Change by Design Durban (2011)

South Africa is home to the world’s largest population living with HIV: 5.7 million people in 2008 (UN Aids, ‘Aids epidemic updated 2009’ unaids.org).  Profound stigmatisation of the disease means that national education campaigns do not always have the intended effect. The workshop had three main objectives: to obtain qualitative cultural maps of two communities and understand how these relate to the physical environment; to assist with the capacity building of BTB for this specific project and develop meaningful partnerships/connections with local key individuals, civil society groups, and local government to work towards the successful delivery of the long term project: a youth exchange between disaffected youth in Durban and London; to immerse undergraduate architecture students from Oxford Brookes University in the culture and location of the areas and create a supportive framework for the location of a site and brief for their second semester design projects.