Repurposing Post-Apartheid Architectures: Discursive Formations and Practices of Representation in Johannesburg

RSVP Required

Featuring: Molisi Makhubo & Heidi Lu

Moderated by: Dr. Harriet Harriss, Professor of Historic Preservation

Presented by MS, Historic Preservation program

This discussion examines a reimagining of Johannesburg’s modern architecture, whose aesthetics were intended to echo those of its colonial powers. Drawing from Feminist Theory and Critical Race Theory, Professors Heidi Lu and Mxolisi Makhubo from Johannesburg’s Graduate School of Architecture will discuss the complicity of architecture asserting influence over race and gender relations within a city. As South Africa grapples with the disappointments of post-independence, Lu and Makhubo consider how failure offers an opportunity to use a radical approach to historic preservation to enable a more equitable urban culture.