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Sophia Gray lecture: ‘New national urban development strategy needed’

06 September 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Mpendulo Myeni

P1022061 copy — Lucien le Grange, architect and urbanist, delivered the 32nd Sophia Gray Lecture this year. The online event was hosted in the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, where an exhibition of his work was also on display.

The Department of Architecture at the University of the Free State (UFS) presented the 32nd Sophia Gray Memorial lecture at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum on 26 August 2021.

The speaker at this year’s event – presented online – was Lucien le Grange of Lucien le Grange Architects and Urban Planners. Some of his work includes the Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, the Prestwich Street Memorial, and the architecture and urbanism of District Six.

Le Grange was part of the staff of the Cape Town School of Architecture from 1978 to 2011, where he taught Design and History and Theory of Architecture at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Most of his work was also conducted in the Western Cape.

Purposeful thinking and purposeful action

He believes a time such as this, marked by so many environmental and public health challenges, demands of us purposeful thinking and purposeful action. “The recent social disruption in our country specifically requires honest reflection of the kind of social system we seek to create for ourselves as a nation.”

“We are at a crossroads that gives us an opportunity to seriously and honestly confront our shortcomings as a society. We need to find ways to restore confidence in ourselves and to fashion a new national urban development strategy,” he continues.

Le Grange is of the opinion that the social unrest in July is important for architects and urban designers to reflect upon. He elaborates: “In different ways, the sight of unrest stretching from Phoenix to Soweto shows that the apartheid city format remains very much intact. There has in fact been very little reconstruction and development. Our cities remain unsustainable, inequitable, and inefficient. These spaces are still conglomerations where there is no choice, no sense of place, no sense of safety, and no sense of security.”

For him as an architect and urbanist, the images of freeway landscapes summarise much of the shortcomings of our South African cities. He feels that it demonstrates a dependency on the private motor vehicle at the expense of safe and secure public transport. “It illustrates an environment full of physical barriers, which segregates communities in the isolated, monofunctional informal settlements that populate our urban landscapes,” he says.

Le Grange is convinced that this condition – all over our nation’s towns and cities – is an inditement against our dysfunctional state. “It is astounding that 27 years since the birth of our democracy, the apartheid city planning model still prevails,” he says.

Projects contributing to the social fabric

Much of the work he displayed during the lecture was done in the first decade after 1994. He says in the early years of our new democracy, the aspirations and ambitions of the RDP somehow influenced how our social services programmes were conceived and how they were delivered. The projects were executed in a manner that allowed greater social interpretation in terms of its design and execution. Facilities were expected to serve a broader social role, and its construction very often incorporated training and employment opportunities.

“It was an exciting time, although short-lived.”

He grouped his work into three overlapping areas of concern – architecture and the city, architecture and history, and architecture and community – which have informed the understanding of various contextual challenges and inspired his design ideas.

“These areas have assisted us to develop strategies that assist city building, urban design, engagement with user communities, the making of buildings, and the treatment and use of building materials,” he says.

Talking about architecture and the city, he discussed the urban design for the old Klipfontein Road Corridor. The project consists of an activity corridor along 35 km of landscape and is envisioned as a space that will allow for various development opportunities. The project also aims to break down the barriers that divide much of the urban landscape in Cape Town and to populate it with nodes, coinciding with activity areas such as a stadium, schools, or shopping malls.

Le Grange’s portfolio also includes projects that investigate a revitalisation of destroyed and forgotten sites or landscapes in District Six.

As an urbanist, he investigates how cityscapes should perform to retain integrity and a kind of density that allows mixed-use development. He points out some of the opportunities that come with dense urban living, offered by structures such as major routes, punctuated with urban landmarks and streets. Multi-purpose in their function, he believes streets are social spaces where children can play and where communities can gather during a carnival or a protest. “It is also a place of finer intimacies, from which to be seen and into which one can look onto,” he adds.

“One must also remember the existence of natural features; in this case the presence of Table Mountain that is like a mantle wrapped around Cape Town,” says Le Grange.

The declaration of the Group Areas Act in 1966 meant the end of this vibrant and highly liveable quarter in the city, and was followed by a period of destruction, implemented between the mid-1970s through to the 1990s.

Le Grange says there was, however, not a full removal. Places of worship and the schools were still occupied. When requested to develop a first-phase housing development for people to return to this area, it was around these particular social spaces that he worked.

The first nine houses built for this project were privately funded by the developers and were constructed without any approval from the authorities. The occupants of these houses were the first claimants to be moved back to District Six after being forcibly removed by the apartheid regime.

The Klipfontein and District Six projects are but two on the list of projects in which Le Grange – who believes all of humanity has a right to a life of dignity – was involved to better the lives of communities around him.

Other projects he touched on during his lecture include the Genadendal Heritage, Conservation, and Restoration project, the Ocean View Community Hall, and the Hanover Park Market.

View the complete lecture and access the virtual exhibition here. A live exhibition is also on display in the Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

News Archive

Inaugural lecture: Prof Robert Bragg, Dept. of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology

2006-05-17

Attending the inaugural lecture were in front from the left Prof Robert Bragg (lecturer at the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology) and Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor). At the back from the left were Prof James du Preez (Departmental Chairperson: Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology) and Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences). Photo: Stephen Collett

A summary of an inaugural lecture delivered by Prof Robert Bragg at the University of the Free State:

CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS AVIAN DISEASES – LESSONS FOR MAN?

Prof Robert R Bragg
Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology
University of the Free State

“Many of the lessons learnt in disease control in poultry will have application on human medicine,” said Prof Robert Bragg, lecturer at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology during his inaugural lecture.

Prof Bragg said the development of vaccines remains the main stay of disease control in humans as well as in avian species. Disease control can not rely on vaccination alone and other disease-control options must be examined.

“With the increasing problems of antibiotic resistance, the use of disinfection and bio security are becoming more important,” he said.

“Avian influenza (AI) is an example of a disease which can spread from birds to humans. Hopefully this virus will not develop human to human transmission,” said Prof Bragg.

According to Prof Bragg, South Africa is not on the migration route of water birds, which are the main transmitters of AI. “This makes South Africa one of the countries less likely to get the disease,” he said.

If the AI virus does develop human to human transmission, it could make the 1918 flu pandemic pale into insignificance. During the 1918 flu pandemic, the virus had a mortality rate of only 3%, yet more than 50 million people died.

Although the AI virus has not developed human-to-human transmission, all human cases have been related to direct contact with infected birds. The mortality rate in humans who have contracted this virus is 67%.

“Apart from the obvious fears for the human population, this virus is a very serious poultry pathogen and can cause 100% mortality in poultry populations. Poultry meat and egg production is the staple protein source in most countries around the world. The virus is currently devastating the poultry industry world-wide,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg’s research activities on avian diseases started off with the investigation of diseases in poultry. “The average life cycle of a broiler chicken is 42 days. After this short time, they are slaughtered. As a result of the short generation time in poultry, one can observe changes in microbial populations as a result of the use of vaccines, antibiotics and disinfectants,” said Prof Bragg.

“Much of my research effort has been directed towards the control of infectious coryza in layers, which is caused by the bacterium Avibacterium paragallinarum. This disease is a type of sinusitis in the layer chickens and can cause a drop in egg product of up to 40%,” said Prof Bragg.

The vaccines used around the world in an attempt to control this disease are all inactivated vaccines. One of the most important points is the selection of the correct strains of the bacterium to use in the vaccine.

Prof Bragg established that in South Africa, there are four different serovars of the bacterium and one of these, the serovar C-3 strain, was believed to be unique to Southern Africa. He also recently discovered this serovar for the first time in Israel, thus indicating that this serovar might have a wider distribution than originally believed.

Vaccines used in this country did not contain this serovar. Prof Bragg established that the long term use of vaccines not containing the local South African strain resulted in a shift in the population distribution of the pathogen.

Prof Bragg’s research activities also include disease control in parrots and pigeons. “One of the main research projects in my group is on the disease in parrots caused by the circovirus Beak and Feather Disease virus. This virus causes serious problems in the parrot breeding industry in this country. This virus is also threatening the highly endangered and endemic Cape Parrot,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg’s research group is currently working on the development of a DNA vaccine which will assist in the control of the disease, not only in the parrot breeding industry, but also to help the highly endangered Cape Parrot in its battle for survival.

“Not all of our research efforts are directed towards infectious coryza or the Beak and Feather Disease virus. One of my Masters students is currently investigating the cell receptors involved in the binding of Newcastle Disease virus to cancerous cells and normal cells of humans. This work will also eventually lead to a possible treatment of cancer in humans and will assist with the development of a recombinant vaccine for Newcastle disease virus,” said Prof Bragg.

We are also currently investigating an “unknown” virus which causes disease problems in poultry in the Western Cape,” said Prof Bragg.

“Although disinfection has been extensively used in the poultry industry, it has only been done at the pre-placement stage. In other words, disinfectants are used before the birds are placed into the house. Once the birds are placed, all use of disinfectants stops,” said Prof Bragg.

“Disinfection and bio security can be seen as the ‘Cinderella’ of disease control in poultry. This is also true for human medicine. One just has to look at the high numbers of people who die from hospital-acquired infections to realise that disinfection is not a concept which is really clear in human health care,” said Prof Bragg.

Much research has been done in the control of diseases through vaccination and through the use of antibiotics. “These pillars of disease control are, however, starting to crumble and more effort is needed on disinfection and bio security,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg has been working in close co-operation with a chemical manufacturing company in Stellenbosch to develop a unique disinfectant which his highly effective yet not toxic to the birds.

As a result of this unique product, he has developed the continual disinfection program for use in poultry. In this program the disinfectant is used throughout the production cycle of the birds. It is also used to ensure that there is excellent pre-placement disinfection.

“The program is extensively used for the control of infectious diseases in the parrot-breeding industry in South Africa and the product has been registered in 15 countries around the world with registration in the USA in the final process,” said Prof Bragg.

“Although the problem of plasmid mediated resistance to disinfectants is starting to rear its ugly head, this has allowed for the opening of a new research field which my group will hopefully exploit in the near future,” he said.

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