[Enabling Terroir] :a sustainable ecosystem of creation, healing & heritage on Meerlus Bosbou
Date
2014-10-07
Authors
Shapiro, Andrea Lori
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Abstract
This thesis addresses the conditions experienced by a farm working community living on Meerlust
Bosbou in the Cape Winelands, Western Cape. The programme includes a winery, a restaurant,
tasting room, exhibition hall, therapy rooms, digital library, daycare centre, greenhouse and
laboratories, extensive programmed public space, an outdoor gym as well as a future housing
scheme.
This programme enables the community to reconnect to their land, heritage and traditions. The
benefits of designing the building as a form of ‘living machine’, where nature and building begin to
blur were examined as a means of providing these reconnections. This methodology ensures a
mutually beneficial relationship between man and nature, rather than an unbalanced dependency
and impact on the land. This intervention will enable the preservation of heritage, endangered
fynbos species, the education and up-skilling of community members and visitors and
reestablishing a sense of place for the present community, and securing a stable future for future
generations.