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UP JAVETT ART

CENTRE

The Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria (UP)
consists of a public art gallery and the Mapungubwe
museum linked to an open square. The iconic space is
located in a publicly accessible portion of the university’s
South Campus, and the site was selected by Pieter Mathews
and Carla Spies of Mathews & Associates Architects.

he gallery extends over Lynnwood building to the outdoors, one space leading
Road with a bridge which includes to another and fitting together in a robust
Ta pedestrian concourse, stitching way,” he explains.
together the university’s Hatfield and South
campuses. It also extends the original, The textures and colours of the clay paving
historic ‘Tukkielaan’ over Lynnwood Road, range are durable, colour-fast, skid-
strengthening the cultural spine of the resistant and suitable for heavily trafficked
university. areas. More than 430 000 clay pavers were
used to craft the exterior walkways, public
The complex comprises three squares: squares, ramps and parking area of the art
the Museum Square, Art Square and Town centre. “We selected the pavers to create
Square. The first is located on the southern texture, with a simple layout. Only two
side of Lynnwood Road, in front of the main paver variations were chosen to give a
entrance, and this natural gathering space more uniform thread between the different
is directly accessible to the public, hosting spaces of the building. The paving links
functions and events. The space below the new building with existing ones – the
the square forms a student gallery which historical Boukunde, Visual Arts and Town
creates a direct link between the faculties and Regional buildings.
of the Built Environment and Visual Arts,
Clay pavers providing good colour
bringing together these two creative fields. Sixty percent of the pavers were installed and texture were used to craft exterior
on a basement or slab, reducing future walkways, public squares, ramps and the
Landscape architect Wouter Labuschagne maintenance issues as the pavers can be parking area of the Javett Art Centre
says that GreenINC was appointed by UP, easily removed and re-installed without
and that Anton Comrie, the firm’s founder, compromising the surface.
had a vision of how the external spaces
could integrate with each other, merging Minimal soft planting place and climate regulation – in the face
into the new UP Javett Art Centre structure. of projected greater heat and less rain.
“He could foresee how hard landscaped Soft landscaping is minimal due to
spaces could complement the existing challenges with weight restrictions on In co-operation with plant growers Dr
buildings, and how they are also able to the slab areas and basement, but where Johan Wentzel and Ivan van der Walt, plants
stand on their own, with the exclusion of planting does occur, it is all indigenous. were selected from regionally occurring
soft spaces where necessary.” The selection was made by GreenINC species of the Tshwane region. The aim of
and the Botanical Garden curator, Jason the project is to test if the plant species
Spaces and textures Sampson. chosen could assist to develop guidelines
for local plant selections that:
Labuschagne says that the spaces are key: Dr Ida Breed is a senior lecturer at UP’s • fare well in urban areas;
“The Museum Square, Art Square and Town Biodiversity Studio, Department of • contribute to a sense of place;
Square are all spaces that fit into the new Architecture, and has developed an 80 • do not require specialised maintenance; and
building and a good design concept is square metre experimental biodiversity • attract more biodiversity.
always about space – if the space works, garden as part of the art centre complex.
anything can be achieved. At Javett, the Another 200 square metre patch area is The first fieldwork done in 2019 suggested
spaces are defined by walls, floors and located at the Future Africa complex at that the biodiversity gardens attract a
roofs; this creates a sense of belonging to a Hillcrest Campus. The biodiversity garden greater diversity of insects than common
place within a space, imparting a function project monitors the survival of native commercial species. The biodiversity
to the space and drawing people into it. plant species in urban contexts, while garden ties in well with the Mapungubwe
The spaces need to be able to be used exploring to what extent these native garden in front of the Javett Art Centre
in different ways, with a flow from the plants contribute to biodiversity, sense of which was created by Wentzel.

4 Landscape SA • Issue 92 2020