Colonial Gardens

Discovery through Displacement

Danielle Gruner

BArch Hons 2021

Supervisors:
Unit Leader: Claudia Morgado
Unit Tutor: Ruby Mungoshi
Unit Assistant: Azraa Gabru

UNIT 13^︎︎︎
Second Nature | Shared Futures

Colonial gardens are heterotopias of space as they are spatially, temporally, functionally, and aesthetically distinct. There are deep histories within colonial gardens, and the history of the inception of the Zoo Park brings the indigenous people of Namibia much pain, which I discovered through my research. Based on all my findings at the Zoo Park, I began to formulate tactics that spoke to my work on colonial gardens, which would guide my approach moving forward. I explored grafting in my pursuit of creating post-colonial identity and the grafting of cultures through architecture as a means of looking to the future.

Being displaced led to the discovery of the history of the genocide of the Herero and Nama people between 1904-1908 by the German imperialists in Namibia. My aim was to subvert Germany’s former ruling authority in Namibia as their imperial legacy is still present today. Paramount within my research is cyanotype drawing as a methodology for developing the work and prompting and communicating its meaning. The drawing can become a site for deviating and challenging the historical, whether through imaginary flights away from the past or the methodological re-analysis. I aimed to use history as a site for speculation and proposition. The works exist as a series of drawings in a variety of media. They are projections intended to provide provocative visions of new possibilities for statues at public places as the world becomes more aware of the brutal legacy of colonialism and the role-specific figures played. The project seeks to produce architecture removed from the building to explore the discipline’s imaginative and philosophical ambitions.

Keywords:
Heterotopia, Imperialism, Genocide, Reconciliation, Indigenous, Grafting, Subversion

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