african renaissance

Africa is a very dramatic continent - it has always been independant of western ideals - men have tried to mold Africa into an extension of Europe - however it has always fervently sought its own unique identity. an identity as old as the sculpted cape fold mountains. from the sphinx, pyramids to the moors, Hausa, Dogon and Ndebele - African architecture has always been dramatic, gaudy.

using these design points of departure, i propose a few examples for an African architectural renaissance. definitely not to every ones taste - but a bold new way of conceptualising African architecture.

suggestions to improve fish hoek

fish hoek is a small coastal town on the cape peninsula. i have a vested interest in this little valley as i was born in falsebay hospital and grew up between the confines of the kalk bay mountains and elsies peak. i write grew up with reservation.

i have for many years been suggesting improvements to this little place and its industrialised main road. i did create several little booklets and plan layouts which i handed to community papers, community magazines , estate agents and business property owners on the main road. unfortunately the community papers and magazines didn't see any value in publishing my perspectives of improving the fish hoek main road.

so if folk cant see a value in your suggestions - blog about it. maybe someone out their has a similar little town they are emotionally attached to and can use the suggestions.

fish hoek has an a-list beach which is separated from the heart of the town by a railway line. which means the 2 operate independently from each other. another interesting development is that the beach accommodates cars more than it accommodates people. many years ago the municipality created parking on the beach which is a little money spinner for someone. so on a sweltering hot summers day cars clog up the bulk of the beach area - whilst the people squash themselves in a small sliver of sand and grass. Ive always marvelled at this. the effect is exaggerated when a great white shark makes an appearance and everyone leaves the water. now the little sliver of pedestrian area is completely crowded. high tide is also an interesting happening.

the railway line is not an attractive addition to this scenario and really spoils what could be an awesome beach town atmosphere.

here are my suggestions - and like most suggestions they are not easy to institute, they will take planning and hard work. but the rewards for all will be worth the effort.

firstly spoornet needs to relook at the railway line - why?- because it is my understanding that they sold off spoornet land on the clovelly side of fish hoek main road. and the flats that where built on this stretch did nothing to improve the atmosphere of fish hoek. infact between the face brick prison of a police station and the face brick spoornet flats - we have bricklane. so my suggestion to spoornet is this. -

the railway line can either be raised as in kalkbay or buried in a tunnel underground. just for the 200m from the railway station to the restaurant at the beach. i know the engineering will be both costly and difficult but it will allow the town to filter onto the beach.

the cars which now enjoy the bulk of the a-list beach can be housed in a 3 storey parking garage built on the parking ground in 1st avenue. this will allow folk to park their cars and filter through the shops on the way to the beach. like the algarve in portugal - a perfect example of sound design.

their are certain big corporates that own shops leading into fish hoek. these buildings turn their back on the main road and can be altered to reflect a more inviting facade.

a walkway can be added over the pavement on both sides of the fish hoek main road - this will create 2 levels of shop frontage as you would find in a mall - only this will be an open air shopping experience.

the garden of remembrance can couple as a sculpture garden and the circle at the end of fish hoek could have a coffee shop with walkways leading to it under the road.

kalkbay and simonstown have such wonderful atmosphere and most folk when riding through fish hoek have no reason to stop. although huge improvements have been made since i first started making these suggestions, i do feel the railway link , parking and certain buildings need architectural improvement before fish hoek reaches its full potential.

the above 2 presentation jpgs are an extreme form of getting attention. i read an article that fish hoek and muizenberg beach where zoned for 10 and 12 storey blocks of flats. so i decided to design a possible franken freakish scenario. the design keys into a revival of Gothic ideas with humanoid structure being sculpturely displayed on the outside of the buildings. definitely only to a few peoples taste and definitely bound to create the needed controversy for change.

i really do love these coral sort of lines - however i have found that conservative towns will go to great lengths to preserve their conservative ideals. i now live in muizenberg - for reasons best kept to myself this was a very wise move.

recycled creative drawing board work station

being a creative person is about developing a tough critic proof skin and hard calloused knuckles for door knocking. the title of creative person must come from those around you and shouldn't emanate from your own mouth to often. - this is a code to live by.

i have been treading pavements and tinkling computer keys with my erxell concept for over 3 years. for those of you who are unfamiliar with this idea - i have summarised the concept below.

the erxell concept

the erxell concept is an exciting new design venture which I find myself hurtling towards at the speed of light. it keys into the recycled board and the idea of creating jobs and better systems for informal settlement dwellers. I have had a passion for some time to create communicative links between industry, designers, education and informal settlements. the recycled drawing board was the first phase of this vision, the optimistic catalyst to create this elusive communicative link. crossing language barriers and communicating through graphics. the design idea is termed the erxell concept, which provides a mechanism to reach into impoverished areas and empower those through simple, clever design. being sympathetic to the many cultural, financial and social issues within these communities.

simply put QJD dsigen sutdio wants to consult to industry, informal settlements, educational partners -and by using industries waste, create well designed products, which folk in informal settlements can manufacture. creating the synergy, the glass bead of trade between all socio economic groups around the table.

the recycled creative drawing board will be this symbol or sculpture of this endeavour - easily reaching into the most impoverished community and providing a vehicle for communication.

as is so true - a picture speaks a thousand words.

now ladies and gentlemen - that's an idea to get completely excited about. the pictures above show the step 1-4 of being able to easily pack and transport these boards anywhere in the world.

the unveiling of the new S.A.I.D draughting chair . a fitting symbol of welding graphics, art, sculpture and design ideas.

New premises for QJD dsigen sutdio

when moving into new premises one is conscious of something in the air, a sense of expectancy that seems to emanate from deep within. an optimism that only a new environment can bring.

for the last 10 years i have run my studio from an office within my living space. this has served me very well and i have been able to look after family and work responsibilities simultaneously.

however the need to separate work from the family and the creative art component is a very necessary step. i have been offered a rare privilege to run my design studio from the academy of inventive design and technology campus. i have been teaching draughting and CAD design since 1994 and i have always contracted my services to the various colleges and training institutes that i have aligned myself with. this is the first step to weld aspects of my studio with a training component. the new premises form part of the Lesedi nuclear training facility in century city, Edison drive.

this sense of expectancy in the air for QJD dsigen sutdio is palpable - I have access to many draughting hands and feet , the surroundings of state of the art facilities, a corner office mr trump and a growing team of creative professionals. i have visions of extending the design consultancy aspect of my studio and a few other secret squirrel ides.

the new office furniture i have designed is being manufactured - its a modest piece of deco - a shelf - which embodies all my ideals and will be a comfortable transition piece - from home to office. so if your in the area mr jack tv, wimbat wimble, jack smith - pop in for a visit.

i absolutely believe even in these financially tumultuous times, sincere creative endeavour will prevail.

QJD dsigen sutdio - first exhibition stand

my goal - is to build the QJD dsigen sutdio exhibition stand and have it ready for the muizenberg kite festival. the QJD stand will have examples of all the studios work - as off the wall as it is. QJD t-shirts , furniture , sculpture - rare Nado Storm original artwork and comics, the yip trip childrens series will also be available amongst a host of other QJD dsigen sutdio bits and bobs. the furniture will be ordered from the originals and will be in a series of 10 to 20 only -

Muizenberg here in cape town is an awsome place to live and create. the people , the atmosphere and the beach are wonderfully inspirational.

creative workstation - informal settlements

to create a space saving multi functional creative work station in an informal settlement dwelling. my inspiration for this idea was originally to create a communicative link/ vehicle between people living in an informal settlement and designers. as a picture speaks a thousand words i felt that ideas would flow more easily between the 2 groups if a creative workstation was designed. a creative right now, right here concept which will teach designers such as myself how to improve conditions for those living under such deplorable conditions.

my other more cumbersome creative work stations would take up to much space in an already crowded informal settlement home. these boards could be put into community halls and schools. this improved design creates a drawing board, table, bench , shelves and computer station all keyed into the structure of the dwelling. - so the workstation actually strengthens the architecture of the shack. the bright colours enhance mood and hopefully the creative spark of our future engineers, artists ,draughtspersons and designers.

khayalitsha agricultural project

erxell is a futuristic design idea to get excited about - as per most of my concepts, i fully understand its way beyond the concept of MAYA - (most advanced yet acceptable) however i will continue to advocate this idea - as it benefits folk who really need a better system to key into.

cape town has huge communities living in desperate conditions - in tin shacks just outside the city - these dwellings roof space - could become a blank canvas that will benefit a few thousand informal settlement dwellers. an agricultural crop circle billboard put onto 100 x 100 informal settlement shack roofs. the families benefit from waterproofed roof and possible residual income - advertising gets the biggest dargone sign in the world - win win - type in erxell to see the concept - the site has a spoof on erxelling bob mugabe's mansion - however the actual earth branded signage - the erxell was developed for the express purpose of putting the poor and advertising at the same table - now thats an idea - http://www.blogger.com/ - thats a billboard to get excited about.

I have been busy with this Erxell concept for a few years - its a layering concept - let me explain. the actual branding component is only a part of the overall idea. as humans we design our urban sprawl for the destitute very 1 dimensionally - outwards and as fast as possible. what if we could literally live under our vineyards? yes that would require platforms - which ive designed using new lightweight steel structure which the human living component keys into. so the structure for the platform and abode are 1 - taking care of 2 things at once.

the platform will allow the growth of lightweight produce like veggies, vineyards and possibly wheat. so the cultivating fields are above the dwelling component. which forms the layering idea - the branding component forms a futuristic crop circle with the growing component cleverly interwoven into a design logo. much like the Victorian manicured gardens of old and crop circles combined. the value of the erxell unit of measure which is what the advertising giants buy from the informal settlement dweller will increase with the better kept logos. which creates work, food and incentive to both cultivate and keep the cape flats looking green, green , green.

so the logo is an organic sculpture which needs maintenance - every plane flying over the cape flats will be able to see if the workers below are manicuring their fields - this will increase the rent able erxell space and ultimately be the monetary value - other than the actual food of course which can be bartered as in times of old.

my steps so far -
I have approached the South African institute of draughting. they have endorsed my new unit of earth brand able measurement - they have seen the future prospects of this form of large scale draughting. - the Erxell - 3 cubits X 3 cubits -( Erxell is earth sell and pixel combined) - thereby creating the glass bead of trade between the advertising giants and your little family living in shack 1 khayalitsha site b. this creates a system whereby we all benefit. a cultivated garden pointing skywards - creating a brand able billboard - everyone wins.

because this idea goes way beyond Raymond Loewy's MAYA concept - (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable). its been a slow education process. I am getting abit of airtime in design mags, its received recognition from Holcim and a few other accolades. - I believe the way forward is one shack at a time.

I believe altruistically if a system is designed in place to have a holistic affect on an entire community - the riff raff will not dare disrupt the balance - if the multitudes are aware that collectively they can draw attention to their plight and gain finance in this way - they will police their own area and make sure the criminal element doesn't rock the boat.people who want to use the platform for a living component will stop the entire show - no more aid until the living component is removed and its strictly set as an agricultural entity.

yours sincerely
quinton j damstra
http://www.qjdamstra.com/ future city scape visionary.

http://www.erxell.com/ founder member of the erxell effect.