How do we transform the construction sector to be less extractive and carbon intensive?
This is one of the key questions that the Bauhaus Earth ReBuilt project seeks to answer. Through a network of innovative case studies across four countries, the project shows how nature-based materials can advance this transformation. In Bhutan, South Africa (Cape Town), Germany and Indonesia project partners have been exploring the novel concept of a regenerative built environment through research-led, collaborative design processes.
The global study aims to change the narrative around the construction sector, long known for being extractive, carbon-intensive, and carbon-emitting; towards understanding “how it can contribute to the environment positively and create spaces that function really well and can move beyond what they are and who is making them,” says Philippa Tumubweinee, Associate Professor and Co-Principal Investigator (PI) on the ReBuilt Cape Town project.
Over the past two years, the African Centre for Cities (ACC) has conducted research to identify which materials would best achieve this in Cape Town. This work culminated in the construction of the ReBuilt Demonstrator at the acclaimed gallery in Langa,’16 on Lerotholi’. Officially launched on Sunday, 26 October, the event coincided with OpenStreetsLanga, a campaign to make some of the township’s busiest nodes pedestrian friendly and motor-vehicle free.
The cross-laminated timber (CLT) pavilion in the gallery courtyard is made from eucalyptus, an invasive, high-water consumption species to South Africa. It is complemented by gabion walls, which serve as anchors and planters, integrating seamlessly into the existing space. The construction and installation were led by Jamie Smily of XLAM South Africa, a leading manufacturer of CLT in the country whose practice is rooted in sustainable building materials.
The launch brought together a network of academia, community members, residents and visitors of Langa alike, some of whom have been part of the project from the conceptual stage. It further served as the first public “test” of what Tumubweinee describes as “a showcase of how sustainable materials, circular building systems, and community co-creation can advance more inclusive and ecological urban futures”.
While the project highlights the importance of a transformed construction value chain, ACC Director and Co-PI, Professor Edgar Pieterse empathises that this mammoth task of decarbonising by changing technology goes beyond scientific and empirical questions. Instead, “it is about a sociocultural transformation, which is fundamentally about design, about what people feel they want, what they regard as beautiful and what they aspire to.
He adds: “You need to unlock imagination about other kinds of designs, other kinds of beauty, which is what the demonstrators are about. They’re about showing that within these four sites of the world, there are these range of alternatives at the edges of the system and that they can become a viable mainstream set of materials to build and live differently.”
Innovation and experimentation in regulated spaces
As an applied research output, the pavilion demonstrates how the University of Cape Town’s innovation ecosystem translates knowledge into tangible public interventions. One of the key challenges was experimenting with a solution that didn’t require a concrete foundation. Pieterse explains how this led to using a ground screw system.
“The screw-in mechanism as a foundation is related to the fact that we couldn’t do concrete foundations. This aligned perfectly with the project’s intent to be low-carbon, but this also makes the structure technically temporary in the eyes of the city… A big challenge that you face in Cape Town is, it’s very hard to innovate because we’ve got such an over-regulated built environment. Even in contexts where most people’s lives aren’t that structured and formal, those standards still apply.”
He continues: “We’re really pleased in a way that the environmental challenge of the waterlogged area presented itself. That innovation is probably one of the most interesting aspects of this, but also that innovation is regulatory. We’re doing a workaround in terms of a very difficult public sector approval environment.”
A space for art, food and conversation
According to Mpilo Ncgukana, co-founder of 16 on Lerotholi, the pavilion also acts as a much-needed third space, where gallery visitors now have a landing and locals an alternative working area. For the SA Urban Food and Farming Trust, it has created an exciting space where one of their benefactors, Mzi Mashicila can continue hosting his niche ‘Tea with a Farmer’ tastings. The trust is keen to explore how this model can be applied to some of their projects in Langa and elsewhere.
The collaboration with OpenStreetsLanga offered a unique opportunity to witness the pavilion’s potential as an event space serving the broader Langa community. Throughout the day’s activities, Gediminas Lesutis and Gian Marco Morigi from Bauhaus Earth were thrilled to see people engaging with the space. “It’s really exciting to see the project roots coming into life and seeing what we can achieve when we collaborate with different organizations that can see all this on the ground,” says Lesutis.
With formalities out of the way and visitors exploring the space, the deck served as the perfect stage for the ‘Jazz in the Native Yards’ show, where revellers danced well into the evening to the sounds of Ernest Dawkins, Kanu Ntshoko, Adam Powell, and Clayton Pretorius.
As Pieterse put it: “[t]he point of this is not a showcase behind the glass, but it is a showcase to be used by all. Because that’s when it’s really going to come to life.”
