Auras: a house of the spirit as a place of pause amidst a fast-paced city

Abstract

In a world of speed, where everythingseemingly happens in an instant, the context of this thesis is fully engrained in contemporary society. With an increase in pace of life, brought about through technological developments, we are enveloped in a new sense of connection. For the first time, people who are across the world can be reached within the touch of a button. No longer do we wait; no longer do we slow and no longer do we pause. We have entered a societal race that appears to be unending by the pressures of perpetual modernity. Johannesburg is continually growing as a 21st century city as it adapts to new technologies and industries as speed develops the urban landscape. Through investigations into this contemporary way of life of My City and an inherent increase in pace of the everyday, people living in the city are being driven by the mundane. It is within the modern city, that slow becomes a phenomena and an importance of place is emphasized. With little space to take time and appreciate the city amidst this fast-paced way of life, the disconnection between people and place is ever increasingly growing. A virtual gap between real and unreal begins to create a rift between the city and the people. People are pulled into a ‘mobile hello’ where there is a lack of awareness in spaces around the city. The notions of time, movement and pace of life translate into a contemporary condition that identifies the importance that people and the city have placed on the virtual. Thrust by the tension between the virtual and real in every day, people are being pulled into a new sense of telepresence1.This telepresence and the current pace of life translate into a condition that emphasises the need for deceleration as a means of reconnection. By looking at theories around third place as a means of gathering within architectural discourse, the work challenges Johannesburg to prepare for its future by allowing for place of pause amidst this condition. Around the city a sense of timelessness comes with spiritual space, thus the proposed programme of the House of the Spirit becomes a space of accessibility, connectivity and sociability. This space rekindles the ideas of slow, by allowing for people to take pause from the everyday in a common space. The architecture brings about a way to stimulate the past and looking towards a future of our people while dealing with conditions that surround the city in the present and an inherent increase in pace of the everyday, people living in the city are being driven by the mundane. It is within the modern city, that slow becomes a phenomenon and an importance of place is emphasized. With little space to take time and appreciate the city amidst this fast paced way of life, the disconnection between people and place is ever increasingly growing. A virtual gap between real and unreal begins to create a rift between the city and the people. People are pulled into a ‘mobile hello’ where there is a lack of awareness in spaces around the city. The notions of time, movement and pace of life translate into a contemporary condition that identifies the importance that people and the city have placed on the virtual. Thrust by the tension between the virtual and real in every day, people are being pulled into a new sense of telepresence. This telepresence and the current pace of life translate into a condition that emphasises the need for deceleration as a means of reconnection. By looking at theories around third place as a means of gathering within architectural discourse, the work challenges Johannesburg to prepare for its future by allowing for place of pause amidst this condition. Mapping the city draws light activities and places that are preparing for its people. Around the city a sense of timelessness comes with spiritual space, thus the proposed programme of the House of the Spirit becomes a space of accessibility, connectivity and sociability. This space rekindles the ideas of slow, by allowing for people to take pause from the everyday in a common space. The architecture brings about a way to stimulate the past and looking towards a future of our people while dealing with conditions that surround the city in the present.