Genius loci: on altering perceptions, reconnecting people to place & invoking spirit of place, Mitchells Plain

Abstract

This dissertation looks at themes of identity construction rooted in place. It takes the notion of people and the environment having a reciprocal relationship with architecture being at the interface - facilitating the localised formation of identity and sense of place. I examine current themes of Creole culture and related hybridization, and the important role architecture and place plays in the affirmation of identity. This is done in the context of Mitchells Plain located on the Cape Flats. I critique the original apartheid modernist planning in creating a ‘community’ detached, and with no ‘proper’ social network and basis for identification. In response, I propose a re-establishment of identity and pride in place. Dealing with key social issues, stitching together. ABSTRACT fragmented natural, physical and cultural elements by providing opportunity for experience and expression through concepts of event (active public space), programme, and network. By drawing on cultural and ecological lessons of the vernacular it seeks to create a sustainable, symbiotic place and a platform for individual identity development rooted in contemporary life, uniqueness of place and identity.