Ubuntu Center

Ubuntu Center
Field Architecture
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
The architects used overhangs and wood screens to reduce the impact of the sun, and created covered and outdoor paths through the project. Instead of sitting behind a wall for security, the center relies on its users' feeling of ownership to discourage graffiti.
Photo © Jess Field

Field Architecture

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Set at a crossroads in Zwide, a township in Port Elizabeth, this multipurpose center provides pediatric HIV/AIDS testing and treatment, as well as spaces for dance classes, performance, and social functions. By including non-health-care activities and placing the building at an important intersection, the Ubuntu Education Fund aims to integrate the center with the local community and make HIV care a part of people's daily lives. Stan Field, who grew up in Port Elizabeth, and his son Jess designed the building as a series of poured-in-place concrete structures that seem to lean on each other and embody the client's mission of people supporting one another. Founded in 1999 by a young American, Jacob Lief, and a South African teacher, Banks Gwaxula, the Ubuntu Fund is dedicated to providing education and health care to children from birth to adulthood.

ARCHITECT: Field Architecture

BUDGET: $6 million

CONTEXT: The building replaces a post office that had been burned down as a symbol of apartheid. Opened in October 2010, the center acts as part of the community's recent transformation, says Stan Field.