Examining the potentialities of an intercultural creative forum as a key driver for progressive social inclusivity: a design for a symbiotic creative precinct for Durban.

Abstract

Since the Industrial Revolution, the way cities have been thought of and planned has changed dramatically. Everything is understood as a component of a greater whole, compartmentalised for ease of understanding and engagement. The persisting division and ordering of how the South African city was planned and how it functions today has contaminated other spheres such as social existence; as functional typologies are separated and concentrated, so too are Durban's diverse populations. Creatively thinking about the city of Durban raises potentialities from a diverse society that exists in the city. In order to understand how to experience this difference, an understanding of different spaces and an understanding of different people needs to be achieved by studying how people produce, rationalise and experience the space that they occupy and social differences that they experience. What this dissertation sets out to achieve is an architecture that brings Durban's creative diversity together through the energies of people and the medium of exchange. By examining the potential of the creative industry to bring people together with a common interest, the development of a possibility for an intercultural future comes to the fore, where differences are not distinguished as barriers but provide opportunity for growth towards Durban's society becoming more vibrant and inclusive.