3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item DHYAAN: reimagining Tolstoy Farm through a spiritual identity(2020) Ganda, RachnaMore than 100 years ago, Mohandas K. Gandhi, an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer and his friend Hermann Kallenbach, a German born architect shaped the idea of an utopian environment separated from the city. Tolstoy Farm, was founded and located just outside of Lenasia, Johannesburg, which is now owned by Corobrik, where they have declared a portion of the land a heritage site. This thesis explores opportunities for connecting architectural design to the principles and concepts, which emerged out of the narrative and events that took place on Tolstoy farm. South Africans experienced segregation through religion and race. Architecture can be seen as a medium to establish a dialogue among these groups. This design aims to allow its users to experience a new “sense of place” that arouses curiosity, creativity, spirituality and comfort, starting to delve deeper and find the balance between architecture and the human body. This proposal will also explore different methodologies around spirituality to assist the reader in understanding the relationship around principles in Indian culture such as meditation, ayurvedic practices (the human body) and Vaastu Shastra (architecture). It is believed that not only do these elements give us the ability to heal but also boosts the energy around us and uplifts our spirits. This intervention aims to merge seemingly unrelated ideas in an unconventional and unprecedented way, ultimately resulting in a fusion of concepts, highlighting the past and bringing it out into the present. This ‘hybrid’ architectural piece draws on a program, from a healing center, combining a general clinic and an ayurvedic treatment center, which allows harmonious living in an urban landscape. Not only am I looking at the well-being of the users but also architecture that encompasses the teachings around Gandhi on site and the “Satyagraha” movement for non-violent protest. Each part of the program is seemingly different, yet each of them feed off of the other. This enables a multi-sensory ambience, a spatial experience and embodied spirit that resonate within the human soulItem Profit for change: catalysing architecture through commerce and identity(2017) Leshaba, TebogoInformal communities seem to thrive due to their ability to invent and adapt resilient organic systems. Although programmes are often conceptualized to intervene in social, economic or institutional settings, very few are able to address what I believe to be the problem underlying in many instances; money. The ability to attract, develop and maintain commerce in a closed system will determine the efficiency and dependency a community will have on external forces. The quest for a self-sustaining economic system suggests a move towards creating complex commercial urban centres which can operate outside the parameters of a formal economy. History has provided such models, where out of necessity, informal industries have taken structure and found ways to attach to the mainstream economy. My line of questioning stems from these principles and seeks to explore modes of community empowerment initiatives. The goal is to identify the necessary framework that will allow capitalist constructs to prevail within informal systems. At the crux of economic emancipation for informal communities in South Africa must exist an environment that compels a shift in attitude for the mobilisation change. The state in its incumbency to deliver radical social transformation is in the best position to act, but history has shown that movements which were born from the society, despite financial, political & social hardships, have the propensity to dramatically advance and flourish along a greater trajectory.Item Natural impressions: a centre for wetland, estuary & marine conservation in the Isimangaliso Wetland Park(2016) Govender, KimeshaClimate change is a clear indication that humanity’s innate affiliation with nature has been suppressed, and that our detrimental anthropogenic activities on the earth’s natural resources and systems, have exceeded the earth’s ecological capacity to cope and regenerate. This threatens environmental sustainability, which subsequently has social and economic implications. Environmental conservation is humanity’s aim towards re-affiliating its deep rootedness in nature, in order to ensure a sustainable co-existence with other species and natural systems, and thus convince responsive lifestyles, which allows humanity to match natural-resource extraction to the rate at which the earth can regenerate. The role of environmental sustainable architecture, towards mitigating humanity’s impact on global warming, still leaves a disparity between human relationships and interactions with the natural environment. The notion of a phenomenology-guided design inquiry, an application of enhanced multi-sensory experiences is identified, to re-affiliate humanity with nature and to provoke a sense of urgency for greater protection of the natural environment, through an immersive experience of enhanced human-nature interactions with nature. Furthermore, this notion is applied in the programme of eco-tourism and qualitative ecological research; the proposed site choice; the concept design approach and technical resolution of the project. The research recognises the conservation of sensitive ecosystems such as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in northern KwaZulu-Natal, as one of the core strategies for environmental sustainability, and its appropriateness as a site for immersed experiences with nature and the sharing of ecological knowledge for the benefit of the wider communities in South Africa and internationally. The research proposes an environmentally responsible and contextually appropriate architectural design, for a wetland, estuary and marine conservation centre in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Furthermore, the programme responds to the key contextual issues concerning the park by assisting with the ecological conservation and growth, as well as the social and economic sustainability of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and surrounding communities. This is achieved by proposing an architectural programme which functions as an interface and mediator for the key issues concerning the park, that is of research, education, tourism and community participation, through which the most concerning issue of ecological conservation occurs.Item Points of convergence: redefining the place of arrival in Johannesburg(2015-04-30) Mazzoni, Stefan AntonioThe ideology of hospitality, symbolic of travel in a world filled with experiences is sought by us all. The notion of exploration as a result of our curiosity is deeply embedded in our makeup. A profound understanding of the world is one of our greatest endeavours as it is routed in the conception of cognitive thought. We are wired to settle in the most habitable parts of the planet and even then we feel the urge for discovery, we do this in the form of travel. From my own encounters as a young boy, nothing expresses this narrative better than the exhilaration and excitement I felt then I arrived in a new city. My experiences by their very nature were formulated from a multitude of sensory indulgences which were unfamiliar but most intriguing. Drawing comparison came naturally as the mind’s way of evaluating the surroundings and juxtaposing them with those of my home. This analogy was the core principle to interpreting foreign spaces and devising conclusive outlooks. During the time that one absorbs any foreign way of life, the hotel takes care of the traveler's basic needs and contributes significantly to the overall experience, lending to the enjoyment and relaxation of travel both of which are key components. The city itself encapsulates the principals of hospitality as it fundamentally offers the traveler, visitor and the local inhabitant, sustenance, safety, and shelter, essentials that are expected and in place from our early social development. These elements are the most basic necessities to sustain survival and are readily available in any city. In the past, cities were fortified against aggressors by defensive walls which enclosed the city and which apart from their utilitarian function, symbolized the status and sovereignty of the citizens and the grandeur of the city. The entrance to the city was through a befitting imposing gate which demarcated the place of arrival and entry and added to the city's standing. With the progression of time and the advent of rail travel, the city's railway station defined a place of arrival and was often among the grandest structures, designed to impress and declaring lavish opulence and wealth. This thesis investigates the possibilities of creating a place of arrival in Johannesburg both symbolically and factually. Our metropolis, known as the provincial capital of the Gauteng Province, has, due to its rapid expansion in its relatively short life, no recognizable place of arrival. The introduction of the Gautrain Station in the immediate vicinity of Park Station presented an opportunity to link the station to a hotel and creating a pedestrian throughway from the station that passes through the hotel and into the city. The passage way traverses an impressive square with features designed to create an ennobling introduction to the city. The design realizes all the criteria of arrival into the city. It combines the railway station which is the mode of travel, the squares form the introduction to the city, the symbolic entrance is the opening through the hotel building, the hotel structure acts as the city wall and the hotel is the traveler's destination offering all the comforts and sustenance. All this serves to create the right ambiance to encourage tourists to remain in the city rather than proceed elsewhere in the area. Johannesburg is unique and is irreplaceable, it has suffered abandonment and neglect but was once much loved and cherished, it is part of our identity, ours to regain and treasure and deserves a noteworthy place of arrival.Item Fighting for peace: a martial arts [Diversion] centre(2015-04-30) Rodrigues, Fàbio Armando Matos“There is no keener revelation to a society’s soul than the way it treats its children” -Nelson Mandela In places deemed safe for our children, they are being exposed, tainted and scarred by the darkness of crime - eight times as much as our adults. In desperation, some of our children seek support within their dysfunctional families but they fail. As their cries for a way out are unheard, the soul of our nation turns to crime as an alternative. This thesis explores the physical and emotional instability of children as a result of prevailing crime. Instability that, in cases, leads children into a life of crime. The look into statistics regarding children and crime intensifies the urgency of the problem. The aim of the new justice act is to divert children away from the formal justice system (a fairly new approach launched in 2010). An interview with social worker Esmé Jacobs pointed out that the use of a diversion center was a step in the right direction. In this thesis, the use of Martial Arts is being promoted and highlighted as the diversion. Martial Arts is used as a means to allow our brittle children to be nurtured, to be integrated in a safe environment, to be guided onto the best path, and can be seen as an alternative family entity. Martial arts was uncovered through its history and philosophies, and analyzed through its structures and composition. The effects of the practice of Martial Arts are prominent in the interview with Paul De Beer – an architect and one of the highest qualified aikido practitioners. De Beer introduces the look into a Clinical Martial Arts Programme for rehabilitation for children at risk. Martial Arts and nature are one. Architecturally, the concept embodies the amalgamation of nature and architectural design: The flow from one into the other; the concepts of openness and all-inclusiveness within Martial Arts are points to respect when creating the space for the recuperation of our children, and the architectural challenge of giving our at-risk children a chance at life by creating a second home and not an incarceration facility. Dojo Stara Wiés, the world’s largest performance training centre and a home for Martial Arts and Martial Artists alike, offers a platform to experience of the spirit, atmosphere and philosophy of Japanese Martial Arts. Dojo Stara Wiés was analysed to correctly expose the connection between Martial Arts and architecture and how they both embody the same energy and philosophies. Site selection had the prerequisites of educational, recreational and community facilities. Belief systems show the importance of water in cleansing and rebirth, therefore a site with water was crucial as it would aid change. The above elements were a priority when choosing a site so that children would be fully integrated within the environment and the community. Germiston Lake was chosen and analysed as the site for the Diversion Centre. A Martial Arts Diversion Centre: a young architect’s conscious effort to heal our children through the use of architecture in conjunction with the principles of Martial Arts. “Architects today tend to depreciate themselves, to regard themselves as no more than just ordinary citizens without the power to reform the future.” – Kenzo Tange