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Date
2011-10-25
Authors
Fritzschner, Brigitte
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Abstract
This thesis aims to uncover architectural design solutions which
optimise the level of quality of life for the users within high-density
suburban communities that have fallen victim to the urban
consequences of modernism.
Disconnection between people and space is the first central theme
which drives this thesis. The suburban community of Bedford Gardens
in Johannesburg has become a ‘container of strangers’. The lack of community life spurred on by the isolated built fabric and
fragmentation of land use, encouraged by the mass availability and subsequent reliance on the car, is the cause of this. Quality of life of the occupants within these high-density residential blocks,which proliferated as a result of the shopping mall, is not at the level it should be due to this disconnection. ‘Lost’, undesigned space both around and within the buildings has resulted in the lack of interaction between the residents, with the presence of fencing and parking lots keeping them apart. The route home within this
destination is a source of stress and inconvenience. How can this trip be transformed into an exhilarating journey through the union of horizontal and vertical space with the end goal of enabling this ‘lost’ community to become both a public destination and connector?