FREEDOM PARK - //Hapo

//hapo is the Khoi word for dream.  It is the name given to the museum at Freedom Park.  The brief for the buildings and their landscape setting is rather complicated in its context but revolves around the idea of the Khoi proverb: //hapo ge //hapo tama /haohasib dis tamas ka i bo; translated to English as A dream is not a dream until it is a dream of the community.

//hapo is the first point of arrival for the visitor to Freedom Park.  It is in this space that the visitor needs to be introduced to the character, nature and context of the experience that will take place at Freedom Park.  It is here that the visitor begins their walk along the Vhuwaelo, a contemplative journey which spirals up the Salvokop hill, stringing together 'garden' spaces like beads on a necklace. //hapo is the first of these 'gardens', a landscape originally conceived as boulders and metamorphosed layers of rock that talk to the creation story.

The landscape design responds in a manner that takes the visitor from the arrival /  welcoming space (a secular space not part of the Freedom Park narrative), an open uncluttered space dotted with trees for shade, through to the ticketing booth and then beyond and into the park.  Once inside the park the visitor is directed through a clearly defined pathway to a gathering area where s/he will be briefed by a guide about the experience ahead.  On leaving this area, the visitor continues eastwards along the pathway towards the first of three core external spaces in //Hapo - the Garden of Indigenous Knowledge or the Healing Garden.   An articulated channel of water leads the visitor into this quiet, contemplative space which gazes eastwards over the city towards the Union Buildings and a propitious future. As water and pathway merge, the visitor is encouraged to dwell and explore this simple space cut into the earth and engage with a rich tapestry of medicinal plants. Indigenous knowledge is an all-pervading aspect of Africa.  Accordingly the use of medicinal plants in the garden and on Salvokop is extensive and selection and location of species to plant was guided by traditional healers who have extensive knowledge in this area.

The second of the core spaces, Sentlhaga (or children’s garden), is held tightly between the Healing Garden and 'Boulders'. A series of cascading walls and terraces provide refuge for both plants and the child’s imagination. Totems, animated water, open lawns and hidden pathways provide space for children to engage with the landscape and each other. A small grassed amphitheatre and rubberised surfaces provide further opportunity for caretakers and guides to convey concepts dealt with in the museum to the children (loose props will be used to assist with storytelling – a traditional way of communicating in Africa). 

Because the museum was conceived as a series of epochs which should be interconnected, the Boulders needed to be clustered in a circular arrangement to provide for cross circulation between exhibits and story-telling spaces. This provided the opportunity for a Central Courtyard space, the third of the core external spaces, and the literal heart of //hapo. The space itself is simple – a uniform surface punctuated by mounds of abundant Savannah vegetation taking refuge in the protection of the Boulders. This simple resolution not only provides clear access lines to openings in each of the boulders, and the exhibits that lie within, but also establishes small and large spaces in and around the mounds where storytelling, dancing, gathering, and temporary exhibit can take place.   The plants located in the ‘cracks between the boulders’ also make reference to the first plants that started growing on earth as life evolved.

Conceptually and programmatically, the spaces and places that make up the landscape of //hapo are considered as extensions of the Boulders (and museum), the appropriate selection of materials was critical. To this end, the red clay brick was selected as it opened up the possibilities for treating vertical and horizontal planes in a uniform manner, connecting the immediate landscape to the copper of the Boulders and the red soils of the hill. Rusted steel, timber, raw concrete finishes and low level lighting compliment and accentuate this palette, furthering the effects of the metaphor. Circulation routes, gathering spaces (covered and open-to-air), viewpoints and thresholds are cut into this ‘clay-like’ base, creating a series of ramps, terraces and enclaves, and in turn providing opportunity, in the cracks and crevices, for the vegetation of the hill to take root. And as this indigenous savannah vegetation of the north facing slopes moves down the hill, embracing //hapo, the Boulders, over the course of time, slowly, become one with the garden. 

Exiting the museum at any one of the openings which break out onto various terraces and courtyards, the visitor may choose to take one of the many pathways that re-join the Vhuwaelo and continue their journey up the hill. As the pathway leaves //hapo  to the east it leaves the ground itself in order to deal with the complexities of navigating a steep slope. A raised timber deck winds its way up the hill to afford lovely vantage points of //hapo, Salvokop and the city. At intervals along its route, 'found' spaces, discovered through an extensive site analysis process, provide retreat and placed sculpture provokes reflection. This walkway connects visitors to all the other ‘gardens’ within Freedom Park, offering newcomers a wheelchair accessible processional route up to the S’khumbuto monument, and returning guests, a variety of other routes and spaces to explore.

The project was completed in conjunction with GreenInc, Gallery Momo (NBGM) and OCA architects.