Braid Routes

The Survival of African Home-making

Sinda Dlangamandla

BArch Hons 2021

Supervisors:
Unit Leader: Thireshen Govender
Unit Leader: Jiaxin Gong
Unit Tutor: Sarah Harding

UNIT 14^︎︎︎
Rogue Economies - Trade Roots: HOME

This Honours Research Project looks at the Hair Salon as a place of default return, housing a multitude of components that black women see themselves mirrored in. My primary interests that lead me to this sphere of study are issues around identity and how architectural systems either support or disempower different groups of people. As a black woman myself, a program that I strongly relate to is the hair salon and even more so because it specifically facilitates rituals that are culturally and ethnically rooted to my identity.

I may not share the same vulnerabilities as the protagonists in my research right now but I do foresee a future where I would need a Rogue Hair Salon. Being someone who has a strong desire to travel, and because I see myself living and working in different countries, I too could find myself in spaces where black women are marginalised, especially those who are migrants. My vision for the Rogue Hair Salon is that its footprint is maximised through inserting important political, legislative, financial and medical programs that women across the world need. I believe there would be an immeasurable amount of change in society if such a typology were to be experimented with and continually modified such that it actually works.

Keywords:
Identity, Ritual, Marginalised, Migrant

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