Oh wow.

For those of you who have ventured to the bleak Luthuli Plaza, you most likely didn’t even realise that it was actually a plaza.

Located across the road from the Artscape, the failed plaza is now set to get a redesign. The announcement was made at this year’s Design Indaba, which will be working in collaboration with LOLA Architects, reports Business Tech:

Design Indaba in collaboration with landscape architect Peter Veenstra, and Olav Bruin of Nomadic Resorts, now plans to breathe new life into the square by adding ‘the Dome of Plants’ – an urban public garden that starts at the Cape Town taxi rank and ends at Artscape.

Yes, there will be a dome, among some other greenery.

Here’s some idea of where it’s located:

The dome will be constructed with “natural materials such as bamboo, wood and fynbos plants like Spekboom” – which, if you hadn’t noticed, is all the rage at the moment because of its hardiness in these trying times:

As the area is also facing a severe water shortage, Veenstra added that the dome will be fed by “purified urine from the bureaucrats working in the Cape Town Civic Centre building”, situated right behind the dome’s proposed location.

Purified urine from the bureaucrats, hey? Yum.

Let’s take a look at the before and after, featuring the Dome of Plants:

What do you think – a waste of money or a necessary addition?

Could be cool.

Of course, the Design Indaba is all for it:

“The dome will take up 175 square meters of indoor space, complete with amphitheatre-style seating, stage and podium. At night, the site will transform, casting a soft green glow on Luthuli Plaza.”

“Together they offer space for discussions, events, workshops, exhibitions, meetings, lunch and a quick coffee outside the big institutions, accessible for everyone,” Design Indaba said.

And just look at how many uses it has:

For the sake of Cape Town’s failing architecture projects, I hope this works. I wonder about the wind factor, though.

[source:businesstech]