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SEED Library at MC Weiler Primary School
Alexandra, Johannesburg, Gauteng
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| Award of Merit citation The MC Weiler Primary School is situated on the 'East Bank' of Alexandra. This part of Alexandra is newer and, judging from the general condition of the built fabric, it is obvious that there is more prosperity here than in the older parts of the suburb. The school itself reveals a typical model, where efficiency and utility were the driving forces in the design of this hard and foreboding place. Its infrastructure is overburdened and there is hardly a green leaf to be seen. The buildings are rundown and depressing - sadly, it is like so many other schools across South Africa. The SEED (Supplementary Extended Education Device) Library is the exact physical opposite of the abovementioned school building. It is the result of an earlier and more ambitious library proposal commissioned by the MAL Foundation, which could not be realised due to insufficient funds. The architects then redesigned it, and what has been built is the result of this redesign. This building, constructed from disused shipping containers, is not intended to replace the earlier project - but will be moved to another school when the funds are secured for the earlier design. Alternative building materials, such as shipping containers, have fascinated architects for many years. Many have partially established reputations for themselves by using and developing such materials and construction methods. This kind of experimentation is mostly future orientated and has been, in certain instances, associated with countercultures. It also has a healthy rebelliousness associated with it. Such experimentation mostly attracts the constantly young at heart and those who are not afraid to challenge convention. LACOVIG, RASSMAN and GRANICKI, the partners involved in Architects of Justice have, in a short space of time, established quite an enviable reputation for themselves in this kind of experimentation. The containers were placed on top of each other in a cross formation and linked with a playful steel staircase. The side walls of the containers were modified to allow for light and ventilation. Other components were added to achieve structural stability, as well as to create additional floor space. Insulation, services, internal finishes, furniture and additional outdoor platforms were also installed and constructed. The roof of the top container was made accessible to create additional reading and recreational spaces. The internal finishes are subdued; it is 'warm' and a humane, touch adds to the proper functioning of this structure as a place of information and informal learning. The exterior is exuberant, playful and colourful - as if it is a giant toy. The whole courtyard, where the structure has been placed, has been covered in artificial grass. Everything in combination is a much-welcomed antidote to the depressing reality of the school and its immediate urban context. The architects have also quite skillfully managed to give the structure a feeling of permanence, while in certain instances they have kept the containers in their original and somewhat battered form. This feeling of permanence was intuitively a good move, as many such buildings fail to win the affections of their users - not because there is something inherently wrong with them, but simply because they do not contribute a sense of'permanence'. The SEED Library is intended as a repeatable prototype. It can only be wished that it would be repeated many times over, as there are simply too many sad and depressing places of learning in South Africa where buildings such as this could act as symbols of, and could contribute to, a materially better future. (Paul Kotze - 2014) Books and articles that reference SEED Library at MC Weiler Primary School
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