翻译中心位于纳尔逊曼德拉的家乡，他从20世纪40年代移居东开普省后的第一次回到约翰内斯堡的老家。翻译中心附近的居住区从1912年到目前为止都是南非最贫穷的城市地区之一，翻译中心的一个房间和院子位于街道的对面。
建筑3层，跨越川流不息而喧哗的亚历山德拉街道。建筑包含一个展览空间，展览本地的历史，爵士乐档案室，展示本地丰富的音乐历史，图书馆，训练设施，商店。建筑产生两个城市广场，获得居民的喜爱，可以进行有组织的活动，如放映电影，或是无组织的日常交往。阳光明媚的一天，你会看到人们去理发或者在同一地点举行生日派对，或两者兼而有之。
项目的主要出发点是尊重周边环境和人群。建筑的立面，游戏空间的特质和迷宫式内部流线等元素都是来自于周围的环境，通过拼贴的方式展现在建筑中。同时，项目的目的是培训和发展居民的技能，提供零售工作机会。Alexandra翻译中心是Alexandra本地的一个平台，带来新的机遇，同时珍惜本地的文化。
原文：
The Interpretation Center celebrates Nelson Mandela in the township that was his first home in Johannesburg, when he moved to the city from the Eastern Cape in the 1940s. In the heart of Alexandra, settlement established as early as 1912 and currently one of the poorest urban areas in the country, the one room house and yard are diagonally across the street from Peter Rich’s new design on Hofmeyer Street and 7th Avenue.
The new Interpretation Centre is a mixed used 3 floor structure, conceived as bridge spanning over the animated and loud streets of Alexandra. The program contains an exhibition space to tell the story of the place, a jazz archive for the rich musical history born here, a library, training facilities, shops and restaurants. Through the design the building also generates two urban squares, places to be taken over to the resident’s liking, envisioned for both organized events like movie projections and the informality of street life. On a sunny day you might find someone getting a haircut or having a birthday party, or both, in the same place.
A major part in the construction of this project was played by the relationship based on respect with the immediate surrounding and people of Alexandra. The centre is taking over elements from the context through the collage like qualities of the faade, the juxtapositions of spaces and playful, labyrinth-like circulation. In parallel, a big part of the budget is focused on the impact on residents through training and skills development initiatives, building up a heritage team and overall retail opportunities. The Alexandra Interpretation Centre is a platform for Alexandra’s people to take on new opportunities while cherishing its culture.
