Mindful mediations at Three Anchor Bay

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dc.contributor.advisorMyer, Landonen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGericke, Ludwigen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-06-25T13:46:10Z
dc.date.available2015-06-25T13:46:10Z
dc.date.issued2011en_ZA
dc.description.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis project is a synthesis of, on the one hand, the interventionist architect curiously and deliberately plotting form and visualising construction and, on the other hand, the human being often wilfully retreated and joyfully observing the uninterrupted and the conflicting. It is this dialectic - rather than immovable theoretical principles - that has informed not only my process, but also my design. In this sense this project represents what I believe to be the most important feature of my architectural education: the inexplicable joy in the constant re-evaluation of the imprecise nexus between the deliberately mediated and the uninterrupted. This impulse is also what (perhaps unknowingly at the time) attracted me to Three Anchor Bay - a site of untameable swells, impenetrable rhythms, ebb and flow. It is a site that necessitates decisiveness in a counterintuitive form; boundaries. Any frontier, however versatile and accommodating, requires commitment (few are capable of confidently kayaking beyond an otherwise parameter-defining promenade). Drawing a line is not only the problem of the architect, but the human being. Although this paper is largely a personal essay instead of a coherent treatise (I reserve the right to remain sceptical of every decision), it is important to make a few general observations. The first is supremely personal: I am decidedly fallible. Although harsh introspection is generally more valuable and courageous than the resolute defence of personal conviction, I often found myself passionately defending lines I have drawn (especially ones that I have spent a lot of time re- drawing and erasing). Redrawing can be a counterintuitive struggle and it has often been difficult to regard it as a necessary and unpredictable process rather than as emblematic of some sort of failure. Although common sense urges us to "learn from our mistakes", it is never quite that simple. This project has, in short, caused me to constantly mediate between conviction and perpetual self-criticism. Secondly, these ideas are by no means new and have been repeated (and often ignored) in various contexts. Karl Popper, for instance, believed that "any idea of Utopia is necessarily closed owing to the fact that it chokes on its own refutations. The simple notion of a good model for society that cannot be left open for falsification is totalitarian” (Taleb, 2004, p.128-129). The same is true of architecture - particularly those projects that are resolutely planted in a pre-determined style, ideology or “balance”.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationGericke, L. (2011). <i>Mindful mediations at Three Anchor Bay</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13096en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationGericke, Ludwig. <i>"Mindful mediations at Three Anchor Bay."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13096en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationGericke, L. 2011. Mindful mediations at Three Anchor Bay. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Gericke, Ludwig AB - This project is a synthesis of, on the one hand, the interventionist architect curiously and deliberately plotting form and visualising construction and, on the other hand, the human being often wilfully retreated and joyfully observing the uninterrupted and the con&#64258;icting. It is this dialectic - rather than immovable theoretical principles - that has informed not only my process, but also my design. In this sense this project represents what I believe to be the most important feature of my architectural education: the inexplicable joy in the constant re-evaluation of the imprecise nexus between the deliberately mediated and the uninterrupted. This impulse is also what (perhaps unknowingly at the time) attracted me to Three Anchor Bay - a site of untameable swells, impenetrable rhythms, ebb and &#64258;ow. It is a site that necessitates decisiveness in a counterintuitive form; boundaries. Any frontier, however versatile and accommodating, requires commitment (few are capable of con&#64257;dently kayaking beyond an otherwise parameter-defining promenade). Drawing a line is not only the problem of the architect, but the human being. Although this paper is largely a personal essay instead of a coherent treatise (I reserve the right to remain sceptical of every decision), it is important to make a few general observations. The &#64257;rst is supremely personal: I am decidedly fallible. Although harsh introspection is generally more valuable and courageous than the resolute defence of personal conviction, I often found myself passionately defending lines I have drawn (especially ones that I have spent a lot of time re- drawing and erasing). Redrawing can be a counterintuitive struggle and it has often been difficult to regard it as a necessary and unpredictable process rather than as emblematic of some sort of failure. Although common sense urges us to "learn from our mistakes", it is never quite that simple. This project has, in short, caused me to constantly mediate between conviction and perpetual self-criticism. Secondly, these ideas are by no means new and have been repeated (and often ignored) in various contexts. Karl Popper, for instance, believed that "any idea of Utopia is necessarily closed owing to the fact that it chokes on its own refutations. The simple notion of a good model for society that cannot be left open for falsi&#64257;cation is totalitarian” (Taleb, 2004, p.128-129). The same is true of architecture - particularly those projects that are resolutely planted in a pre-determined style, ideology or “balance”. DA - 2011 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2011 T1 - Mindful mediations at Three Anchor Bay TI - Mindful mediations at Three Anchor Bay UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13096 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/13096
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationGericke L. Mindful mediations at Three Anchor Bay. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, 2011 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13096en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Architecture, Planning and Geomaticsen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherArchitecture, Planning and Geomaticsen_ZA
dc.titleMindful mediations at Three Anchor Bayen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMArch (Prof)en_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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