PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Currently, South Africa is facing a multitude of health care and infrastructure dilemmas; including rural communications, clean water, adequate energy, and the ongoing struggle with HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that almost 20% of all adults living in South Africa are infected with the deadly virus. This staggering number only adds to the growing population of orphaned children, cared for by their extended families, and becoming just as prevalent a crisis as the health epidemic that is causing it.
Many rural citizens of South Africa work on private agricultural farms. These farmworkers are believed to be in the least favorable socio-economic sector of South Africa; the majority living at least 10 kilometers from a school and having the lowest literacy levels in the country. Most rural farmworkers live in shacks and shantytowns, constructed out of necessity and lacking basic infrastructure such as water, sanitation or electricity.
In reaction to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, many South African governments are rushing to enhance their physical appearances, and have set in motion legislation that will effectively evict thousands of rural shack-dwellers from their temporary, though necessary homes. It is the hope of this master plan to aid in not only housing these citizens, but creating sustainable communities in which foster positive growth for the future.
In the Spring of 2008, the Shaka Franklin Foundation began negotiations with members of the South African government to acquire a parcel of land 630 hectares in size. The Foundation will be presenting this master plan to government officials as a self-supporting and sustainable community design that could be repeated and adapted throughout South Africa.
“Somehow we’ve got to bring happiness back onto the planet so that people will want to live...so that children will want to live.”
- Les Franklin, Shaka Franklin Foundation, Time Magazine“Working Towards a Better World for Children and Families”
“Our goal is to help children and young people understand their importance and encourage them to feel good about themselves and their lives.”
The Shaka Franklin Foundation for Youth is a non-profit 501(C)(3) organization founded in 1990 to address the serious problem of youth suicide in Denver, Colorado, the United States and the world. In 1990, founder and Chairman of the Board, Les Franklin, started the Foundation after the suicide death of his sixteen year old son, Shaka, named in honor of the Warrior King Shaka Zulu. Over the years, the Shaka Franklin Foundation has expanded its mission to reach out to all children and young people, to provide activities and opportunities which enhance their learning experience, nurture creativity and encourage success.
In 1999, The Shaka Franklin Foundation opened a 5,000 SF (464.5 m2) center, Shaka’s Place, which provides activities, opportunities and educational assistance for children in Denver, Colorado. Shaka’s Place has an 18-station computer lab, two state-of-the-art audio recording studios, video production equipment including editing capabilities, and a 21-seat theater room. Further programs include SHAKA I.C.E., a community program which introduces non-traditional children to ice hockey and figure skating through non-competitive leagues. There is no charge to join the program, and the Foundation provides all equipment and financial help needed to participate.
In addition to their dedicated involvement with the Tarlton Intermediate School & Community Master Plan, the Shaka Franklin Foundation is looking to expand its programs to South Africa by establishing a branch in/near Johannesburg to serve the children and families of that area.
“The Tarlton Intermediate School and Community Master Plan intends to create a prototype of sustainable community for 1500 residents, specifically designed for the climate and culture of South Africa; the master plan seeks to provide a safe learning environment, adequate medical treatment, growth of commerce, and a high standard of living for all community members.”
Master planning efforts have included research on local culture, social structure, climate, and traditional building systems. Infrastructure needs have been assessed and an implementation plan has been developed for the community. To accomplish a culturally sensitive and sustainable approach that embodies the values of its inhabitants, special attention has been paid to appropriate construction techniques and available natural and human resources.
Agricultural Fields: Agricultural land around the edges of the community has be set aside so that food can be grown for the residents as well as any ingredients needed to bake goods that can be sold to local groceries.
Athletic Fields: Outdoor recreational facilities are provided in the form of two soccer fields and a cricket field; all located within the center and heart of the community.
Outdoor Market: The outdoor market or community square has always held an important role in small communities. Shared by the entire community, it is an adaptive space perfectly suited to contain the center of the community’s growing commerce.
Security Station & Post Office: These buildings form a basis of trust that provides a healthy psychological environment within the community; the strength of the Security Tower is an inherent visual impact, while the Post Office’s interior provides an intimate human scale that invites the community into a safe and stable environment.
School House & School Yard: Every surface and every object within and around the school is adaptive, playfully interactive and educational to encourage reading, writing, creating, building, living and thriving.
Admin./Media Center: Acting as a physical gateway to the school complex, the Center also acts as a gateway providing access to the internet and literature thus connecting the community with the world and providing opportunities beyond.
Gym/Bakery/Cafeteria: The gymnasium is a gathering space for the children to experience, as a cyclical ritual, a release of energy, to consume others’ energy, and to take a deep breath to gather our thoughts. The bakery and cafeteria are the hearth of the community that sustains life & creates a daily ritual that evolves into a life cycle that is portrayed in the balance between the procession to take in the hearth’s provisions and the release of them.
Health Clinic: The health clinic helps to better meet the needs of the community member by giving them access to western practices of medicine while still providing a non-intimidating environment that accommodates South African practices of medicine.
Maintenance Shop: The maintenance shop uses the local cultural ideals of the African mask and basket weaving to integrate itself into the site and turn a Quonset hut into a precious object.
Housing: The homes for the Tarlton community will be specifically tuned for the environment providing opportunities to capture warmth, light, wind and water further strengthening the symbol of the core and its value as a precious resource.
The purpose behind building the Tarlton site is not limited to providing shelter for the people. This project is one step of an ongoing global effort to make intelligent changes to improve tomorrow's quality of life. By providing for life and well being, by creating a sustainable economy and community, and by protecting the environment a better world can emerge.
The design provides an environment to allow the spiral of development and life improvement to pick up its natural developmental path. The bakery as a heart of community and base of life support will provide economical independence and sustainability. The school is the beam of light in darkness. It is the possibility for everyone to explore their abilities and talents and make it possible for their dream to come true. Providing housing will stop people from suffering from physical and physiological insecurity and weather exposure. The Post office and Security station will provide stability and communication. The agricultural land is the core of life support and the starting point of site development – life begins from the “mother soil” and ends in the “mother soil”. Maintenance Shop will repare auto equipment. Physical and mental health will be supported by the library, media center and gymnasium, and the Health Care will take care of sick body. Building the site will provide jobs and working social structure, will give them opportunities to explore new ways of living and adjust their culture to the new living conditions.
Look around - don’t keep your eyes closed - and you will understand that we pay too much attention on less valuable purposes. Now look into the children’s eyes. They are the children who are suffering and losing their parents dying from AIDS; they are our children as well in the context of the humanity. It is in our power to help them, if we choose to make the effort. Even a little contribution will make a difference. People will stop destroying themselves as unnecessary elements, they will know that somebody needs them and somebody loves them. They will realize that a new approach will change and improve their lives.
Please visit the website http://www.shaka.org to find out more about the project, and offer your support by making a donation to the Shaka Franklin foundation.
