Browsing by Author "Mills, Glen Trevor"

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    An inquiry into the structure and function of space in indigenous settlement in Ovamboland
    (1984) Mills, Glen Trevor
    The problem of informing appropriate architectural practice in southern Africa is addressed by proposing to divert analytical attention away from the level of appearances when researching the form of indigenous settlement patterns and architecture. By way of example, an empirical study of the homestead as a unit of settlement pattern in Ovamboland is undertaken by exploring the ways in which the designer/builders themselves perceive and value space with a view to identifying and describing the organizational structure of the homestead. The initial assumption is that this form of settlement, examined as a set of spatial relations, encodes within its organizational structure the formula (or diagram) for its reproduction. The hypothesis is that a relevant understanding of indigenous settlement and architecture can only be grasped if inquiry extends beyond the formal aspects of style and technology to include an analysis of its spatial characteristic; this being the external projection of the socio-economic pattern (or ideology) of the people that produce it. And, such analysis being useful in identifying the formula which, when it interacts with its context, reproduces the observed settlement form. In view of this, a method of study is proposed which attempts to describe and examine settlement space from 'within' by exploring all the physical and non-physical determinants of form. This is done by isolating each determinant as a specification of settlement from and thereby arranging it into a scheme based on the scale of space with which it deals. The conclusions are, firstly, that because the homesteads display similar features of layout and accommodation there must exist a common, agreed-upon diagram which ensures its constant reproduction. Secondly, the evidence for the diagram must lie within the way the designer/builders perceive homestead space. Thirdly, this perception has its roots in historically inherited and functionally derived values and uses of space. Finally, a preliminary diagram is proposed which, it is argued, needs to be verified by undertaking further investigations of a similar nature in other areas of southern Africa where indigenous people occupy space.
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    The social meaning of domestic space : notes on a suitable research methodology for southern African architectural studies
    (1986) Mills, Glen Trevor; Hall, Martin
    The thesis is primarily a proposal for a research methodology. Its concern is with the analysis of southern African domestic architecture, which, it is argued, has become separated from the study of social systems and human behaviour. It is suggested that architectural research needs to be grounded in a coherent theoretical framework of a sociological nature if the meaning of buildings in society is to be adequately understood. By combing Bill Hillier et al.' s theory of ' space syntax' with Anthony Giddens ' theory of ' structuration' , a set of concepts and techniques for the study of domestic architecture is formulated. This model is demonstrated using two dwellings in the Cape Town metropolitan area. The emphasis throughout is with understanding systematically how spatial design is integrated with the wider aspects of domestic social life. To reach this understanding, a major theme in southern African architectural studies is examined. This relates to a persistent categorisation, based on formal and functional criteria, of African architecture as 'traditional' , against which is counterposed the more modern or 'designed' architecture of western cultures. As such, two approaches to the study of African architecture on the sub-continent are identified. On the one hand there are those writings that study aspects of built form by focusing on stylistic and technological details. On the other, the emphasis is on the function of buildings, focusing mostly on the non-physical principles of social organisation. Both approaches have as their objective the explication of the social meaning of built form, and each generally excludes the subject and approach of the other. The view adopted in this investigation is that each form of analysis on its own is inadequate. Theories of form and theories of function must, it is argued, necessarily incorporate each other if a rounded and systematic analysis of meaning is to take place. The problem for research is thus one of establishing an adequate methodological basis for understanding in theory that which is materially realised in built form already, namely the integration of society and space. The concern ill this dissertation is consequently with an attempt to answer two seemingly simple questions: How do buildings affect behaviour and activity patterns? and, how do interactions among people affect the form of buildings? By integrating the methodological and descriptive procedures in space syntax with the interpretive framework for social system analysis in structuration theory, an attempt is made to provide sane answers to these questions and thereby to contribute towards a non-functionalist theory of architecture. The conclusions are firstly that the pervasive distinction between 'traditional' and 'modern' architecture is unnecessary and misleading. Secondly, theoretical aspects of both syntax and structuration are identified that may be useful to the development of both.