The South African settlement Genadendal was founded as a refuge for coloured people and slaves. Now, it’s in need of total restoration. The TU’s Architecture faculty is coordinating this restoration project, with MSc students also contributing.
The South African settlement Genadendal was founded as a refuge for coloured people and slaves. Now, it’s in need of total restoration. The TU’s Architecture faculty is coordinating this restoration project, with MSc students also contributing.
Dozens of dazzling white dwellings offer a picturesque view of Genadendal, a three-hour drive from Cape Town. ”Just far enough for them not to get you,” explains Frits van Voorden, a professor at Architecture’s Restoration, Renovation and Re-use department. Nearby, the structure’s outer walls are cracked and have collapsed in places, while the original thatched roofs appear to have been replaced by corrugated sheets.
During the Apartheid era, very little money or attention was given to Genadendal, which is Afrikaans for ‘Valley of Mercy’. ”Not surprisingly, under the Apartheid regime coloured people couldn%t expect any support from the government,” Van Voorden says. ”The small working-class houses are totally rundown, and moreover they aren’t equipped with modern sanitation. The only solution is full repair.”
Genadendal, founded around 1800 by missionaries of the Evangelical Brotherhood, was a safe haven for coloured people and slaves from Cape Town, a place where they were given housing, jobs, and education. Genadendal still functions according to the original concept, but restoration is badly needed. Together with the National Trust of the Western Cape, Van Voordens department will manage the settlement’s restoration project.
Yuppies
The preservation of Genadendal as an idealistic (non-commercial) community is more than a technical assignment. ”The Genadendal monument isn’t a collection of separate monuments, but a social formula for a vulnerable living community,” says Van Voorden, who also works at the Dutch National Trust.
Preservation of both buildings according to their original functions is the highest aim, Van Voorden proclaims. ”That’s why we aren’t only restoring the central gems, but also the working-class houses.”
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science are subsidising the project. They want to contribute to the preservation of international sites that are of historical importance for the Netherlands, like the former colonies.
Without the Dutch subsidy, restoration that safeguards the original functions would be impossible. ”These houses would be demolished then, or they would get a tourist, commercially attractive function like a hotel, after restoration. Their appearance wouldn’t change, but the social identity would be lost. And we don’t want tourists and yuppies to profit only. Tourists are welcome, because it offers a chance for an economical foundation to less prosperous areas.Also, it can provide work for newcomers in the community. But the essential hotel and catering industries must fit into the existing social system.”
Mandela
”Internationally, this is a pioneering project,” according to the professor, whose department is experienced in preservation projects in former colonies. ”For the first time in a developing country, a whole settlement is handled integrally. Usually, separate buildings are dealt with, like a fort or a church.” TU Delft’s involvement lasts three years, while the whole project will take about five years and cost 5.3 million guilders.
The TU Architecture faculty is engaging its MSc course, Renewal and Redesign of Urban Areas, in the undertaking, allowing MSc students to travel to South Africa. And students from Cape Town University, which TU Delft is partnering on this project, will come to Delft.
President Nelson Mandela is also interested in the project. After the abolishment of Apartheid, Mandela began supporting the settlement financially, it being an example of care for socially disadvantaged people. As a tribute, Mandela named his own office in Cape Town Genadendal.
(This story was published in Delta 28, 2001.)
Dozens of dazzling white dwellings offer a picturesque view of Genadendal, a three-hour drive from Cape Town. ”Just far enough for them not to get you,” explains Frits van Voorden, a professor at Architecture’s Restoration, Renovation and Re-use department. Nearby, the structure’s outer walls are cracked and have collapsed in places, while the original thatched roofs appear to have been replaced by corrugated sheets.
During the Apartheid era, very little money or attention was given to Genadendal, which is Afrikaans for ‘Valley of Mercy’. ”Not surprisingly, under the Apartheid regime coloured people couldn%t expect any support from the government,” Van Voorden says. ”The small working-class houses are totally rundown, and moreover they aren’t equipped with modern sanitation. The only solution is full repair.”
Genadendal, founded around 1800 by missionaries of the Evangelical Brotherhood, was a safe haven for coloured people and slaves from Cape Town, a place where they were given housing, jobs, and education. Genadendal still functions according to the original concept, but restoration is badly needed. Together with the National Trust of the Western Cape, Van Voordens department will manage the settlement’s restoration project.
Yuppies
The preservation of Genadendal as an idealistic (non-commercial) community is more than a technical assignment. ”The Genadendal monument isn’t a collection of separate monuments, but a social formula for a vulnerable living community,” says Van Voorden, who also works at the Dutch National Trust.
Preservation of both buildings according to their original functions is the highest aim, Van Voorden proclaims. ”That’s why we aren’t only restoring the central gems, but also the working-class houses.”
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science are subsidising the project. They want to contribute to the preservation of international sites that are of historical importance for the Netherlands, like the former colonies.
Without the Dutch subsidy, restoration that safeguards the original functions would be impossible. ”These houses would be demolished then, or they would get a tourist, commercially attractive function like a hotel, after restoration. Their appearance wouldn’t change, but the social identity would be lost. And we don’t want tourists and yuppies to profit only. Tourists are welcome, because it offers a chance for an economical foundation to less prosperous areas.Also, it can provide work for newcomers in the community. But the essential hotel and catering industries must fit into the existing social system.”
Mandela
”Internationally, this is a pioneering project,” according to the professor, whose department is experienced in preservation projects in former colonies. ”For the first time in a developing country, a whole settlement is handled integrally. Usually, separate buildings are dealt with, like a fort or a church.” TU Delft’s involvement lasts three years, while the whole project will take about five years and cost 5.3 million guilders.
The TU Architecture faculty is engaging its MSc course, Renewal and Redesign of Urban Areas, in the undertaking, allowing MSc students to travel to South Africa. And students from Cape Town University, which TU Delft is partnering on this project, will come to Delft.
President Nelson Mandela is also interested in the project. After the abolishment of Apartheid, Mandela began supporting the settlement financially, it being an example of care for socially disadvantaged people. As a tribute, Mandela named his own office in Cape Town Genadendal.
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