Alexandra M Parker
Alexandra Parker’s research explores the intersections of people, their cultures and identities, and urban and suburban environments. Her current research is diverse and examines the roles of motherhood identity, graffiti, streets as public spaces and school feeder zones in shaping the Gauteng city-region. Exploring personal identities, cultural practices and social experiences offers alternative insights into the functions and dysfunctions of city spaces. Alexandra has a growing enthusiasm in the work of visually disseminating research findings through exhibitions, data visualisations, explainer videos and exploiting social media platforms.
Alexandra Parker joined the GCRO in late 2016 after a long and fruitful association with the University of the Witwatersrand as an undergraduate and postgraduate student and as a postdoctoral research fellow. She completed her PhD in town and regional planning in 2014 (Thesis Title: Images and Influence: The Role of Film in Representing Johannesburg and Shaping Everyday Practice in the City) published as the monograph Urban Film and Everyday Practice: Bridging Divisions in Johannesburg (2016, Palgrave Macmillan). Her doctoral and postdoctoral research explored the influence of urban films on everyday practice in the cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Alexandra began in the field of architecture for her undergraduate and masters degrees. She has a passion for teaching and engaging with students and has taught courses in planning and architecture at the Wits School of Architecture and Planning; the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg; and a Masters course at the Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy.
She serves on the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation board and is chair of the Joint Building Plans Committee (East) actively campaigning to protect the city’s heritage. She is a director on the board of the Architects’ Collective, promoting architecture and the built environment through cultural activities. In 2017 Alexandra was recognised as one of Mail and Guardians 200 Young South Africans.
Alexandra Parker joined the GCRO in late 2016 after a long and fruitful association with the University of the Witwatersrand as an undergraduate and postgraduate student and as a postdoctoral research fellow. She completed her PhD in town and regional planning in 2014 (Thesis Title: Images and Influence: The Role of Film in Representing Johannesburg and Shaping Everyday Practice in the City) published as the monograph Urban Film and Everyday Practice: Bridging Divisions in Johannesburg (2016, Palgrave Macmillan). Her doctoral and postdoctoral research explored the influence of urban films on everyday practice in the cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Alexandra began in the field of architecture for her undergraduate and masters degrees. She has a passion for teaching and engaging with students and has taught courses in planning and architecture at the Wits School of Architecture and Planning; the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg; and a Masters course at the Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy.
She serves on the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation board and is chair of the Joint Building Plans Committee (East) actively campaigning to protect the city’s heritage. She is a director on the board of the Architects’ Collective, promoting architecture and the built environment through cultural activities. In 2017 Alexandra was recognised as one of Mail and Guardians 200 Young South Africans.
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Books by Alexandra M Parker
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population. Representations of the city in cultural mediums including film allow residents to cross boundaries and make conceptual and practical connections and are therefore important
in addressing past legacies.
Johannesburg’s moving image history is only ten years younger than the city and over this time the representation of the city in film has provided insight into the nature of this urban
agglomeration. But the representation of the city in film has been inconsistent and erratic and requires close analysis. It is important to understand the ways in which the city has been
represented and how it features in popular mediums of culture and also how it contributes to the discourse of the city. There is very little understanding of how films are being received by
residents of the spaces and places depicted on the screen, and even less on how these films influence the everyday practices of these residents.
This thesis draws on the idea of a ‘circuit of culture’ to explore both the representation of the city through film, and the impact of this representation on urban practice. To structure this analysis the thesis makes use of four lenses: materiality; identity; mobility; and crime. It provides an analysis of films with Johannesburg as a major location that were produced and screened after 1994. Surveys and interviews were conducted in four different locations in the city, each of which have been the site of film production and have been distinctly represented on the screen: Chiawelo; CBD; Fordsburg; and, Melville.
The study concludes that film can facilitate a greater understanding of the complex city for the residents of Johannesburg but that there are nevertheless clear limitations to what film can achieve. Films provide information and ‘accessibility’ to unknown spaces, encouraging interaction with the city, through exploration, familiarity and comfort but film can also be a
conservative medium that reduces and typecasts complexity. Films often reinforce spatial stereotypes but they can also produce a “resistant reading” that helps transgress spatial
boundaries.
Three suburbs/ case studies in Johannesburg were chosen for their very different wall conditions. The physical attributes of the wall were documented and interviews were conducted to understand the perceptions of the wall on both sides; from the outside and from within the walls. The boundary wall masks the house from view and can prevent passive surveillance but it can also act as a sign and express the individual. The two types of walls are found to be no different from one another, physically and very few negative perceptions of walls were revealed.
Chapters by Alexandra M Parker
population. Representations of the city in cultural mediums including film allow residents to cross boundaries and make conceptual and practical connections and are therefore important
in addressing past legacies.
Johannesburg’s moving image history is only ten years younger than the city and over this time the representation of the city in film has provided insight into the nature of this urban
agglomeration. But the representation of the city in film has been inconsistent and erratic and requires close analysis. It is important to understand the ways in which the city has been
represented and how it features in popular mediums of culture and also how it contributes to the discourse of the city. There is very little understanding of how films are being received by
residents of the spaces and places depicted on the screen, and even less on how these films influence the everyday practices of these residents.
This thesis draws on the idea of a ‘circuit of culture’ to explore both the representation of the city through film, and the impact of this representation on urban practice. To structure this analysis the thesis makes use of four lenses: materiality; identity; mobility; and crime. It provides an analysis of films with Johannesburg as a major location that were produced and screened after 1994. Surveys and interviews were conducted in four different locations in the city, each of which have been the site of film production and have been distinctly represented on the screen: Chiawelo; CBD; Fordsburg; and, Melville.
The study concludes that film can facilitate a greater understanding of the complex city for the residents of Johannesburg but that there are nevertheless clear limitations to what film can achieve. Films provide information and ‘accessibility’ to unknown spaces, encouraging interaction with the city, through exploration, familiarity and comfort but film can also be a
conservative medium that reduces and typecasts complexity. Films often reinforce spatial stereotypes but they can also produce a “resistant reading” that helps transgress spatial
boundaries.
Three suburbs/ case studies in Johannesburg were chosen for their very different wall conditions. The physical attributes of the wall were documented and interviews were conducted to understand the perceptions of the wall on both sides; from the outside and from within the walls. The boundary wall masks the house from view and can prevent passive surveillance but it can also act as a sign and express the individual. The two types of walls are found to be no different from one another, physically and very few negative perceptions of walls were revealed.