Nature inspires Wits architecture students
Second year students of the Wits architecture programme recently held a screening of a series of films questioning nature and our relationship to it.
What if architects went into communities and designed with the aim of having a better relationship with nature through cohabitation? This was the task for a group of second year Wits architecture students, enrolled in a film elective called Nature Alley.
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They premiered these films, which they had been creating since the start of year, in a Brixton alley behind Putney Road to an audience made up of fellow students, community members, architects, and Wits staff. Lecturer Anita Szentesi said the films are based on Brixton, or, more specifically, its alleyways, questioning nature and our relationship to it. “They are getting people to look at how we can have a better relationship with nature. Looking at the present, going back to the past, and looking at the alley as a specific character they have chosen.”
Students identified an urban animal, and through their eyes they imagined a better future, or a message for the future. With all technological advancements, these films looked at answering whether architects consider these animals in their architecture. The urban animals that were identified were rats, pigeons, snails, moths and butterflies, and cats, as well plants found in alleyways and behind walls.
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Szentesi described alleys as a legacy of the past, which people still have, but they’re no longer used in the same way. They used to be sanitary lanes, but now, people use them as driveways and dumping grounds, while some have taken to live in them. “We saw this space as an opportunity to include, or cohabit, with the nature that already lives here.” This elective was a way of encouraging architects to think of designs that included urban animals, which have been forced to live in the gaps and margins.
The lecturer reflected on one of their first site visits – on a very rainy day. Szentesi saw one of the students find a butterfly. “She found this butterfly on litter and it was struggling. She carried the butterfly throughout our site visit, until the animal felt safe enough to fly away.” She said this was something that resonated and stay with the course.
She hoped guests left with eyes opened, understanding better the ‘others’ we live with. She thanked local, Mark Schaerer, for helping to accommodate them, as well as all the neighbours and community members for having an amazing atmosphere and being open and festive.
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