Inheriting Resonance: Regenerating Indigenous African Musical Pedagogy Through an Education and Culture Centre in Newtown
Date
2023-09
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Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
Indigenous African Music requires spatial interventions to counter its erasure in a South African education system that has historically prioritised Western Art Music. This research analyses the relationship between African musical pedagogy and architecture. It aims to address the erasure of musical knowledge through an architectural design that evokes regeneration in an urban setting. Using Pallasmaa’s theory of phenomenology as a guiding focus, this research contextualises African music and how it manifests architecturally. The haptic and embodied architectural experiences defined by phenomenology are inherent within African music. By focusing on the musical bow instruments at the centre of many tribes across Southern Africa, the intrinsic qualities of these instruments are translated and abstracted to form an embodied architectural design intervention embued with an African musical identity. This research argues that phenomenological architectural design methodologies can regenerate, preserve and sustain indigenous musical knowledge(s) for future generations.
Description
This document is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree: Master of Architecture (Professional) at the University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa.
Keywords
Indigenous African Music, South African education system, Western Art Music, Pallasmaa’s theory of phenomenology, Architectural design