3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Olfactory an atmospheric city experience for the filtration of the environment(2019) Hurst, EmmaThe atmospheric perspective of a city is not only prompted by visual and sensory processes, but is inclusive of the inhabitant’s emotional response to space. It is these responses that evoke sentiments of familiarization, forming the identity of the space. In the same manner in which we identify the scent of perfume, the atmosphere of a city can be identified by its urban materiality. This is influenced by a variety of factors such as location, historical fabric, socio-economical status, and the broader characteristics. Beyond the emotional sentiments of creating space, the earth’s atmosphere is responsible for the supporting of life, as it is the largest shared resource known to humanity. Yet, as the humandriven activities relentlessly spew pollutants into the atmosphere, the paramount role of bestowing such life is under consequential danger. Today, Johannesburg has one of the highest concentrations of air pollutants in the southern hemisphere. According to the World Health Organisation, this has resulted in approximately 10 000 deaths annually (WHO, 2018). Ilanit Chernick, who wrote an article called ‘Gauteng’s toxic time bomb’,explained that “one of the reasons is that Johannesburg lacks adequate urban planning controls, which has led to industrial sources of air pollution in close proximity to densely populated areas” (Chernick, 2015). The research report explores the notion of how atmospheric space relates to human response and the environmental condition, which creates place identity within the context of the leftover industrial spaces of New Doornfontein. It therefore presents the question: how can architecture capture the atmosphere of a place and respond to its environment that has severe implications for human health and life in the city? The strategy in this project is to improve the environmental atmosphere of a district through sustainability to make the control or reduction of air pollution the catalyst for a new urban typology. The intervention is a mechanism to ‘harvest’ the air pollution in the New Doornfontein area and improve the overall condition of the space and health of its inhabitants and visitors. The typology of the intervention relates to a more intangible sense of space, and an atmospheric sensibility of architecture. It will act as a vehicle of knowledge for the user. It will educate the community of air quality and what can be done to improve their immediate environment. This interactive mechanism forms the grounds for discussion on the future of architecture. It highlights the environmental conditions of a space that is not visible and it does this through the experience, manufacturing and filtration of the cities aromas. The aim is to provide a deeper knowledge and experiential understanding of an environmental problem through phenomenological space. Air quality is an important factor when it comes to the quality of life in the city; it has an indirect impact on numerous disciplines, such as: access, accommodation, jobs, general health, food and open space, movement and transport, etc. An atmospheric architecture questions the role of the architect with regards to the sense of intangible space. How can architecture create space that resonates with different individuals experiencing space in their own way? How do we create an understanding of an environmental condition through olfactory senses in architecture? How can this project provide an answer for declining in air quality and our life in the city?Item Defending an icon: the Matsulu Centre for Rhino Defense(2017) Bosman, RuanIn light of an increasing scientific and social focus on unsustainable human practices, mankind’s dominant relationship with the natural world is now being challenged. Few phenomena demonstrate this destructive relationship better than the growing number of animals being driven to extinction through human actions. The most notable of these, within the South African context, is the devastation of rhinoceros populations caused by illegal poaching, particularly in the Kruger National Park. In dealing with this issue, we have a unique opportunity to embody and catalyse a sustainable paradigm shift. Such a shift would seek to transition mankind into a symbiotic rather than parasitic relationship with the natural world. It would promote the use of cutting edge technologies for the benefit both human and non-human actors, breaking down the separation between man and nature. The resultant hybridised ecosystem would stand as an exemplary manifestation of the long theorised ‘cyborg’ entity, not as individual, but as a new form of habitat and, ultimately, societal organisation. Contextualising such a ‘Cyborgian Nexus’ as a solution to the scourge of rhino poaching is the chief subject of this research report. The Matsulu Centre for Rhino Defense is proposed as a Connected Conservation Centre in the disadvantaged Matsulu community, bordering the Kruger National Park. Its aim is to be the heart of a sophisticated system of cutting edge technologies which allow park rangers to overcome the poaching threat. Through its program as well as its architecture, the project aims to become a recognizable icon of a new relationship between man and nature. One in which human innovation allows for the natural world and the human world to coexist sustainably to the mutual benefit of both.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 Towards a sustainable green space system: understanding planning and management dynamics in the City of Johannesburg.(2013-07-23) Nhlozi, Mduduzi WThe notion of green infrastructure brings a new dynamic for dealing with urban problems in a way that responsively addresses urban problems while at the same maintaining the ecological integrity of the natural environment. Key to the notion of green infrastructure is the need to integrate and link green areas with built infrastructure in planning and development processes. Green infrastructure suggests that to achieve sustainable development in urban landscapes, green spaces should be planned for and managed as infrastructure and must be conceived of and understood as a genuinely possible means to improve and contribute to sustainability. Green infrastructure requires an institutional and policy framework that supports practices geared towards planning and managing green assets in the same way in which traditional infrastructure systems are managed. This study explores the planning and management dynamics of green infrastructure in the City of Johannesburg. The study analyses the institutional and policy frameworks of City of Johannesburg to understand these dynamics. One the one hand, the aim is to explore whether green space planning and management is understood in an ‘infrastructural’ sense and on the other, to explore the institutional blockages for green infrastructure planning in the City. The study argues that a number of institutional and implementation challenges for planning and management of green infrastructure exist in Johannesburg. These are the result of an institutional setup which essentially provides fertile ground for some structures to compete against one another rather than work collaboratively in areas that are of common interest. While these challenges exist in the city, it has been established in the study that the City has begun to shift towards green infrastructure practices to address certain urban problems such as flooding and storm-water. For instance, the City is currently deepening its understanding of the concept of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) to explore how this can contribute towards addressing issue of storm-water management. Important to note that is that while there is this gradual shift towards SUDS, the notion of green infrastructure largely remains at the conceptual level, in relation to particular issues, and is yet to be fully implemented and mainstreamed in the City’s planning processes.