Cascoland is an international collaborative project where artists and designers engage themselves in communities in order to activate and develop public space.
In 2007 Cascoland took place at the Drill Hall, inner city Johannesburg, SA.
Besides its historical importance (the treason trials took place there in the 50’ and 60’), the Drill Hall, and the Hillbrow / Jubert park area, have gone over the past decade a dramatic physical and social transformation. It has become the home to immigrants from all over Africa, thousands of people in search of a roof over their head and a job in the city. With exceptionally high densities of housing and revolving demography, inner-city lacks however basic public facilities of an urban environment of this size and intensity.
The sidewalks surrounding the Drill Hall are home for numerous small businesses providing services for the hundreds of mini-van taxis around: car washers, mechanics, electricians, car-stereo technicians, snacks and cigarettes vendors, and so on. This micro-economy is well organised, creating jobs for many and providing quick and efficient service, but is not approved by the city authorities.
The need for seating facilities is obvious, both for the workers and for the public waiting for the taxis, which is the only mean of transport to and from the townships.
The goal of the project was to try and activate this public space which stood fenced and isolated, and my intention was to use the fence, the physical barrier between the compound and the outside world, as an infrastructure for a dialogue.
The fence, which normally defines the border between inside and outside, legality and illegality, mine and yours- is used to diffuse those definitions.
Cascoland
