December 16-22, 2004

cityspace

A Sporting Chance

by Jonas Raab

Two Philadelphia design teams, Marco Cimatti/Justin Gebhard and Dennis Playdon/Kate Wingert, are among nine finalists in an international Siyathemba competition to develop a combination youth soccer field and HIV/AIDS prevention center in Somkhele, South Africa, an area stricken with one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world.

Architecture for Humanity selected the finalists from 275 teams around the globe; Philadelphia was the only city—and the U.S. the only country—to have multiple teams qualify.

The combination of sports and prevention may seem strange at first. But Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that offers design solutions to social problems, says that in many parts of Africa, team sport activities, especially soccer, are being incorporated into programs that help young people deal with issues such as poverty, malnutrition, educational access and, of course, HIV/AIDS prevention.

"The young people [in Africa] are pretty much stranded due to the AIDS epidemic," said South African-born Dennis Playdon, finalist and independent architect in Philadelphia. "Many areas have been so decimated by AIDS that there are no parents."

The new facility, to be built in spring of 2005, will be run by medical professionals from the Africa Center for Health and Population Studies (ACHPS) and will serve as home to the first girls soccer league in the region. All entries had to include a youth-sized soccer field, a seating area and a small changing room in the design.

"The idea is to bring 9- to 14-year-old girls together," says Playdon. "They are the future of that country."

The girls will have the final say on selecting the winning project. The different proposals are presented to them via a traveling road show throughout December, where the designs are being displayed on large poster boards and explained to the children by members of the selection jury.

The Playdon/Wingert entry for Siyathemba—a Zulu word for hope—is titled "The Healing Process is in the Building of Community." Their proposal incorporates earthen technology, which means that the buildings would be put together by hand and by the locals using materials from the earth, such as adobe plasters.

The structure would be surrounded by several gardens to help facilitate community involvement and produce herbs and plants that could be used or sold. It would also offer ways to harvest and retain rainwater in holding tanks.

"To instill enthusiasm among the community is a big job," says Playdon, "but you can do it with things like common enterprise."