The South African Informal City

In celebration of World Architecture Day, the Architects’ Collective is proud to announce the South African Informal City Exhibition, to be held from 10 November 2011 at the Bus Factory in Newtown, Johannesburg.

The initiative will be a showcase of South Africa’s most relevant and innovative projects that explore informality in the modern metropolis. The aim is to open up dialogue and discussion around the critical issues of informality and urban development, in order to further cooperation, information sharing and positive action between policy makers, practitionersand academics involved in this environment.

The exhibition will focus on pioneering projects throughout South Africa, in centres that are at the heart of urban migration. The magnetic quality of these centres means that metropolitan areas have a large and continuous need to provide shelter and associated social amenities. These conditions demand innovative, appropriate approaches to the issues of informality, and this exhibition will explore a range of realised and research projects, some of which are unique to the South African condition, and some of which share questions and concerns with other developing countries.

The showcased work will explore Inner City Informality; In Situ Upgrading; Catalytic Projects; Un-built Projects; and Backyard Interventions.

The exhibition will provide an opportunity for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, and for existing research and realised projects to become part of a greater debate. As such, the exhibition will also form a platform for a one-day seminar on the topic of informality and sustainable urban development.

The South African Informal City Exhibition and associated seminar are being supported by the Johannesburg Development Agency, the Neighbourhood Development Programme (National Treasury), the South African Cities Network, and the NRF Chair in Development Planning and Modelling.