OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Steenkamp, Alta"

Browsing by Author "Steenkamp, Alta"

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Open Access
A landscape in transition : architecture for an extreme climatic condition : accommodating the informal within a flood-prone area
(2009) Edwards, John; Steenkamp, Alta; Noero, Jo; Carter, Francis
[Not copying properly]Changing landscapes The npid urbanization !leen within the City of Cape-Town is a dyn2mic fluid, non-linor process as opposed to being stable or closely pcc:dicrJ.ble. Ecology and systems theory are· concepts inherent to the city and iu relationship with landSCllpe. Conceptualizing urbanization, human security and disaster risk, especially within Africa. will help unravel the issue at hand. The nature of the problem and the extreme conditions of flooding will also be explored. There are indiations that South A frica's climate is becoming increasingly variable (Napier & Rubin; 2002). Climate change increases the uncertainty fa.ced by vulnerable communities through a widening range of future climate variations and ha.z:trds. This is not a hypothetic:tl risk to be addressed §eVtral deades into the future, but a real increase in risk that is presently threatening livelihoods. (UNISDR; 2002) Residents of informal settlements in the Western Cape. as well as elsewhere in South Africa, are the hardest hit by extreme weather conditions and associated flooding. Thousands of households in the province and beyond suffer severe losses in informal dwelling floods and fires. During floods and fires. poor families suffer significant development setbacks. These disasters are also costly for the affected municipalities and provincial departments, and divert resources from other urgently needed services. (Holloway; 2007) rapid migration into the province and natural population growth have increased the number of informal settlements across the province. '('i.thin Cape Town alone, by 2007. mott than 220 separate informal settlements had been identified and mapped. (Holloway; 2007)
Open Access
Adaptive reuse : the Salt River market
(2010) Komane, Fatima Thapelo; Steenkamp, Alta; Noero, Jo; Carter, Francis
We live in a society that is constantly in change. As society moves forward, we experience social, political and economic shifts that somehow prove difficult for our buildings to survive in this rapid change. My Interest therefore looks to adaptive reuse as an approach to dealing with the change in our built environment. How do you deal, in an urban setting, with a neglected urban fabric without compromising Its historical and architectural memory which becomes important to a community? How do we begin to engage with the built fabric? It begins with accepting that transformation needs to occur. Adaptive reuse ensures the evolving life of any old building by expanding its practical use in its contemporary context. Existing and abandoned buildings represent a substantial resource. Through adaptive reuse, many buildings can continue to be brought back into use and contribute to a more sustainable development pattern. Old buildings in my opinion possess a timeless character. The aim of this document is to Investigate the potential of adaptive reuse as a response in transforming an existing structure on the brink of neglect into potentially a space that could be reused and function in a way that it supports the community and promote social engagement. The design and research develops a theoretically informed and sustainable approach to recycling built fabric in its contemporary urban context by linking patterns of adaptation and reuse to the change experienced in the contemporary built environment.
Open Access
Ambiguous associations: Monuments referred to in the design of the Voortrekker Monument
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 2011) Steenkamp, Alta
In Gerhard Moerdyk's communications, both orally and in writing, on the origin and importance of the design of the Voortrekker Monument (1949, Pretoria, South Africa) he often associated this monument with various other monument across the world. These references fall in two groups: the first concerns a statement that developed and changed over time, wherein the Voortrekker Monument is placed in a scale relationship to well-known world monuments. These include the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Pantheon, St. Peter's Cathedral, the Dom des Invalides, the Taj Mahal, an Egyptian pyramid, the Great Wall of China and the Völkerslacht Denkmal. The second concerns the relationship of the design of the Voortrekker Monument to Great Zimbabwe, and explores the different views that Moerdyk expressed of this monument. The article shows how Afrikaner sentiment and ideology directed and shifted Moerdyk's own personal views and comments on the tension that arose between his personal interest as an architect and his public views as a representative of Afrikaner ideals.
Open Access
Between memory and history: the restoration of Tulbagh as cultural signifier
(2017) Augustyn-Clark, Jayson; Steenkamp, Alta; Van Graan, André
This dissertation examines heritage as a social construct by way of critically accessing the precursors, proponents and processes of the Tulbagh restoration. This research is focused on understanding the reasons why and how, after the earthquake of 1969, Church Street was reinstated to its 'historic' 18/19th century appearance. This reconstructive restoration is unpacked within its South African socio-political, 20th-century situation to examine the motivations of the proponents behind the restoration as well as their conservation philosophies that underpinned the stylistic reconstruction of Tulbagh back to what was regarded as its Cape Dutch 'best'. The study comprises of an examination of both the theoretical development and practical application of reconstructions. Research traces the development of conservation in South Africa, first under the Union government and then under the Afrikaner Nationalist government to understand how Afrikaner Nationalism was superseded by the creation of a white South African identity. Pierre Nora's theories around memory and identity are explored and applied in order to contextualise the Tulbagh case study in a theoretical framework to highlight similarities and differences. The proponents of the Tulbagh restoration consisted of a wide and varied selection of the South African conservation fraternity and included the National Society, the Cape Institute of Architects, historian Dr Mary Cook, the Simon van der Stel Foundation, Anton Rupert and his Historic Homes Company, Gawie and Gwen Fagan and Dr Hans Fransen, as well as the National Monuments Commission/Council. These same role players came together in the decade before the earthquake to formalise their association, conservation resolve and philosophies. The findings of the study suggest that although united with a common vision, philosophy and determination, these conservation advocates all had their own agenda and differing motivations for their involvement in Tulbagh's restoration. Motivations ranged from straightforward conservation concern and a response to the threat of cultural devastation on one hand to ideological nation-building ideals and Afrikaner nationalism on the other. Although politics impacted early on and all three levels of government funded the bulk of the restoration costs, the diversity of the proponents suggests that this project was more complex than being motivated primarily by nationalism.
Open Access
Constructing the interface: Crossings between the public and the private
(2023) Goldman, Amy-Leigh; Steenkamp, Alta
The built fabric of the city of Cape Town reflects the social and economic inequalities within its citizenship. Contemporary practices of inner-city living tend to cater to the wealthy while social housing on the periphery continues to exclude the poor from basic services and access to opportunities. Salt River is one of the areas identified by the city, for the provision of inner-city affordable housing. The area is prone to spatial acts of violence that lead to a loss of culture and heritage through gentrification and displacement. This project aims to re-think the density of housing precincts as not only spaces of residence but also spaces that facilitate better socio-spatial experiences for its residents that may assist in the prevention of the deterioration and destruction of existing neighbourhoods. The research aims to seek methods that explore crossing the boundary between public and private while challenging the relationship between the two, creating a more accessible city. By looking at the construction of the interface the project aims to create a space where the everyday social practices of the private extend into the public, shaping safer more socially interactive neighbourhoods that continue to develop shared cultural practices. The project locates itself on the Salt River Market site, one of the proposed sites earmarked for affordable housing by the city. The Dissertation explores an inner-city housing project that focuses on reimagining the public life of the market and unifying it with housing across the parcel of land. The design focus is on a transitional housing block that provides a space for residents to temporarily stay as they move from current living conditions on the market to the new proposed housing. Through the process of design, the project presents opportunities for better integrating affordable housing into the public life of the city.
Open Access
Creative housing : from provision to enablement : contexting housing policy through the investigation of support structures
(2009) Richardson, Robert Richard; Steenkamp, Alta; Noero, Jo; Carter, Francis
In South Africa, the pressure on the infrastructure and facilities of the city - designed for a privileged few and now accessible to a growing populace - has resulted in two generic conditions. Urban economic centres have either relocated to areas outside of the city- exacerbating sprawl and destroying our urban legacy, or, as in the case of Cape Town, as a result of topography; the racial and political boundaries constructed by the colonial and apartheid state have been replaced by social and economic divisions. The coincidence of the natural topographic assets of Cape Town and the resultant eccentric focus of the city constructed by such topography has created a reversal of the normal population densities of the city. The most densely populated suburbs occur on the periphery while the economic opportunities still exist mainly in the centre. The resultant daily migration to and from work, creates huge pressure on public transportation and infrastructure. The desire for urbanization and the scarcity of affordable resources creates numerable urban pathologies which manifest themselves on the boundary between the periphery and interior. Rapid urbanization and the incapacity of the state to cope in the provision of accessible and affordable housing has resulted in the development of resilient self-aided local typologies which can accommodate the realities of the South African condition• It is my thesis that these local types form a necessary context through which housing design and urban policy should be informed, in order to create an alternative approach to housing in our country.
Open Access
The effects of commodification on cultural significance: two African fortifications
(2017) Aggenbach, Adré; Van Graan, André; Steenkamp, Alta
This study is specifically concerned with the impact of cultural tourism on the valorisation of two African fortifications; Castelo São Jorge da Mina (Elmina Castle) in Elmina, Ghana and Casteel de Goede Hoop (Castle of Good Hope) in Cape Town, South Africa. The commodification of national and world heritage, primarily within the context of cultural tourism, is the process by which tangible and intangible heritage are transformed into cultural commodities to be bought, sold and profited from in the heritage and tourism industry. The perception, however, that these commodified heritage sites are contaminated, and less authentic, is based on an outmoded discourse. The South African government has placed a fair amount of focus on redressing highly emotive colonial or dissonant heritage sites with the intent of correcting misinterpreted Eurocentric histories or present non-represented pre-colonial history. The study is structured around addressing the issue of commodification and its impact on the understanding and interpretation of heritage both as an emotive commodity and as a means of providing economic benefit to a community. The literature review locates the research in Marx's theories on commodities together with Urry's tourist gaze. It furthermore includes an analysis on valorisation, with the focus on associative value, in the context of national and world heritage. Fortifications as fortified military architecture in an African context are considered; as is the European influence on African culture and fortifications as colonial structures. Elmina Castle, as a much-researched heritage site, is explored in detail. It includes a legislative analysis; the perspectives and interpretations of the two largest stakeholders groups, the Akan-speaking Fanti population and the African American Diaspora tourists is key to the analysis of the impact of commodification. A detailed history of Europeans on the Gold Coast, the development of Elmina Castle and the impact of trans-Atlantic slavery on the consumption of heritage is studied. The commodification of the Castle of Good Hope is written within the context of the prevailing South African heritage discourse. Much has been written on the commodification of Elmina Castle, while very little has been said about the Castle of Good Hope as a commodity. The prevailing authorised commodification of the Castle of Good Hope necessitated the analysis and comparison of the Castle with the selected comparative case and the study draws comparisons between the powerful emotive significance and contestations attached to Elmina and the contrast that this poses to the Castle of God Hope as a place of heritage significance despite the fact that it has been seen to symbolise the introduction of repressive European influence and control in South Africa. The research supports the notion that cultural tourism and events have impacted on the valorisation of cultural heritage and, in particular, the associative and emotive values. However, the cultural significance of the two African fortifications as important heritage sites are not at risk.
Open Access
Empowering Power Town : a contextual study that ascertains social and architectural sustainability
(2010) Beyers, Nellis; Carter, Francis; Coetzer, Nic; Noero, Jo; Steenkamp, Alta
My thesis investigates the ability to generate social and architectural sustainability from the surrounding context of a specific site- Power Town. A thorough analysis of the changing social conditions, cultural values and natural processes are done to be part of, and inform, this hypothesis. My architectural interventions are thus informed by the existing and will be a reflection of Power Town's vernacular. The first part of the document introduces Power Town to the reader, where it is situated and how it came to be, and why it is an unproductive settlement. Part two, 'a landscape enthused architecture', explores cultural, productive and responsive landscapes and their implication in architecture. Methods are investigated that help to uncover the complex layers of site and landscape. This thorough understanding Bird' s eye view of Power Town (Wildlife Expressions, Power Town) of the landscape will inform the design proposal. It will illustrate that Power Town has much potential to develop and evolve within its environment. In part three, 'adaptability', I discuss the potential of reusing structures, as they are, instead of demolishing them, clearing the site, and constructing new architecture. In many situations, manmade structures already exist in the context of a site and the adaptive reuse of them will be a productive addition to the context. New architecture must also be able to adjust and accommodate the unpredictable needs of the future. The fourth part, 'sustainable materials', is an investigation of a productive use of materials. Using materials originated from the context is the key initiative here. It makes for a sustainable construction that reflects the context and blends in with the landscape. This includes possibilities such as materials produced or harvested on site and the reuse of demolition- and industrial waste. All topics are discussed as interrelated issues that could contribute to the restoration of Power Town's dignity. Part five, 'design', is the synthesis of all these opportunities. A site making strategy that allows for unpredictable incremental phasing is designed initially. A number of design principles are implemented in this place making that would contribute to ascertaining social and architectural sustainability. The main idea here is to exploit the existing farming, fishing and construction abilities in the community and initiate a productive landscape. The place making plan lays the foundation for the design of a production centre. I propose to adapt and reuse the existing derelict power station. This new public building will form the heart of Power Town's productivity. It will house a number of facilities that offer, mainly; skills development workshops in different forms of production; a multi-usable auditorium; a production nursery; as well as flexible market, storage and work space for the processing and distribution of foodstuff in the community.
Open Access
Experiencing the wait: Civic Connector
(2023) Mostert, Tammy; Steenkamp, Alta
This dissertation is based on the premise that experience is inherent to architecture and that we ought to build resolute in creating inhabited and traversed spaces. Thus, human experience and phenomenology are investigated with the aim of establishing an entry point into designing spaces which are socially resilient. The preliminary research, which is exploratory in nature, recognises phenomenology as a valuable tool in realising an engaging architecture; acting as a mediator between people and environment. The value of phenomenology emerges through its challenging of the design decisions made within architecture, based on how integral and effectively they contribute to the lived experience of a project. Designing around the human experience and scale arguably provides the architect with the best means with which to produce spaces with lasting public resonance. Motivated by the often-overlooked role that walking plays, as both a segment of public transport trips and travel mode, this dissertation aims to celebrate the act of walking and waiting as an addition to the experience of the ‘every-day. Cape Town Station, the point of arrival and departure, is integral to the story of most an urban dweller and everyday traveller, and thus provides a unique opportunity for the built form to bridge the various means of transport, while engaging with the vital role walking plays as part of the everyday journey. The provides the project the potential to contribute to the improvement of the current configuration of movement within the existing local movement network. Although architecture can be a catalyst for change, one must acknowledge that architecture alone cannot address all issues. These intentions are explored through the design of a civic connector which runs from Cape Town Station Taxi Rank, connecting to the Bus Terminal, before finally spilling out onto Grand Parade and into the CBD.
Open Access
Exploration of community perspectives towards Georgenholtz mission station as a heritage resource
Nemaheni, Tshimangadzo Israel; Steenkamp, Alta
The turn of this century has been characterised by a flurry of research activities taking place around the history of Mission stations and missionaries in South Africa (SA). In Venda, in the Limpopo Province of SA, research about the Berlin Missionary Society (BMS) also gained momentum. Most of the researchers working in the area relied mainly on diaries, letters, annual reports, and limited published materials written by the BMS missionaries who worked at various mission stations in the area. These researchers focused on historical, educational, and religious developments, as captured by the Berlin missionaries. Of these historical accounts, the voices of the local communities have been hushed. Most of the stories available in written sources are from the viewpoints of the missionaries. At the same time, the focus of researchers in the heritage conservation fields has been on the physical condition of heritage properties, where the intention was to arrest deterioration of material. While there is a change in thinking in the heritage field to take into consideration the involvement of relevant stakeholders, the focus is still on the challenges related to the physical condition of heritage properties. Researchers in the heritage field have come to realise that conservation cannot unify or advance with any real innovation or vision if there is a continuation to concentrate the bulk of conservation discourse on issues of physical condition. This study addresses the issue of community participation in research by responding to the following question: What is the impact of community attitudes and perspectives towards Georgenholtz Mission Station (GHMS) as a heritage resource? Various community groupings were given the responsibility of airing their views regarding the Mission station as a heritage resource. In doing so, they were able to identify and articulate the values they associate with the mission station. Without an understanding of these values, practitioners, managers, and communities would be unable to act in respect of the gradual but rapid deterioration of the same heritage resource. Because of these values, communities were able to recommend what actions would be to the benefit of all of them. The research question of this study is answered through one-on-one oral interviews the researcher conducted with respondents. These respondents are divided into four categories of communities namely the youth, Lutheran Church leadership, Ha-Luvhimbi community leaders and members of families with historic ties with the Berlin Missionary Society. Individual respondents from these community categories were asked to comment upon the history of the Berlin Missionary Society and the development of Georgenholtz Mission Station from 1877 to the present times. They were also asked to broadly identify and explain the heritage significance of Georgenholtz Mission Station. The last question they were asked relates to what communities would like to see happening with Georgenholtz moving forward. The responses that came from these respondents show that Georgenholtz Mission Station has extensive connections to Mission history in rural South Africa which assists in conveying the significance of this Mission station beyond its importance to Ha-Luvhimbi village. Communities could identify various values attached to the Mission station, including amongst others, historical, aesthetic and architectural, social and economic values that should be preserved for the benefit of current and future generations. The results from this study indicate that communities interviewed regard Georgenholtz Mission Station as their heritage resource that should be taken care of and that there are economic benefits that could be derived from the adaptive reuse of the Mission station. The study concludes by outlining recommendations for further and extended research on the subject by other researchers.
Open Access
Magnifying the interstice: Mixed-use reuse of abandoned lanes in Salt River
(2010) Vaughan, Sasha; Steenkamp, Alta; Noero, Jo; Carter, Francis; Coetzer, Nic
Open Access
Making place for petty crimes : an exploration into the use of boundaries as a vehicle for generating an appropriate response to the complexities of urban courts
(2010) Rademan, Louiza; Steenkamp, Alta; Noero, Jo; Carter, Francis
Boundaries form a critical part of any architectural process. During my years of study I was continuously confronted with the word 'boundary; and the function thereof. Where do we find it in architecture and the cities we live in? Martin Heidegger notes that a boundary is not that at which something stops, but as recognized by the Greek, the boundary is that from which something begins its existence. Boundaries either invite or exclude. We all follow the lines created by architecture in our everyday life, and our movement through places are regulated by them. Whether the boundary is between public or private, open or enclosed spaces, it should be seen as a starting point for the journey. What is the role of boundaries in law architecture and at what point does it invite or exclude the public on the journey. To address the question, the terms 'superiority' and 'exclusivity' in law buildings will be explored through investigating the appearance of traditional law courts. What impression the architecture left behind and the boundaries they've established. The architecture of courthouses originated from past movements which resemble cathedral like structures. These courthouses were designed with power to create a sovereign atmosphere over the entire city and establishing fear amongst the people for the law. The grand columns on a court's front facade created the impression of looking up towards the king and then to God. The characteristics of these courthouses are universal, which create court typologies that can be located anywhere in the world. In South Africa, where the principle of 'moving forward' guides a diverse society through history, it is important that the architecture of law buildings is not 'left behind: Our current courthouses represent the past, and have left the majority with a pessimistic perception of law and justice. The transformation which South African law went through establishes that the law should not be a fixed rule, but that it needs it to be an interchangeable law that transforms according to the needs of society. The intention of this project is to define a new court typology that bridges the gap between the elitism of the past and a unified future, which allows for an appropriate response to the complexities of Urban Courts. An investigation into the spatial structure which traditional law courts have adopted will elucidate the issue of hierarchy in traditional courts and inform possible interventions for facilitating an accessible arrangement of space. How should the hierarchy of space be reorganized so that they are not reflective of a system that individuals can't relate to? Making of boundaries will be investigated in an attempt to understand how the thresholds of law courts can empower people to cross the 'imagined' line. The question which then manifests itself is: Can the built environment play a role in transcending these boundaries that constrict us as a society? Traditional Courts convey a clear and strong boundary between the public and the private, the accessible and the inaccessible. It draws a line between that which belongs to others and that which is of ourselves.
Open Access
The meeting of cultures
(2009) De Moyencourt, Lucie Bernadette Joan; Steenkamp, Alta; Noero, Jo; Carter, Francis
The concept for this paper and for my thesis comes from a personal desire to facilitate cross-cultural interaction in a space. I began by questioning whether architecture can bring together people from different backgrounds and cultures, and if so then what type of architecture does this? And how does it do this? I believe the city is a psychological as well as physical reality. The city exists as a series of doubles; having official and hidden cultures, it is both a real place and a site of the imagination. Its elaborate network of streets, housing, public buildings, transport systems, parks, and shops is paralleled by complex attitudes, habits, customs, expectancies, hopes and popular culture that reside in us as urban subjects. (Cbamber5 I. ( 1986) Popular culture, the metropolitan experience, USA; Methuen & Co. P. 183) I believe that public architecture should represent and reflect popular culture in order to arouse and attract people together in a space. By doing so, the art and magic of architecture becomes accessible to the general populace. Architecture is a public art whereby the creator of the work should think of designing for pleasing the people on the street as much as pleasing the client of the project. A building that is able to communicate with people adds depth to people's lives and daily experience. I am interested in architecture which makes you fantasize, dream, marvel, act, jump in fountains, climb up walls of buildings, lose your inhibitions, and break taboos in society. A work of architecture thus becomes a stimulus for discussion, exchange and pleasure. This study is my opportunity for developing a number of ideas about popular architecture as well as to express my own love of vibrant popular places in order to enable creative design for my architectural thesis. Through this theoretical investigation I hope to discover innovative ways of realizing my concepts of building for 'the people'; of giving the people what they would like to see in a public building. I believe that fascinating structures can be made for the built environment by applying knowledge from popular culture.
Open Access
My life, my Home: Reasserting the connection between home and occupant
(2023) Barends, Franko; Steenkamp, Alta
The intent of this paper is to uncover an architectural typology for a people who have none. An architectural typology that speaks to a culture and life of the people that live at the margins. I uncovered and have experienced that there is a lack of architectural representation of the people that live at the margins. I have taken on this responsibility to uncover an appropriate typology for these people. The reason for this lack of representation is that the people at the margins endured a plethora of cultural influences some their own some not. It is for this reason hybridity is required for this representation. To further enrich the outcome of this study, this paper will be examining the housing typology in various incarnations in different locals and times in history. Looking at different incarnations of the housing typology I would like to understand the role architecture plays in the facilitation of social interaction and the aid it brings to societal ills. I am particularly interested in the housing typology because housing in my view is the singular typology people encounter every day. Housing and the community it implies has the biggest impact on the human experience.
Open Access
Of Water Cultures: Finding an Architectural Approach to Revitalizing, Supporting and Creating Water Cultures
(2023) Rakiep, Tauhir; Steenkamp, Alta
Water is essential to human sustenance, a vital resource. Water is leisure, a secondary comfort that supports lifestyle. Water is a destroyer, showing no mercy to anything in its path. Water is an entity that exists despite of; and transcending its physicality. But then why is water treated with such indifference? Within this inquiry I will be researching Water Cultures to understand our current development of the built environment and how we have designed to accommodate, manage and treat water. I will investigate ways that we can endure the overwhelming vastness of the natural environment within our understanding of our own minuteness. The project locates itself at the Strandfontein Pavilion a public area aimed at creating a safe space for beach goers in my hometown, Strandfontein Village, Mitchell's Plain an area on the periphery of Cape Town, wanting to enjoy the ocean. My experience of living in Strandfontein has revealed a disconnect from that ocean. Residents are removed from the resources of the city centre and are dislocated from the natural resources of the environment. This project will encourage a reconnection to the ocean through creating space for the community to experience ways of cultivating and harvesting the resources of the ocean in an informal environment and sharing knowledge passively by existing in spaces with active human presence. This connection will empower the community and grant partial autonomy from the city for residents by bringing some of those resources close to home. The project will use water as a variable that impacts the architectural design to accommodate and manage water and the way that it is experienced by visitors.
Open Access
[ORIGINS]_Constructing A Spatial Lexicon: A Catalyst For Finding Place_[Locatedness]
(2023) Semple, Callum; Steenkamp, Alta
Architecture in space and time. It passes through eons, morphing and changing. But its purpose remains the same, to provide the basics of shelter, of containment. Vessels to sustain and grow, be that physically, psychologically, or metaphorically. Layering, palimpsests of time, collages of assemblage. This inquiry, a speculative body of work looks to create an architecture that moves, architecture as an embodiment of art through the mediums of the hand/eye which is alchemic by nature. It is a Lexicon that is shaped upon the beginnings of land, the epistemicide that has taken place and the locale where this all began, within the VOC's Company Gardens, Cape Town, Southern Africa. Ideas are underpinned through the eyes of semantics, of origins, and through philosophers that look to challenge place, who look to subvert the status quo. The aim is to provide a speculative look at what can be envisioned in locatedness. To be located is the fundamental aspect of our existence. This architecture will be speculative, the land within the Cape was not ‘tabula rasa' [terra nullius] which draws on the ‘empty land myth' of the colonial hegemony. But, instead it's a land that is imbued in meaning, multiple aspects of lives lived and lives living. Through the trauma of the past, and misrepresentation, the only way forward is to ask questions, and to listen. As the translator of this project, it's an architecture to ask questions, some may be answered in the process but ultimately this is not a conclusion, but hopefully something which looks to invite narrative and dialogue leading into the future. To take and lead people where they may not have been before. Ultimately, the works looks to use deconstructivist notions as an apparatus to reclaim space [origin] – locatedness – through the lens of an interpretation receptacle of the First Peoples, with an emphasis on language through experience, connection, and landscape. An archive juxtaposed in dialogue with the anti-archive.
Open Access
Playful architecture - Constructing sociality
(2023) Van, Wyngaarden Katherine; Steenkamp, Alta
This thesis explores themes of playful architecture, and how activated, adaptable, and dynamic spaces can be created through embracing the inherent instability of social space. The exploration focuses on the social aspects of space and on an architecture that is capable of encouraging connection and interaction, an architecture that can adapt and promote skills development and sharing, and an architecture that provides identity – one that acts as an attractor rather than an object. Social spaces are unpredictable and dynamic in the interactions and the events that it allows for. Spaces are also full of paradoxes - of disjunction between space and event. This means that architecture and space is constantly unstable and on the verge of change. It is these dynamic and chaotic elements that, if held properly, allow for social, creative, and playful spaces and events. The project is situated within an imagined future fabric of District 6 in Cape Town, on a site with existing activities to be plugged into and reinforced. This site also allowed for a testing of how a playful architecture, that is community and socially driven, sits within the developing context of South Africa. The programme revolves around a city living room which is a training centre providing spaces for working, learning, and engaging as well as offering accessible social hubs that act as social filters, allowing users in and around the site to gather, wait and interact.
Open Access
Re-crafting Architecture in Philippi + the everyday - Developing the urban potentials and sites of production in the Cape Flats
(2021) Van Breda,Travors; Steenkamp, Alta
The dissertation aims to surface relevant ongoing development of the informal economies and micro-industries shaping Philippi. This provides valuable information aiding in the understanding of the existing conditions of Philippi. The focus area of the Philippi Industrial Precinct sits on the eastern periphery of Cape Town, it is a township well located in the greater city metropolitan. It is a severely under-resourced area with a rich potential for a site of production and vibrant urban culture. The scope of work aims to establish a more nuanced comprehension of informality, its connection to the wider formal networks, and what opportunity it represents to a new architectural culture. The understanding of these aspects and conditions frames a propositional question to how we as architects should make use of alternative practices, one that is ethically engaged with on the ground knowledge by supporting the initiatives of the collective majority in the production of space and future development. The program is meant stand as an infrastructure in alignment and informed by the existing practices of craftsmen, the use of new technologies (open-source architecture) provides a platform for emerging manufacturers to be educated in the form of accredited vocational training and cultural exchange. This form of architecture is viable in South Africa due to existing socio-economic condition with willing workforce seeking work opportunities and the established systems of thinking. The architectural project seeks to create micro-systems of manufacturing and designing a building as a social catalyst.
Open Access
Regeneration through decay: Architectural prosthetic within the damaged coastline of the South African West Coast
(2023) Coetzee, Flavio; Steenkamp, Alta
The relationship between decay and regeneration acts as a theoretic foundation from which this dissertation suggests a new method of approaching architecture that allows for a perspectival shift. International large scale sand mining industries along the West Coast of South Africa resulted in collapsed dune and natural systems impacting the livelihoods of small dependent communities. Approved mining permits South of the sensitive Oifants River Estuary risks a complete collapse of the ecological equilibrium. Simulating damage once mining operations are complete lead to the discovery of the last most important portion (the pinch point). This landscape lends itself as a testing ground for an architectural investigation acting as a tool to stabalise the pinch point, rehabilitate ecology and serve as resistance for any future exploitation. Using the Japanese practice of Kintsugi the project tests whether architecture can act as an adhesive that restores and elevates the value of scars left within the landscape. Through testing conceptual ideas of permanence and impermanence this results in a speculative design which is nestled within the impacts of time. Stretching the potential of architecture to become an extension of the landscape itself, whilst dissolving silently as if it never existed becoming a form of structure. Through acting with and against the forces of nature beyond the site boundaries, the architecture is placed in a constant state of transmutation.
Open Access
Rituals of health : new healing spaces for Khayelitsha district hospital
(2010) Gray, Zara; Carter, Francis; Coetzer, Nic; Noero, Jo; Steenkamp, Alta
The intention of this thesis was to challenge how we, as architects are appropriating new formations of space within the city. The research began as an exploration into how a contemporary African city space could be envisioned, a future trajectory of design thinking that challenges normative systems of design. The diverse nature of South African cities should have an architecture that responds to its lived reality and one that reflects cultural difference. This exploration was narrowed down to view a need that ran across cultural lines. I chose to do this through looking at various health systems that prevail in our current society. The challenge was to critically seek out new ways that one could accommodate for various cultural beliefs while viewing these various health practices. These explorations were carried out in two sections - the first section looks at our current condition and what the prevailing health systems are in our society, as well as the challenges these various views on health pose. The second section focuses on a spatial understanding of how these systems are carried out in our city and seeks to analyse the various spatiality's of healing practices. The idea is to search for how new spaces of healthcare could be realised that reflect cultural difference, rituals and practices and which respond to a South African condition.

Browsing by Author "Steenkamp, Alta"

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