This blog is for members of the Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Technologies graduate seminar in "Serious Design" at Clemson University, Fall 2007 and beyond.
Josh and Enrique both based their structure projects on security--how to attain it or the lack of it, repectively. Coincidentally, my structure too is about security. I have called my structure Soweto, an urban Township in Johannesburg,South Africa, which, according to Wikipedia (its name)"is an English syllabic abbreviation, short for South Western Townships, subsequently referred to by relocating residents and other South Africans as 'So Where To'". Johannesburg is also a city with one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world, and Soweto is the base.
As a result of the crime rate, many affluent African people, whose home would be Soweto, have moved on to areas hitherto designated 'white only' leaving the impoverished others to the mercy of gangsters.
My structure stands right in the heart of Soweto as a symbol of what could be--a totally cool house, but what it can't be--a freely accessible house. To make it livable, I have added value in the form of indoor pool, underground parking, green house, and my son topped it all up by creating a tower on which he placed a car, well out of reach, often the attraction to carjackers.
What many of us want in life is simple: the right, the liberty to live our lives in peace and dignity. To go about our daily tasks without fear of being harmed; to bring up our children while enjoying the fruit of our labor. My ideal world would be just that.
2 comments:
Josh and Enrique both based their structure projects on security--how to attain it or the lack of it, repectively. Coincidentally, my structure too is about security. I have called my structure Soweto, an urban Township in Johannesburg,South Africa, which, according to Wikipedia (its name)"is an English syllabic abbreviation, short for South Western Townships, subsequently referred to by relocating residents and other South Africans as 'So Where To'". Johannesburg is also a city with one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world, and Soweto is the base.
As a result of the crime rate, many affluent African people, whose home would be Soweto, have moved on to areas hitherto designated 'white only' leaving the impoverished others to the mercy of gangsters.
My structure stands right in the heart of Soweto as a symbol of what could be--a totally cool house, but what it can't be--a freely accessible house. To make it livable, I have added value in the form of indoor pool, underground parking, green house, and my son topped it all up by creating a tower on which he placed a car, well out of reach, often the attraction to carjackers.
What many of us want in life is simple: the right, the liberty to live our lives in peace and dignity. To go about our daily tasks without fear of being harmed; to bring up our children while enjoying the fruit of our labor. My ideal world would be just that.
http://www.joburg.org.za/soweto/
Josephine...this is pretty cool! Thanks for all your hard work learning this new technology and creating a very meaningful project!
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