The design of a new muncipal council chamber in central Port Elizabeth

The student protests in South Africa in 2015 and 2016 that called for ‘decolonisation’ sparked an interest in the contested heritage of a multi-cultural society. In the South African context, there are different experiences and perceptions of the past that have resulted in contested narratives that compete for dominance in the collective memory of society today. Colonialism and its ideologies have shaped the South African built environment, as well as the social construct. Colonialism may not still be an active agent today, but its legacy continues to filter into the lives of South Africans. Apartheid was an extreme extension of colonialist ideology. Since the dawn of South Africa’s democracy, the country has been in a state of post-regime hangover and faced with the task of building a new national identity. This treatise explores the notions of memory and identity to position the indigenous cultures of Southern Africa next to the dominance of colonial culture and to create a dialogue between the legacy of colonial built heritage and post-colonial national identity. Port Elizabeth is the ideal context in which to explore the realm of post-colonial identity in architecture, as it was the first major British settler town and formed the heart of British colonialism. The Old Post Office building complex in Port Elizabeth offers an opportunity for the explorations of postcolonial theory, as it is undoubtedly a colonial building and needs drastic intervention, which could allow more room for adaptation than a building that is in better condition. The building programme for the adaptive reuse of the Old Post Office building complex will be a new municipal council chamber and offices which will act as an extension to the Port Elizabeth city hall. The aim of this treatise is to design an appropriate architectural intervention for the Old Post Office building in Central Port Elizabeth. This architectural intervention must acknowledge and respect the colonial heritage but focus on being a post-colonial building of the future by becoming a useful and relevant place for the people of Central Port Elizabeth. This is achieved through understanding what it means to be postcolonial and what this means for architecture by understanding the spatial implications of colonial planning in Port Elizabeth, the spatial planning of indigenous South African statement patterns and the heritage laws and conservation principles. This will be done through literature reviews, spatial studies, interviews and precedent studies in order to find a strategy for designing a new municipal council chamber in for the Old Post Office building complex in Port Elizabeth