Browsing by Author "Bahman, Dirk"

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Navigating the Existential: A Sacred Anchor for the Liminal Identities of Johannesburg South’s Diasporic Youth
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Moodley, Priyan; Bahman, Dirk
The story of Johannesburg South is one that begun with the city itself, a by-product of the scar of the mining belt. Through an influx of diasporic communities, it grew and morphed into a place of diverse cultural editing. One that created a youth which was born into landscapes of sacred and cultural juxtapositions and multiplicities. The result is a diasporic melting pot of existential redefinitions and liminal identities, all in flux in this ever-changing landscape, requiring anchorage and rootedness in all the shifting. Through understandings of transliminality, diasporic theory, sacredness and phenomenological existentialism, this thesis aims to give form, materiality and atmosphere to spaces in which temporal meanings of ritual and event can be held and the layering of sacred and secular multiplicities can be evoked. To answer the question of how anchorage can be created for the sacred redefinitions and temporal meanings of the liminal diaspora of Johannesburg South.
Ponte; Realness. Symbiotic parasitism in drag
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Georgiev, Victor Geoergiev; Bahman, Dirk
The intended investigation explores queer identity and the extent to which it can symbiotically co-inhabit an outdated structure to create social cohesion and integration resulting in a regeneration. Consisting of interventions exploring identity representation and familial programmes to create a sense of community. Research focuses on vulnerable communities present within Ponte (a structure containing aspects of familiarity to Ballroom spaces) and their synergy with the Ballroom community in Johannesburg. Through architectural processes engaging with space making and programming, aims value the creation of space. Encouraging educational models through social engagement which facilitate acceptance, sex, and gender expressions through a mutual occupation. Theories identified in queer spaces and Hertzburgers writings provide solutions through familiarity and atmospheres that allow for a symbiosis of community. Research outcomes indicate an adaptive re-use of Ponte through a reprogramming relating to investigations that highlight the buildings previous intentions as a vertical city.
Renegotiating Space; Arts on Main, 44 Stanley + Johannesburg
(Report Series produced by the South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) Bahman, Dirk; Frenkel, Jason
currently, there is a proliferation of urban, middle class, creative and alternative developments in Johannesburg that are typifi ed by 44 stanley and Arts on main. these developments are a relatively new phenomenon in the city and a critical investigation is required as to the reasons for their current popularity, as well as their impact and infl uences on the city. As ‘encoded’ texts that refl ect the identities and desires of a segment of our society (Van eeden2005:39), their analysis has the potential to shed light on the intricacies and nuances of the re-development of Johannesburg as a whole.