Waste to Wonder_

Location: Langa, Cape Town Material: Tetra Pak

“Working with waste materials, we wanted to know how far we could push a material that would ordinarily be disregarded. Could we transform materials beyond ‘trash’ recognition? Could we manipulate waste into a thing of beauty? To see the value in something that is thrown away, is an opportunity to create awareness of and ‘intellectual access’ to the endless stock of free materials around us.” Ashleigh Killa (The MAAK co-founder)

TetraPak is a readily available waste material with a potential afterlife post consumer use. Ideation workshops helped unlock unique forms and shapes using the pre-existing fold lines in unusable TetraPak sheets that were donated to the project. An iterative process of 1:1 prototyping helped inform the final components that could be replicated en masse. Beyond simply aesthetic considerations, the broader project goals look toward exploring alternative spatial narratives to activate public space. In this case, wonder, surprise and joy were explored as architectural tools to attract and foster impactful urban exchange.

The full FITV 2019 team was made up of a mix of creatives from the local Langa community and participants from the wider Cape Town area. Working as a team with vastly different backgrounds, skills and cultures, FITV 2019 was as much about its spatial ambitions as it was an opportunity to foster meaningful human connections in post-apartheid South Africa.

To the surrounding residents, pedestrians and participants alike, the folly was an injection of pride, positivity, beauty and hope. The scheme, as an act of place-making, considers the potential of urban futures designed and built by many and highlights the importance of togetherness in fostering a proudly South African architecture of this time. 

​​“... before today, stuff like this only ever existed for me in the movies or magazines.” local Langa resident.