engaging existing informal conditions of Warwick Junction, Durban, South Africa, new op-portunities for local and global exchange through both physical and virtual market spaces could emerge.

00

At the origin of “industry”1 existed the ethos of creation; the production of a made object

consumable, useable or admirable by man. To the maker of this object, the marketplace

signified a place of expression and commerce where his personal industry garners financial

acclaim and reputation. Over the past few centuries, successful makers witnessed – and

adapted to – the changing organizational and physical characteristics of markets, the

epicenter of economic activity. Within the United States, advancements in transportation

technology and industrial globalization, as well as “sprawling” development patterns

encouraged the creation of a “retail” archetype, a physical location for the transaction of

industry. It is the generation of the World Wide Web that enabled the creation of new “places”

for industry to occur; and in 1995, Amazon.com initiated the first virtual marketplace that

enabled Internet users to “browse” thousands of book titles and purchase them through

the web2. The impact of this technological venture on the experience of industrial exchange

profoundly influenced industrial development patterns globally, with a keen focus on digital

infrastructure. Resultantly, multiple investors and entrepreneurs generated various virtual

marketplaces, such as etsy.com, providing crafts-people with both a place to sell their

product (Figure 1) and the potential to reach thousands of new buyers.3 The establishment

of these new marketplaces encouraged a new generation of craftsmen to revive old hobbies

and pursue the sales of made objects as primary or supplemental income, establishing a

new form of American industry.

As this industry cements into American culture and spreads globally, the virtual marketplace

continues to grow, and the “places” where industry commences require reassessment.

Various quantitative and qualitative aspects of the virtual marketplace – “flexible forms

of production, marketing, and distribution” - might effectively eliminate “many traditional

constrains on location of commerce and industry and enable the formation of new spatial

1 While “industry” can easily become an ambiguous word, this thesis will align primarily with the Webster-Merriam Dictionary definition: “economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods”

2 Chris Anderson, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More. (New York, Hyperion, 2006), 23.

3 Etsy, www.etsy.com, 2008 statistics show an average monthly growth of 91,000 new, registered users; 20,000 of these users were classified as “sellers”. September 2010 counted 210,000 new, registered users. A majority of these numbers come from a rising number of jobless individuals diving into their creative potential to find, or create, work. Most of this creative potential manifests in the rediscovery of “hobbies”, which leads individuals to rediscover the value of craftsmanship and making things by hand.Figure 1 - Shifts in market proximity

patterns”4. For many developed nations, both buyers and sellers experience ease of

access to the virtual marketplace through rapidly developing technology – 3G wi-fi and

the “smart phone” – and an adaptable Internet infrastructure. Increasing efficiency of

shipping industries like FedEx and UPS lower shipping costs and encourage this type

of virtual business to commence. Other aspects of the Internet such as blogging and

social networking allow crafts-people to rapidly and vastly market their products; likewise,

consumers use these tools to filter and find products or recommendations for a product

they desire.5 The transfer of a crafted product from the craftsman to the consumer no

longer requires traditional retail spaces; rather, the producer and consumer may exist in

two separate places, but meet in one, larger, virtual marketplace.

However, not all craftsmen can attain the potential of this new commercial setting, particularly

those who create objects and trade within informal industries: markets largely hidden and

barred from the virtual marketplace. While the exact number of these craftsmen may remain

unattainable because of its invisible nature, studies suggest the following information on

informal trade:

“Informal employment comprises one half to three-quarters of non-

agriculture employment in developing countries: specifically, 48 per cent of

non-agricultural employment in North Africa; 51 per cent in Latin America;

65 per cent in Asia; and 72 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa. If South

Africa is excluded, the share of informal employment in non-agricultural

employment rises to 78 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa. If data were

available for additional countries in Southern Asia, the regional average for

Asia would likely be much higher.”6

Many of these traders depend on their ability to approximate close to large amounts of

people for profit; however, their inability to access the virtual marketplace restricts them

to economic interactions through the traditional and mostly informal spatial arrangements

(Figure 2) of bazaars, streets, rail stations and other locations.7 Conditions of government

4 William Mitchell, E-topia (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999), 99.

5 Chris Anderson, 65.

6 Marty Chen and Joann Vanek, Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture. (International Labor Organization, 2002), 2.

7 Caroline Skinner, “Street Trade in Africa: A Review” in Working Paper No 51. (School of Development Studies: 2008), 2. Figure 2 - Access diagram

corruption, economic instability, social unrest, unjust histories, and other detrimental

situations result in the “infrastructural and super structural defi ciencies [that] hinder the

successful accomplishments”8 of technological development and active integration into a

global economy through the Internet. In addition to these macro-level concerns, other micro

level concerns like cost and access to personal computers and other digital equipment

further discourage the practicality of individual participation in the virtual marketplace.

This challenge of access provides an opportunity for architecture to create new spatial

opportunities to serve “invisible craftsmen” in informal economies by creating a place that

merges existing physical conditions with the virtual marketplace, enabling access increased

economic opportunities through future market spaces.

The architectural manifestation of this space can result from a careful analysis and

understanding of the nature of “informality” both within the physical and virtual marketplaces.

While informality may seem like a lofty and ambiguous concept, a simple diagram - “a

system of crosses running into a system of circles” – can “immediately [produce] all the

conditions of the informal” market setting9 (Figure 3). When applying this simple diagram to

the social and physical conditions of informal markets, it reveals that all of the attributes of

a formal market – product display, monetary exchange, market value, supply and demand,

etc. – exist; however, these components juxtapose in haphazard locations and provide the

appearance of informality. Similarly, the virtual marketplace provides a separate experience

of informality. At it’s origin, a website on the Internet begins as a series of numbers and

letters sequenced in a fashion that appears informal and illegible (Figure 4). But when

appearing on a screen, users discover a clear, navigable interface that reads as a formal,

virtual marketplace. While informality in itself poses many questions and both a theory

and a form, Cecil Balmond best explains “the informal relates to the Formal [by] taking

two ordered systems and allowing one to invade the other.” 10 Realistically, informality

exists based on the stance from which multiple, integrated formal systems are perceived.

This understanding of informality provides a foundational approach for architecture to

structure itself physically, while effectively and sensitively integrating into existing systems.

8 Carlos Ferran and Ricardo Salim. “Electronic Business in Developing Countries: The Digitalization of Bad Practices?” in Electronic Business in Developing Countries: Opportunities and Challenges. (Idea Group Publishing, 2006), 54.

9 Cecil Balmond, informal, (New York: Prestel, 2002), 117.

10 Balmond, 145.

Figure 3 - Informality diagram

Figure 4 - Internet informality

Furthermore, by recognizing the reality of informality, one opportunity for the creation of

future market space can occur through the installation of an architecture that acts as a

filtration system. “Filters” can act much like a lens, focusing and intensifying those attributes

of unfamiliar systems that enable clarification and understanding between two opposing

perspectives. In the case of the physical marketplace, “filters” of information, usually in

the form of knowledge and understanding obtained from direct communication with the

traders, add a layer of discernment to the cognitive experience of the physical marketplace.

For the virtual marketplace, visual cues from the web interface, and more specific “search”

options enable the ability to navigate through the Internet in order to browse, buy or sell

products within the virtual marketplace.11 In both of these instances, the “filter” acts as a

mediator, by taking information that was once complex and indecipherable and applying

new layers of awareness and understanding to that same information. Theoretically, this

transformational methodology allows for new interactions between both “formal” buyer and

“informal” seller by providing both parties with a new understanding of one another.

While this “filter” itself can develop into both an architectural and digital form, it cannot act

independent of a context – it is, by nature, dependent on the informality surrounding it –

and must integrate into a chosen context. One context apt for an application of a system

that provides navigation between buyer and seller in both the physical and virtual markets

rests in Durban, South Africa. Warwick Junction, a major transportation hub located within

Durban, boasts an informal trader population of 8000 persons with an average daily

foot-traffic of 460,000 people.12 Over the past decade, Warwick Junction has seen large

amounts of municipal and local investment13, resulting in a revitalized marketplace that still

maintains the characteristics of an informal marketplace.14 When attempting to provide

new means of access within Durban, any architectural intervention must consider the local

culture, technological capabilities, climactic conditions, building methodologies, and social

11 Jeffery Huang, “Future Space: A New Blueprint for Business Architecture,” Harvard Business Review (April 2001): 5.

12 D Hemson. CBD Durban with special emphasis on Warwick Junction.

13 Richard Dobson and Caroline Skinner, Working in Warwick, (Durban, School of Development Studies, 2009), 8.14 This revitalization has also resulted in the generation of two levels of interface that will shape future integration of “filters” that merge the virtual and physical market. First, the collective identity of various markets (i.e. Muthi market, Berea Station, Mcako and Imphepo Market, etc.)

patterns of Warwick Junctions and the traders utilizing this area as commercial space.15

Additionally, other logistical measures can provide a theoretical and practical approach

that engages a level of sensitivity appropriate for the post-apartheid context of South

Africa, one where the role of the architect must respond to the needs and desires of all

citizens.16 For instance, patterns of informality within Warwick should remain at a level of

reciprocity versus scalability, as a strong identity is found within each individual market

versus the market as a whole. Reciprocity will also encourages a form that is adaptable

to the transforming social and spatial conditions of Warwick. Similarly, the inclusion of

the opinions and suggestions of the traders and partner organizations17 would not only

encourage a more effective architectural implementation, but would also affirm the citizenry

of the traders within Warwick. This level of awareness can develop a physical intervention

that will remain a supplement to existing informal systems, and will not replace any social

or spatial conditions that enable the marketplace to function.

Regardless of these conditions, the success of a future market space within Warwick

Junction will depend on the appropriate integration of formal and programmatic elements

into the existing informality of the marketplace. Should it disrupt or replace any existing

patterns of informality or fail to adapt, this space risks creating conflict and confusion

within the market. Should it merge with and supplement the existing conditions, this future

market space will unveil new interactions between sellers and buyers and provide increased

exposure and opportunity for the invisible craftsman of Warwick Junction.

15 More information on Warwick Junction can be found in “Site: Warwick Junction” located on page x.

16 Hannah le Roux, “Undisciplined practices: Architecture in the context of freedom,” in blank_____ Architecture, apartheid and after, Ed. Hilton Judin and Ivan Vladislavic, (New York: Distributed Art Publishers Inc, 1998), 352.

17 Organizations such as Asiye Etafuleni and WIEGO express an invested interest in the livelihoods of the traders within Warwick Junction.

The informal is opportunistic, an approach to design that seizes a local moment and makes something of it.

-Cecil Balmond

01CASESTUDY

“NEED” in 2007 AMD OPEN ARCHITECTURE CHALLENGEAFRICA DESIGN BRIEF

Today’s world prosperity is technologically driven.

The world has become a global village where the issue of distance is no longer the case. People interact and do business at the click of a mouse. Currently people living on less than a dollar a day in the slums must pay the same rates as those with means to access the internet. The high costs of accessing internet means that many people living in the slums would continue to be out of touch with the rest of the world and poverty will continue stalking them. The need for such facility is also necessitated by lack of a place where students could do their studies and research work online. The nearest place where students can gain online access is a library around is 15 km (9-1/4 miles) away and it is always full with many people.

Young people would like to be trained in comput-er skills that will allow them to compete in the job mar-ket, communicate with each other and with the world. They lack a facility where they can gain access to the Internet at rates they can afford and learn these skills.”

SIDAREC Technology and Media LabNairobi, KenyaThe Global Studio

As part of a competition for the AMD Open Architecture Challenge, and in collaboration with Architecture for Humanity, the SIDAREC (Slums In-formation Development Resource Center) Technology and Media Lab responds to the desires of a local community in Nairobi, Kenya to equip their citizens with computer training, increasing their ability to compete in a rapidly technologizing world.

Currently, the SIDAREC center is under construction and is near completion.

Etsy.com, a virtual marketplace selling only handmade, vintage, or supplies products, formal came into existence in the early 2000’s. As a business model and a website, Etsy displays many qualitative traits that could greatly influ-ence the generation of a virtual interface for the informal economy.

While the visual layout is standard like most virtual marketplaces (amazon.com, ebay.com, etc.), there is a focus on the use of clear visuals to both iden-tify the product and the seller. An adapt-able navigation interface allows poten-tial buyers to locate products in multiple ways: product type, time of post, loca-tion of craftsperson, even color.

One concern with this precedent is that the business transaction system is de-pendent on PayPal, a digital exchange service that relies on the existence of stable bank accounts and credit card lines. A lack of stable and efficient banking systems within the informal marketplace could not adapt to this type of system.

etsy.com http://www.etsy.com

Anderson, Chris. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More. New York: Hyperion, 2006.

Balmond, Cecil. Informal. New York: Prestel, 2002.

Chen, Marty and Joann Vanek. Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture. International Labor Organization, 2002.

Crawford, Matthew B. Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. New York: Penguin Press: 2009.

Dobson, Richard and Caroline Skinner. Working in Warwick. Durban: School of Development Studies, 2009.

Ernst, Dieter and Bengt-Ake Lundvall. “Information Technology in the Learning Economy: Challenges for Developing Countries.” DRUID Working Papers (1997)

Ferran, Carlos and Ricardo Salim. “Electronic Business in Developing Countries: The Digitalization of Bad Practices?” in Electronic Business in Developing Countries: Opportunities and Challenges. Idea Group Publishing, 2006: 46-61.

Grest, Jeremy. “Urban citizenship and legitimate governance: the case of the Greater Warwick Avenue and Grey Street Urban Renewal Project, Durban.” TRANSFORMATION (2004): 38-57.

Hemson, D. CBD Durban with special emphasis on Warwick Junction.

Huang, Jeffery. “Future Space: A New Blueprint for Business Architecture.” Harvard Business Review (April 2001): 2-11.

le Roux, Hannah. “Undisciplined practices: Architecture in the context of freedom.” blank_____ Architecture, apartheid and after. Ed. Hilton Judin and Ivan Vladislavic. New York: Distributed Art Publishers Inc, 1998. 351-357.

Mitchell, William J. E-topia. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999. Etsy. http://www.etsy.com.

Shier, Judith. “The State of the Informal Economy.” SANPAD. (22 Sept. 2009).

Skinner, Caroline. “Street Trade in Africa: A Review” in Working Paper No 51. Durban: School of Development Studies, 2008.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

02THESISDEVEL-OPMENT

Opposite: Diagram of most digitally con-nected cities in the world. Visualization of centralized development of the global, economic marketplace.

Above: An array of products that remain “invisible” despite a rapidly globalizing society.

Diagram of potential locations for the implementation of an architecture that en-ables interaction within the global market-place.

Diagrammatic understanding of formal in-dustry within marketplace.

Diagrammatic understanding of informal industry within marketplace.

Sequence from formal structure, to in-formal interaction, to activated informal interactions.

Conceptual exploration of physi-cal and/or virtual implementa-tion of a unit that enables interac-tion between trader and tourist/buyer through physical and digital interfaces.

Various physical, economic, digital barriers exist between the physical marketplace of the maker and the virtual marketplace of the buyer.

If these barriers disappear, resulting in the interaction between trader and buyer, new opportunities for social, economic, and cultural interaction emerge.

From this new understanding of means and methods, makers generate new prod-ucts that respond to consumer needs and personal desires for new production.

This thesis will focus on the exploration of a process that begins with and emphasis of two disparate groups to learn aboutand from each other.

The joining piece within the process re-sults in the sale of these products within the virtual marketplace, expanding the de-grees of access to potential consumers.

To understand this process architectoni-cally, the establishment of programmatic elements creates an understanding of spatial relationships.

CORE PROGRAM

ENTRY PROGRAMEXIBIT SPACE 60 m2

RECEPTION 25 m2

YOUTH CRESH 200 m2

YOUTH TECHNOLOGY LAB 200 m2

LEARN (COLLABORATIVE SPACE) 300 m2

MAKE (FABRICATION SPACE) 300 m2

SELL (DIGITAL ACCESS) 175 m2

SHIP 30 m2

SUPPLIMENTAL PROGRAMSECURITY 11 m2

STORAGE 45 m2

UTILITIES 75 m2

ADMINISTRATIVEOFFICES 30 m2

RESOURCE ROOM 25 m2

ESTIMATED SPACETOTAL 1476 m2

03SITE

Durban,South Africa

(sourced from www.marketsofwarwick.co.za)Warwick Junction lies on the edge of the Durban’s inner-city and is the primary pub-lic transport interchange in the city. On an average day the area accommodates 460 000 commuters, and at least 6000 street vendors. Given the confluence of rail, taxi and bus transport, this area has always been a natural market for street vendors. The Markets of Warwick includes between 5000 and 8000 vendors trading in 9 distinct markets. Currently this is the only informally structured market in a public space of this magnitude, and thus establishes itself as the single most authentic African market that South Africa has to offer. The products available vary from beadwork, traditional arts and crafts, traditional cuisine, fresh pro-duce, music and entertainment merchan-dise, clothing, accessories and traditional medicine.

The historical significance of the Warwick area is important, as it reflects the changing sociopolitical and spatial conditions of South Africa. Steeped in racial discrimination, the Warwick area was neglected and abandoned by the apartheid government. It was initially Indian indentured labourers who began trad-ing on the street sidewalks in this area, and for example, built the Badsha Peer Shrine which remains an iconic piece of architecture in Brook Street. With the gradual influx of black African trad-ers into the area, Warwick became a central hub of commerce and trading activity despite constant harassment by the apartheid police. It was only in the late 1980s that traders were given recognition for their economic contri-bution and granted permission to remain in specifically allocated trading locations on the streets. Since then trader committees have been established to work alongside the Municipality and various sector support or-ganizations to create and maintain an effec-tive informal trading location benefiting the traders and the 70, 000 – 100, 000 people who depend on these vendors’ income.

Diagram of residential relationship to Dur-ban CBD. Identifi es Warwick Junction as central to a majority of residential neigh-borhood.

predominantlywhite neighborhoods

predominantlyblack neighborhoods

WarwickJunction

Diagram of major traffic arteries in Durban Area. Identifies Warwick Junction as cen-tral location for a majority of these loca-tions.

automobile arteries

passenger rail

taxi depot

Diagram of Warwick Junction. Existing buildings developed within the market-place resulting from the eThekwini Munici-pality Development Plan.

taxi + bus shelter

community centerbead marketmusic street bridgemuthi marketearly morning marketvictoria street marketberea station marketbrook street marketbovine headcookers market

Diagram of transportation hubs within the marketplace.

bus/train stationsformal public transit

taxi rinksinformal public transit

Site Section. Analysis of hubs, nodes, and informal meeting spaces derived from an analysis of inter-market connectivity.

“hubs” - points of entry into market

nodes - physical, social, economic merge points within market

informal meeting spaces - frequented for the transfer of products and ideas

Identify and establish nodes and hubs.

Representational diagram of economic and social con-nections between nodes and hubs.

“hubs” - points of entry into market

nodes - physical, social, economic merge points within market

informal meeting spaces - frequented for the transfer of products and ideas

Resulting points of interaction between overlapping layers of economic and social information.

Analysis of major traffic arteries flowing through Warkwick Junction.

automobile arteries

passenger rail

Site Identification Diagram. Three potential sites that posses close proximity to physi-cal traffic accessible by both the trader and the buyer.

Within close proximity of the site, small pockets of informal economic activity provide and existing environment of com-merce for the proposed process.

Diagram of Site. Existing buildings all con-tribute to the efforts of the seda Ethekwini Incubator Program - an initiative to sup-port small, entrepreneurial businesses.

When attempting to select a site and develop a program, it was recognized that an existing social initiative of Asiye Etafuleni, a local NGO, already exhibited characteristics that this thesis proposes to achieve. Namely, it begins to integrate those who are unfamiliar to the informal marketplace by educating them of the various markets. This process provides clarity to the apparent informality pres-ent at Warwick, and it enables social and economic interactions between trader and buyer.

Trader Vehicular Access. The close prox-imity of the bus depot and taxi rinks pro-vides trader traffic and access to the site.

Buyer/Tourist Vehicular Access. Over-pass provides visual access to the site for potential buyers utilizing the highway to access the CBD and attractions.

Market Street - Facing South

Traffi c visibility from N-3 Overpass.

04THESISPROPOSAL

Conceptual development of physical re-sponse to process began with the explo-ration of the trader/

Early development created connections between process elements and physical site implementation through the accessing of physical thresholds.

Diagramming anticipated usage of a new facility solidifi es a need for the application of fl uid public spaces - permeable but pro-tected.

Further development organized program-matic elements within a matrix of indoor/outdoor, physical/digital. This matrix ad-dressed practical concerns of security, privacy, and accessibility voiced by locals.

digital

physical

indoor

outdoor

Infusing this matrix with intersecting planes that respond to programmatic size, site conditions, and permeable security enabled the project development to con-sider site conditions and restraints.

Analysis of the planar typologies within the marketplace. Traders within the market-place posses a utilitarian understanding of the horizontal plane.

The most pronounced element of the project, the horizontal plan, responds in elevation to define circulation spines and control passive dayligting and cool-ing technology.

Daylight studies (1200) to examine rela-tionship between planar arrangement and daylighting.

Further understanding of the potential for the planar typology reveals an ability to serve as a surface for communication.

The development of a structural grid pulled from structures surrounding the existing site permits the development of a planar language that begins to enclose the site.

The practical application of local building technologies and materiality led to the ex-ploitation of a feasible construction typol-ogy.

The selective opening of the existing bar-rier along market street provides public entry while maintaining fl exible security.

Digital Display Screens provide visitors with a comprehensive understanding of the development occurring within both the facility and the marketplace.

Covered public space provides opportuni-ties for instances of unexpected interac-tions and opportunities for economic, so-cial and educational exchange.

Detail Section Model - Display Wall

Andrew Chaveas