Browsing by Author "Crowder, Albertrum"
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- ItemOpen AccessAt the edge: An exploration of the boundary condition between architecture and nature(2016) Botha, Vivian May; Coetzer, Nic; Fellingham, Kevin; Crowder, AlbertrumAn interest in abandoned and derelict landscapes as environmentally appropriate spaces for architectural interventions led my dissertation research to the theoretical concept of terrain vague. The terrain vague sites found within the City of Cape Town revealed that it is the edge condition which differentiates these spaces as being outside the realm of the normative city. The unravelling of the edge from a state of order to disorder took my research to the historical fortifications of Table Bay and specifically, the Settlement's eastern boundary demarcated by the French Lines. A combination of redoubts and connecting rampant walls which marked the boundary between the order of the European settlement and the wilderness beyond. The Central Redoubt is the only remnant of these structures and is located on Trafalgar Park in the suburb of Woodstock. Trafalgar Park is surrounded and fragmented by a variety of boundary conditions and controlled access which results in the Park being severely underutilised. The dissertation design project looks at re-activating Trafalgar Park through the manipulation of its various edge conditions. The transformation of boundaries into pedestrian routes and public space around points of interest aims to improve accessibility and encourage connections between the Park and surrounding context. The Swimming Pool Precinct was chosen as the site for the architectural intervention as it is an impacted site that offers the opportunity to increase activity and improve the connection between the north and south of the Park. The interrogation of the boundary condition between architecture and nature through the design of edges and thresholds is the driving concept behind the architectural design. The dissertation design project aims to demonstrate that appropriate architectural interventions are able to increase activity in public areas within the City of Cape Town without the need for fences and controlled access.
- ItemOpen AccessMinimal means of making place(2016) Swanepoel, Simone; Coetzer, Nic; Crowder, AlbertrumThis dissertation introduced a minimal means approach to architectural interventions in the landscape of the Western Cape. Learning from land artists such as Robert Smithson and Robert Morris, an intervention is powerful when experienced in isolation. The intervention supercharges the landscape, enabling the participant to notice things they might have overlooked otherwise. Simultaneously, when there are too many interventions, the dialogue they have with their surrounding environment becomes diluted. It proposed the idea that architecture is a means with which people interact with their environment. People make place by using what the land has Io offer and curate a place in relation to the surrounding landscape. Looking at the way people lay claim to the land, and in particular make place with boundaries, lies at the heart of the research. The place-making theories of Martin Heidegger and Christian Norberg-Schulz were not negated, but rather reconsidered in the landscape of the Western Cape, outside of the metropole. This research focuses on Kleinmond, a small-scale fishing town along the Western Cape coastline, which originated with fishermen settling along a small indent in the coastline, where conditions invite fishing activities. It was suggested that the land could only be exploited to a certain extent that is determined by the constitution thereof. The manner in which the urban fabric in Kleinmond has developed over the years has deprived civilians of a dialogue with the ocean. The project sought to redefine this relationship by making place through physical and implied boundaries with minimal means of intervention. The existing rhythms present in this environment: the fishermen's daily routine, the rhythm of the tides, the seasonality of the wetland water as well as the coming and going of visitors, were informants to the approach to the site. It was sought to redefine Kleinmond as a place worth dwelling in by proposing a building that acts as an end towards the harbour, as well as an edge for the slipway while offering amenity to an under-utilised site.
- ItemOpen AccessRe-presenting layers of history in the "natural landscape": an architectural exposition of the Silvermine Reservoir(2016) Jordi, Rupert Benjamin; Coetzer, Nic; Fellingham, Kevin; Crowder, AlbertrumThe story of how a particular place came to be is more than the knowledge of a chronology of events; it is intimately part of our experience of that place. By knowing even a little of the history of a place, our perception of that place is transformed. In Historical Ground, John Dixon Hunt uses the term historical ground to refer to the notion that memories, tales, myths, and historical artefacts adhere to a place. The question Hunt then asks is how an existing site, and its tales, may be told through the medium of architecture, or landscape architecture. The idea that each site accumulates histories which may be revealed through architecture, is the basis for my own investigation. In the context of the Cape Peninsula mountain range, I am interested in seeking out and revealing particular historical narratives through the medium of architectural intervention. This report traces the journey of my design research project from my broader interests in the history of the mountain range; through the clarification of my architectural intentions; to my initial siting and programming strategies; and finally to my first ideas about making architecture in this context. I would describe this process as one of walking, finding, linking, and ultimately responding. This report introduces several key elements which underpin my research project. These elements (or layers) are: mountain (my general site of inquiry); pathways (how movement is linked to memory and meaning); earth (a technical study of the encounter between earth and architecture); fire (and its effects on the landscape); water (a resource with a story); and the wall (an historical piece of infrastructure). Each of these elements guides the reader through my research process and highlights certain found histories and artefacts along the way. As each element is presented, my research hones in on one particular place in the landscape, which is ultimately the site of my design investigation. This site, with the addition of a final artefact (a found brief), becomes the site of an architectural proposition which seeks to engage and link all of these elements together.