Browsing by Subject "Architecture"
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- ItemOpen AccessA 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)
- ItemOpen AccessA Place to connect(2023) Ndungu, Shirlyn; Papanicolaou, StellaThis dissertation contributes to the discourse on the design of public space in the city. It illustrates a design approach that favours the social welfare of marginalised communities living in Cape Town in particular foreign nationals. By providing a socio- economic anchor for this marginalised community this project aims to assist with their integration into their host nations. The inquiry stems from my lived experience as a Third Culture Kid and student of architecture engaging with the subject of identity and a sense of place. Using lessons learnt from exploring the transition & reentry model of TCKs the proposal suggests ways of assisting foreign nationals in integrating into the city. The document is organised in 4 parts that reflect how ideas of identity formation can be translated into place making strategies. Key themes emerging from this proposal are hybridity, memory, liminality and transparency. I begin by portraying how the concept of hybridity can be understood through the lived experiences of TCKs. I then explore the relationship between memory and place attachment through the lens of a TCK. Ways of translating memory and hybridity are further explored in the precedent studies of The Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre and The National Museum of African American History and Culture. The architectural program and design response were reached through the analysis of immigrant settlement and integration requirements. Through mapping the city with parameters set by this study a site is selected in former District 6. The design proposal looks to suggest potential way of supporting the integration of foreign nationals whilst reviving the memory of the once culturally diverse community of District 6. The concept looks to provide spaces for cultural education and enterprise as a way of stimulating public engagement between foreign nationals and local citizens.
- ItemOpen AccessA river remembered - reconnecting to landscape, memory and place-making through water routesDalberg, Josephine; Hindes, ClintonRooted in the Cederberg region, this thesis looks towards the intangible and deep memory in landscape as concepts that can be harnessed to support an emerging practice of place-making in a community on the outskirts of Clanwilliam. Acknowledging the growing claim to Khoe and San heritage among members of said community, the project found its departure in an investigation into the intangible ties that once connected the Cederberg's indigenous peoples to place. The research process led to an understanding of the central role that rivers and tributaries have played in human engagement with landscape. In this local context, rivers functioned not only as a vital water resource but also as navigational corridors that cut through the Cederberg's complex mountain range. These were water routes that supported human patterns of movement and gathering whilst simultaneously connecting far reaches of the wilderness. This thesis resurfaces these landscape memories by introducing a water thread to Clanwilliam that remembers and re-establishes the notion of rivers as movement routes and gathering. Simultaneously, the project's proposed water network would connect this otherwise spatially and socially segregated town. Taking design and material reference from the immediate Cederberg landscape, this thesis hopes to connect Clanwilliam's members not only to one another but also, importantly, to the wilderness landscape that surrounds the town and is so deeply embedded in its history.
- ItemOpen AccessA school of general knowledge: Special Study, The junction from building to site.(1963) Du Toit, RogerIn the design of detail, there are two aspects that require special attention. The first is the meeting of building elements with each other, the second is the meeting of building and site elements. This special study is concerned with the second. Its starting point is that the architecture harmonises rather than contrasts with its surroundings.
- ItemOpen AccessAdaptability in architecture : designing for structural and programmable change(2011) Ashbolt, Debbie AnnIncludes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.
- ItemOpen AccessAdapting at multiple scales: Towards a contextualised adaptive reuse of disused commercial infrastructure in secondary South African cities(2018) Madolo, Bongane; Papanicolaou, Stella; Louw, MikeIn the early 1990s about 50 000 m² of office space was developed in the Central Business District (CBD) of Nelspruit for the Mpumalanga Provincial Government. The office space was spread out in a number of office buildings around the CBD. Between 2003-and 2005 the Provincial Government moved out of these office buildings to an office complex on the outskirts of the CBD, as a result a portion of the CBD was left vacant. The commercial sector has not really recovered since then and the CBD is beginning to experience urban decay. With this as background the dissertation, explores regeneration of a CBD and the opportunities that lie in large scale disused concrete frame buildings in Nelspruit, a secondary South African city. Affordable housing plays an important role in the development of the project, not only because it addresses a practical need for housing in the city, but also because it starts to speak to transformation of a city that largely remains anti-poor. The exploration in-to timber construction plays an equally important role in addressing questions of making buildings differently, looking at regional industry and craft, and the use of more sustainable building material. Research in to this topic was primarily aided by a 4-week research trip to Mezimbite Forest Centre in Beira, Mozambique. The objective is not to create a blueprint on which all the buildings are to be adapted because each existing building by virtue of its context alone, is unique and has challenges that are specific to it that need to be addressed. The objective is to develop a different way of adapting large scale buildings. One that breaks the monolith, makes connections and through its material is rooted in its broader context. Ideas that are tested in 32 Bell Street, a nine-storey building in the CBD of Nelspruit. Johannesburg's regeneration is looked at as an example of regeneration because it is the best example of a South African city that has used the decline of its commercial office sector to bring about transformation to a CBD, with housing being an important part of that transformation. Johannesburg also offers some of the clues on what needs to evolve in the way office buildings are being adapted.
- ItemOpen AccessAdaptive reuse : the Salt River market(2010) Komane, Fatima Thapelo; Steenkamp, Alta; Noero, Jo; Carter, FrancisWe 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.
- ItemOpen AccessAdaptive reuse of industrial buildings, with special reference to Cape Town(2000) Quaghebeur, Hadewig; Japha, Derek AndrewInternationally the need for the conservation of industrial heritage is well established. The factors affecting the success of such conservation ventures have been extensively documented. as well as the changed uses likely to produce the best results in different types of industrial buildings. Many projects have been executed, demonstrating different approaches to the typical planning. design and funding issues that arise when industrial buildings are conserved. Industrial conservation is much less well established in South Africa and to date. there have been few studies concentrating specifically on issues arising from the conservation of the local industrial heritage. This dissertation focuses on the adaptive reuse of conservation-worthy industrial buildings in Cape Town. South Africa. Issues addressed in this study range from conservation and design attitudes towards the buildings. to the impact of location on possibilities for adaptive reuse. new functional opportunities offered by typical structural and building forms and spaces, and the economical viability of projects. This study will relate South African industrial conservation issues to international precedents, and, by analysing three case studies of successful reuse projects in the Cape Town area. the study will demonstrate that this heritage can indeed be reused effectively and successfully. It will also show that the ultimate success of industrial conservation projects depends on careful consideration of economic potentials and constraints. as well as on an appreciation of the specific building's cultural significance.
- ItemOpen AccessThe afterlife of megastructures in the aftermath of mega-events: the case of Cape Town Stadium(2018) Mwedzi, Alick; Papanicolaou, Stella; Louw, MikeLarge scale global spectacles such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games demand infrastructure of a suitably grand magnitude - the stadium being the centrepiece of this infrastructure. However, because the mentioned events are hosted in a different location each time they take place, the stadia they leave behind often face uncertain futures, as the events and capacity for which they are originally designed are difficult to maintain following the spectacle. The intention of this dissertation is to explore how adaptive reuse can be considered as an approach towards stadia in the aftermath of global mega-events. This exploration focuses on Cape Town Stadium, a venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa. The dissertation engages Cape Town Stadium in terms of an exploration into understanding the nature of stadia as very large buildings, and the challenges and opportunities adaptive reuse presents to their continued use. Cape Town stadium is understood as a robust concrete structure with a high embodied energy and a variety of spatial and environmental conditions created by contrasting deep and shallow spaces, and different engagements with external environments. These conditions present a challenge to providing the spatial and environmental requirements of an alternative programme, especially where spaces are deep, isolated, inappropriately scaled or articulated by structure. Informed by Metabolist megastructure thought, adaptive reuse is explored in an approach that regards the existing as a robust permanent structure and introduces a secondary order of architecture: more delicate and less robust - that augments the existing structure to provide for the spatial and environmental requirements of a new programme - an educational campus - introduced to occupy the underutilised portion of the Stadium.
- ItemOpen AccessAn agricultural high school for Ceres(1963) Morkel, CAIt is essential for this country that a progressive policy shall be adopted in the field of agriculture for it can be said that the agricultural industry of the Republic plays a leading part in the development of its potential resources and is of great importance to the country's wellbeing. It is the backbone of the country's economic structure, being equalled to in importance only by our mining industry.
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- ItemOpen AccessAnchoring : Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay(2010) Toussaint, HeikeThis paper takes ·its name from a publication by Steven Holi. Also entitled Anchoring, Holl writes that architecture and building are 'ground' or 'anchored' to their specific site. He states that the relationship between architecture and site should be more than purely functional - there should be a poetic, a metaphysical · link. This thesis started with an interest in a very specific site, the informal settlement of lmizamo Yethu in Hout Bay which is-located on a steep slope of an old forestry site. Despite its great location, new houses built to replace the informal shack are not 'ground' to site and few communal facilities exist to give people a sense of belonging. Anchoring This is an exploration of anchoring in architecture. Firstly, it is about the anchoring of community through public spaces and communal facilities. Secondly, it is about the anchoring of the individual through buildings, which can impart a sense of belonging and attachment to a specific place. Lastly, it is also about the physical anchoring of buildings to their specific sites. The document is divided into three main sections, roughly corresponding to the three . above-mentioned ideas about anchoring. Section A deals with the issue of Squatting. Its aim is· simply to understand the issue of squatting in Imizamo Yethu in a greater context: globally, historically and physically. Section B, Anchoring, is an exploration into 'site', and the special conditions that emerge at the point where buildings meet the ground, with a focus on threshold spaces and their importance in architecture. Intervening, the final section, puts some of the ideas and principles learnt through my research to the test. It is a study and implementation of threshold spaces within the squatter community of lmizamo Yethu.
- ItemOpen AccessArchitectural dynamics and a suitable public space(2002) Wang, Xing Tao; Noero, JoBibliography: leave 167.
- ItemOpen AccessArchitectural rubble : the manufactured landscape of Granger Bay(2014) Philotheou, Christina; Coetzer, Nic; Silverman, MelindaThroughout the process of this dissertation I have explored an architecture that can truly represent the reality of the manufactured landscape and the complexities of such a morphology. It is with this interest that I found Granger Bay and its inherently manufactured qualities. It is a landscape that is simultaneously natural and artificial. An enquiry into the shift from the natural to the artificial was explored in terms of what it means for our reading of place as well as how architecture can encompass this new terrain. In the study of this site, like an archaeological investigation, the story of ‘unbuilding to build’ arose from the ground; discovering Granger Bay’s true genius loci, which is grounded in rubble and the stories of the buildings that make up its rubble ground. It was with these ideas that I allowed the landscape to inform and generate a unique architectural language where boundaries are blurred between nature and man-made and enclosure and opening. The key informants to this design are the various geometries and forces that act on the site: Fort Wynyard’s sight lines, the buried natural landscape, the ocean, rubble ground and the memory of the Alhambra Theatre. Through design I hope to have harnessed the sites latent energies and unleash the potential of Granger Bay’s favourable location with key infrastructure and public space.
- ItemOpen AccessArchitecture and/in place: Studying the physical and contextual connection between buildings and landscape(2023) Kok, Johannes; Louw, MichaelThis dissertation explores the relationship between people, architecture, and landscape. The theoretical research studies the relationship between people, their culture, and landscape as defining elements of place and how it informs architectural design. The aim of this is to relate the character and structure of place as defined by landscape and culture to create in-place buildings. This theory is then applied to the design of a museum for the San hunter-gatherers that dwelled in Elands Bay in the Western Cape thousands of years ago. The early history of the San hunter-gatherers mainly exists in university collections and museums outside Elands Bay. This contrasts with the surrounding landscape having numerous archaeological sites showing the rich history of the San living there. This includes the Elands Bay caves and campsites discovered to the north of the town. There is currently no place in Elands Bay where this history can be portrayed. To give further credibility to the development of a museum, the Department of Art and Culture released a report in 2013 setting out the development of a National Khoisan Heritage Route in which Elands Bay is included. The design places the museum as a threshold between the natural- and man-made landscapes in Elands Bay. This allows the design to explore a connection between the building, the town, and the natural landscape. The building is located along the main road leading into the town to create a sense of arrival and place while a public park leading to the museum uplifts a dead zone along the road. The building form developed by framing views and extending the building into the landscape, ultimately forming a route linking the museum to the historic sites mentioned earlier. In doing so, the design considers what in-place architecture could be by incorporating culture and landscape.
- ItemOpen AccessArchitecture as the background to collective life(2009) Goldman, Anna ScottThis project develops an approach towards the arrangement and design of the primary elements - public facilities and spaces - that necessarily complement the provision of subsidised housing in South Africa. The historical response to the housing shortage in South Africa has been the provision of a remarkable number of individual housing units, but with insufficient funds and attention given to the urban infrastructure, public spaces and facilities that go hand in hand with housing in livable urban environments. This project considers a subsidy housing project where the social facilities are considered upfront, and are seen as an opportunity to create interesting, people-centred places in the development - this thesis is the search for an architecture which forms the backdrop, and framework for growth, for collective urban life. This paper is structured around six sections: thinking, siting, urban design, programming, making and designing. These sections explore, respectively, the theoretical proposal with regards to social facilities and public spaces, the strategic siting of an area of subsidised housing and its associated primary elements, an urban design proposal for the whole development, the programming of the whole site and the individual cluster of facilities that I consider in more detail, the spatial and technological realisation of the public fronts of three case study buildings, and finally the exploration and manifestation of these ideas through a design. My project is being done in conjunction with another student, Rob Richardson, who is looking at creative housing within the limit of the government subsidy. Together we make a proposal for an overall living environment which takes the form of an acupunctural insertion of subsidised housing and the associated primary elements into an area of Wynburg, Cape Town.
- ItemOpen AccessArchitecture for performance - exploring the relationship between architecture, dance and the city(2023) Manhiça, Luana; Louw, MichaelThe focus of this investigation is the relationship between architecture and dance. The main concern is the challenge of translating dance to enhance architectural design, questioning how dance can inspire and unlock a potential in architecture through scale and movement of the body at various scales. Dance can be seen in two ways which relate and are parallels to architecture: for its interiority, the entertainment (escapist) value of dance which relates to architectural privacy; as well as for its exteriority, an activist (commentary) approach which relates to the public nature of architecture. The method I use to address this is a speculative design proposal of a dance school and theatre to test the ideas, which has Jazzart Dance Theatre as its imagined main stakeholder. The main topics are challenging the relationship between private and public space, architecture as performing art as well as an interest in accessibility (right to the city) through the movement of bodies from private entertainment into the public realm bringing connections. There is a tertiary interest in adaptive reuse which has the potential to create unique interiority and is sustainable. The key literature is ‘The Right to the city' by David Harvey, ‘The Production of Space' by Henri Lefebvre and ‘Architecture and disjunction' by Bernard Tschumi. The site where this design takes place in is the East City in Cape Town City Centre, at the corner of Harrington and Albertus Street. The site offers opportunities for claiming public space through activist performance in Harrington Square, which is re-imagined as public space; adding the nearby Fugard Theatre as an extension of the campus as well as a unique inner world with old and new buildings. The design provides escape whilst also creating a constant dialogue with the outside world.
- ItemOpen AccessAn architecture of support - Investigating ways small insertions within the informal act as catalysts that support the existing practices and networks established by the residents of Imizamo Yethu(2023) Halfpenny, Macarron; Louw, MichaelInformal ways of living have become the new norm in response to our rapidly urbanising world. The logic used in the making of self-built cities is poorly understood and therefore poorly supported. Many of the communities that live in these self-built cities face extreme hardship by having inadequate access to basic services, public space and educational support. As architects, our influence in the built environment is powerful and therefore these issues need to be challenged by using our skills to better the lives of the collective people. The architectural inquiry looks into how the theoretical ideas of informality can be implemented into a design which attempts to weave collaborative responses within an existing self-built environment. This metaphoric idea of weaving is used to guide my studies and test ideas through the design response research. The process of design is used to describe and analyse how the existing environment can be supported in ways which encourage positive change. This dissertation examines the need for sustainable and productive space for the youth of Imizamo Yethu as well as adequate service provision for the community at large. The project seeks to investigate ways small insertions within the existing environment of Imizamo Yethu act as catalysts that support the existing practices and networks established by its residents. The design proposes an architecture which offers support in terms of expression , play and learning as well as access to adequate service provision
- ItemOpen AccessArchitecture of the Machine(2013) Gild, Talia Orli; Noero, Jo; Coetzer, Nic; De Jager, Rob; Carter, FrancisA dissertation born out of the fascination of largescaled infrastructural engineered/architectural projects, where the individual human is absent from its initial architectural and programmatic goals, rendering built form/architecture that is free to explore scale and form. A project where the architecture is formally governed by a process that is mechanical and systematic. This dissertation that has been entitled Architecture of the Machine as I have chosen to explore the machine of our future water supply, that of a desalination plant. 2013 marks the year that we, South Africa, are no longer water "secure", in other words, the population of the country is going to exceed the amount of water available to us. A desalination plant in Hout Bay, able to produce 30 000M â„“/day, situated on the edge of the industrial sector, harbour, the informal settlement of Hangberg and the beginning the mountainous terrain of The Sentinel. This dissertation proposes that the brine water be used for salt harvesting, via shallow pans, where naturally, the water will be evaporated from these pans, leaving salt crystals behind to be used in industry, as well as the implementation of sustainable energy devices to help supplement this extensive energy consuming process. With great infrastructure comes great responsibility, therefore the design of this infrastructure must be coupled with public activities. Building something that helps our future livelihood must be something that people can also interact with, and identify with, thereby creating a physical and emotive landmark.
- ItemOpen AccessArchitecture of the street(2012) Bloch, Tyrone