Nana's living library : an outdoor South African floral library in Pretoria CBD

Abstract

Urbanisation increasingly diminishes the availability of open space in cities, creating a disconnect between people and nature, especially in the heart of the Pretoria Central Business District (CBD), along Nana Sita Street. Here, local communities are restricted to poorly maintained public parks and occasional visits to natural landscapes, outside of the city, for brief interactions with nature. Meanwhile a deep connection with natural elements like flora is an important part of people’s lives. A notable example of lack of engagement is that local floral knowledge is primarily restricted to botanical gardens and nature reserves on the city’s outskirts. This project addresses these challenges by proposing a spatial framework to reintegrate nature within Tshwane’s inner city, emphasising underrepresented floral knowledge exchange. Central to this initiative is exploring methods of knowledge sharing and translating it to landscape architectural elements. Nana Sita Street serves as the primary spine of the precinct development, with improved pedestrian conditions and pathways, creating a network of new and existing green spaces in the CBD as satellite floral gardens. These foster improved human-nature relationships, celebrating authentic interactions with locally indigenous plants by transforming current derelict open spaces into gardens with medicinal, edible, culturally significant and useful plant species. The proposal is further detailed on one site within Nana Sita Street, where leftover space is transformed into an outdoor floral library complete with a discussion pavilion, exhibition walls, herbarium, workshops and demonstration areas. Other proposed development includes the repurposing of a petrol station into a vegetated area, adding residences, play areas and shops. The owner of the site, FABA Properties Ltd is considered to be the primary client and collaborates with the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the Future of the City Centres Network, which focuses on improving city centres. The proposal serves the diverse community, including working professionals, school children, theatre goers, families and visitors from surrounding areas. Overall, this proposal acts as a catalyst to highlight the importance of good quality urban green spaces, advocating for alternative representations of urban nature that integrate floral knowledge and its significance within local human-nature relationships.