Popmopolis: an investigation into township popular culture
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Date
2011-09-16
Authors
Baloyi, Nkhensani Hudson
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Abstract
South African Townships are constantly
developing and growing. Increased
urbanisation, poverty, unemployment,
ineffective service delivery and scarce
natural resources are some of the harsh
challenges our townships are facing,
And while we have to come to terms
with these , the spatial environment is
also transformed, in some cases almost
overnight. This happens as a result of
cultural influences on our townships.
An investigation into pop culture might
reveal a set of parameters to which
architecture can respond as an
expression of contemporary South
African culture. The goal of my
investigation is to understand the plural
realities of townships and their cultures,
as reflected in the sometimescontroversial
products of pop culture,
and to ultimately relate these
paradigms to inform an architectural
solution for a facility to acknowledge
pop culture in one of the townships,
Soweto.The objective of this investigation is to
question the significance and
relevance of a changing cultural
aspect of Townships, Pop culture.
The background and motivation for this
thesis is the immediate impact that pop
culture has on architecture, place and
spaceon the context of Soweto.
My architectural intentions are to
create a building that exhibits the
history of township pop culture but also
a centre that reflects pop through the
building programme