Identity, culture, architecture & the design of a Chinese cultural school in Morningside, Kabega, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Authors: Akpokiniovo, Oghenetejiri
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Architecture, Chinese -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Interior architecture School buildings -- Design and construction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42727 , vital:36685
- Description: This treatise is born out of preoccupation with Identity, Culture and Architecture. Through the study of the fragility of the South-African Chinese community: their double heritage, their quest for a sense of place and permanence with the establishment of Chinese Schools that maintain the Chinese culture. It begins with identifying their almost unstable and fragmented nature of movement, their struggle to find a ‘place’ in Port Elizabeth, especially after the establishment of the Group Areas Act of 1960 and their fight against apartheid and discrimination. It becomes clear that migration, racial segregation, confusion, forced removals, and displacement have been their legacy in South Africa. The purpose of this document is to investigate the symbolic nature of architecture, and how it can be used as a tangible medium to bring about an affirmation of identity, and create a sense of place for the future; giving credence to the celebration of culture and social interaction. Through the use of literature reviews, informal interviews, desktop research, analysis, precedent studies and other qualitative studies; there will be an understanding of the community in terms of how they came about settling in South Africa; their migratory patterns due to forced removals and the current status of the community in terms of cultural revolution; understanding the cultural issues the community face; in the establishment of a centralised symbolic precinct that allows for the celebration and promotion of culture. Through the design of the Chinese Cultural School, it will be demonstrated that in order to create a sense of place for the Chinese community, aiding in integration and restoration; one will need to engage in the argument of the vitality of authentic architecture, the vernacular language of a particular culture, and the subjectivity of identity especially in a context outside of its homeland.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of a 21st century headquarters for the Transnet National Ports Authority in the port of East London
- Authors: Ramjee, Neche'
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Harbors -- South Africa -- East London -- Design and construction Marine terminals -- Design and construction National Ports Authority of South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23801 , vital:30621
- Description: Ports form part of an international global network that facilitates trade and economic growth. This thesis is born out of interest in communicating economic prosperity and corporate identity in a modern South African society through the design of a headquarters for the state owned company (parastatal), Transnet National Ports Authority. This paper unpacks and the reviews the strategies, methods and tools when interpreting corporate identity into corporate architecture as well as the issues and challenges when establishing a corporate identity for a parastatal company in connection with the potential role and impact that ports have on urban development in the 21st Century. Qualitative research has been conducted to investigate and understand what corporate identity is in order to establish the key symbolic components which signify a brand, within its national context, to its users, clients and the public. Furthermore theory relating to place is used in order to establish the relationship between man and nature has also been investigated in order to appropriate principles of wellness and sustainability within a corporate environment which are site specific. This provides a platform for an architectural intervention which responds to the ecological and urban issues of the site, as harbours have a dominant land use in a city they have significant implications for the physical and environmental features thereof. The findings will lead to an appropriate brief which will arrive at a design response which is an authentic architectural expression of the company’s corporate identity. An office building typology will be investigated and implemented onto the site to successfully communicate the brand and contextual identity. Urban strategies which seek to marry the rigid industrial processes with its active public interface will be investigated in order to contribute to promote trade on the East London waterfront.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of a 3D printing facility in Central, Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Huiskens, Riaan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Architecture and technology -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23739 , vital:30615
- Description: High-tech architecture is moving towards a paradigm shift with the development and incorporation of digital fabrication technology. This interest is extended into the discussion of recycling existing infrastructure. In this treatise, a topic which ties into both the heritage and ecological discourse. It recognises the significance of historical urban elements and the finite quality of heritage resources within the city. A historical building used as a host for the design of a 3D printing facility invites a dialogue between the architecture of the old and the expression of the new. The Premier Mill Building is identified as an historical urban artefact and the proposed programme complements the historical background of the building, which was a granary. A building from another time, now caught in a post-industrial age. The primary architectural exploration focuses on the possibilities offered by 3D printing in the making and expression of architecture. Therefore research is focused on the types and processes of 3D printing and there products. Secondly, the treatise employs an urban artefact as a vehicle of expression for a new programme, which requires an understanding of the topic of marrying present and past architecture. In the treatise the city, is understood through the work of Aldo Rossi’s conceptual perspective of the city. Further, the topic of digital tectonic is explored in order to establish an expression of digital fabrication. Heritage and conservation principles are investigated to complete a theoretical understanding of the project. This treatise document is a record of the design process from start to finish. The document unpacks the treatise through its various stages of growth: project background; research; design strategies and final design.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of a eucalyptus furniture manufacturing facility in Hogsback, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Yspeert, Hymie
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Furniture industry and trade -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23727 , vital:30614
- Description: The purpose of this research is to investigate the tectonic poten¬tial of Eucalyptus. This is done by using the design of a furniture manufacturing facility in Hogsback as a scenario through which the tectonic potential of Eucalyptus can be explored. Eucalyptus as a material for investigation was chosen because, in the context of South Africa, Eucalyptus is listed as an invasive alien species which poses certain ecological problems to our ecosystems. Yet it is known as a versatile building material. The research is qualitative and empirical in nature and takes the form of pure research. The research was done by conducting site visits and through exploratory artworks and tectonic models (sculptures), as well as by reviewing relevant literature and conducting precedent studies based thereon. It was found that the tectonic potential of Eucalyptus rests in the ma¬terial’s great structural strength, compared to its weight. The factory type proved to be suitable building type through which to investigate the tectonics of Eucalyptus given its functional and architectural concern regarding structure and tectonics. The context of Hogsback added depth to the architectural challenge in requiring a response to climatic conditions, which can vary with vast extremes and can change within a short period of time. The practical implication of this research is that Eucalyptus has great potential in the making of architecture. It therefore warrants further investigation into the material’s structural properties which, thus far, has not been widely researched. This has become more of a necessity due to the fact that it is increasingly becoming more popular as an alternative to commercial species such as pine or other wood species used in the building construction.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of a high performance sailing centre
- Authors: Dealtry, Thomas
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Sports facilities -- South Africa -- Design and construction Architecture and recreation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23695 , vital:30601
- Description: This treatise addresses the architectural challenge of designing a High Performance Centre (HPC), serving South African Sailing (SAS), to be located in Port Elizabeth’s harbour. Designing a facility which caters speciffically to the functional requirements of sailing racing and recreation will cater to the needs of SAS, whilst upgrading the state of Port Elizabeth’s oceanic recreational facilities, thereby boosting the local tourism sector by establishing Port Elizabeth as South Africa’s watersport capital. The current status of the harbour as an area undergoing a redevelopment from a heavy industrial focus to a recreational and commercial waterfront provides the opportunity for an architectural intervention which spearheads this shift, whilst addressing the postindustrial landscape which remains. A study of the nature of the sport of sailing is conducted in order to determine the requirements of facilities catering for sailing racing and recreation, and to supplement an investigation of the typology of the HPC which, through the study of precedents, clarifies its specific nature and characteristics. This results in the development of a set of site selection criteria, which inform the best possible location for such an intervention within the harbour. In depth contextual analysis is conducted in order to determine role of the harbour within PE’s urban, ecological and historical fabrics, from which the current development plans of the Nelson Mandela Bay Development Agency and Transnet are outlined so as to understand the direction in which the future of the PE harbour is headed, and to align an architectural response with this vision. This analysis sets up a number of contextual constraints and informants which, with the aid of phenomenological concepts of place-making and materiality, the principles architectural responses to post-industrial landscapes, and the nature of the relationship between architecture and water, guide the design process, ensuring an appropriate response to the site.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of a juvenile detention centre for Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Adams, Eduan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Youth centers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Designs and plans , Juvenile detention homes -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Designs and plans Juvenile delinquents -- Rehabilitation -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23969 , vital:30650
- Description: Out of a total of 236 active correctional centres across South Africa, only 5.5% of these cater to the needs of juvenile offenders, and none of these are located within the immediate Port Elizabeth area. This means that in their already fragile state, children from Port Elizabeth and the immediate surrounding areas are sent away from their families and support base to serve their sentence. Therefore, a need for a Juvenile Detention Centre within the Port Elizabeth area was realized. In this treatise an investigative study of existing Juvenile Detention Centres was carried out to which an understanding of the building typology, nature of the site and technical requirements was formulated. The site selected in Schauderville conforms to the site selection criteria established, and enhances the link to Nerina One Stop Child Justice Centre. The primary focus of the study was to design a building to provide secure residential care for juvenile offenders, offering a range of programmes to assist their rehabilitation back into society. The outcome, is presented as a set of architectural drawings and a model(s).
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of a Memorial Park and a Promatorium complex in Humewood Extention, Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Cochrane, Camryn
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Terrain vague -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23750 , vital:30616
- Description: This treatise is the result of an initial interest in the concept of ‘terrain vague’, the phenomenon of disconnected spaces that are internal to the city yet exist outside the effective and functioning networks of the urban system (Sola-Morales 1995, 120). The notion of terrain vague informs the theoretical preoccupation of this study and sets the basis on which the contextual and programmatic concerns are considered and explored. The harbour precinct of Port Elizabeth was selected as the focus area for the study, in which the characteristics of the terrain vague were uncovered through a series of maps, diagrams and photographs. The role of the cemetery as a type of terrain vague in the urban fabric is simultanelously investigated. The study refers to Richard Weller’s interpretation of the nature of the contemporary city and principles of landscape urbanism as a basis for developing ways of approaching the city and it’s spaces of terrain vague.Through this, the study is situated predominantly in the ecological discourse. The use of precedant studies as a means of exploring the application of the theoretical principles discussed in this study is key to providing the reader with a contextual understanding and clarity. The architectural intervention proposes a memorial park in the harbour precinct. This aims to generate a spatial awakening of the terrian vague. By reclaiming the denatured landscape (oil tank farm) and re-scripting it as a culturally significant area that is re-integrated into the public realm, the opportunity to rehabilitate the ecological flows of the city is realised. The design of a promatorium complex within the proposed memorial Park aims to re-introduce the funerary landscape into the city and in doing so challenges the threat of cemetries remaining as spaces of terrain vague. The promatorium complex is seen as a facility that supports the functions of the memorial park as a commemorative landscape in the 21st century. In all this intervention aims to transform a disregarded wasteland into an operational landscape. The aim is to enhance the ecological systems of the city and by extension to reconcile the interface between man and nature.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of a municipal administration centre for Mount Fletcher, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Ndzeleni, Phakama
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Municipal buildings -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Designs and plans , Office buildings -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Designs and plans Architecture, Modern -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42716 , vital:36684
- Description: The premise behind this treatise is that poor infrastructure dampens the economic potential of rural areas, as a result, increase migration to urban areas. this in turn puts more pressure on urban infrastructure and rapidly grows townships and squatter camps in the periphery of large cities. this research originates from the experience of having lived in both rural and urban areas, therefore having seen the widening economic disparity between the two settlements. small towns in previously self-governed homelands are remnants of Apartheid separate development policies. these areas are characterized by ill structured monotonous low scale environments lacking sense of place.Mount Fletcher is a centre serving numerous rural communities however the planning, or lack thereof, abides by the minimum standards and most basic provision of services with a lack of quality public infrastructure. The existing public buildings which should be major structuring elements are dispersed within the built environment which results in a lack of a structural ordering system. The issue identified above create an opportunity for architecture to serve as a catalyst towards creating positive urban environments which can then build a sense of dignity and pride for the community.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of an archive and memorial park in South End, Port Elizabeth: an interactive community educational project
- Authors: Struwig, Arno
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Community centers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Designs and plans , Community development -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Designs and plans Parks -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Planning Municipal archives -- Designs and plans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23716 , vital:30604
- Description: This treatise addresses the current lack in concern for acknowledging and preserving the memories and historical elements of a once thriving place: South End, Port Elizabeth (fig. 11, p. 20). The Group Areas Act of 19501 (Y. Agherdien, A. C George, S. Hendricks, 1997) resulted in expropriation of land and the demolision of buildings and roads which started to take place in South End during the 1970’s, forcefully removing the residents from their home neighbourhood and home. The treatise focuses on the traces of what is left of South End (fig. 02, in red) and how these elements can be acknowledged and preserved for the future generations. Theories on the discourse of memory, specifically collective memory, are investigated to establish an understanding on different methods to capture, record and preserve these traces and memories of South End. This investigation will be followed by principle explorations to establish how these theories can be implemented and manifested in the historical landscape. It is proposed to design an archive next to St. Peter’s Church, above St. Mary’s Cemetery in South End and a memorial park on the “triangular site” across from the cemetery, addressing the existing conditions of the landscape and the memories of the ex-residents of South End (figs. 16-18, p. 24). The archive will consist of a conventional archive (static element) housing the maps and documentation related to the city of Port Elizabeth, and an oral archive (dynamic element) consisting of a recording studio that collects and records the stories of the ex-residents of South End, constantly changing and adding to the archive. The memorial park will resemble a “living archive” which constantly changes and re-evokes the memories of the original inhabitants of South End. The proposed project is intended to act as an educative catalyst to the visitors, citizens of Nelson Mandela Bay and the future generations.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of an Islamic Sufi lodge in Oudekraal nature reserve, Cape Town
- Authors: Mcnaught,Nicholas
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Islamic architecture -- Cape Town sufism Nature conservation -- South Africa -- Cape Town
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23790 , vital:30620
- Description: Humans have an innate psychological and emotional affinity to the sacred natural world, however with increasing urbanization nature and the natural world is under threat, presenting a situation which is likely to have physical and emotional consequences for society. This treatise grapples with issues pertaining to the interface between man and nature and its relation to the sacred. It examines how the architecture concerning a building type, the Sufi Lodge, found within traditional Islamic architecture can be translated into the 21st century to strengthen the sense of culture, meaning and spirituality for the Islamic Sufi community that exists within South Africa. The challenge is firmly rooted in notions of place making as well as this interface between man and nature. Emile Durkheim’s dichotomy of sacred and profane is used as a starting point to build a discussion around issues that come with the creation of sacred place in the artificial and natural. Architectures role in this, in its nature as a mediator between realms, is analysed, particularly focussing on Thomas Barrie’s principles of sacred place creation. These principles are then overlaid with the specific Islamic formal belief system to create an approach which embraces community, culture and the sensitivities of making in a natural landscape.In all this treatise seeks to understand the principles in order to develop a proposal for an Islamic Sufi Lodge for the Islamic Sufi community in Cape Town South Africa. This facility looks to serve as a vessel for interactions within a greater social network creating a space for pilgrims and residents, allowing for ritual gathering and learning as well as providing a liminal place for solitude and deep spiritual connection to nature.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of an urban resources centre in Korsten, Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Boliter, Laura
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Community centers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Designs and plans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23761 , vital:30617
- Description: The adoption of a critical spatial perspective is imperative, if social justice is to be performed in urban environments, according the urban theorist Edward Soja. From this perspective of a socio-spatial dialectic, understood using Lefebvre’s ideas around the social production of space and the right to the city, the current spatial conditions of Port Elizabeth are seen as perpetuating past constructions of inequity. In these constructions of inequity large, systematically oppressed groups of the public are forced to traverse across segregating urban barriers to access the opportunity and advantages of living in an urban system. This condition continues to disadvantage those it was historically set up to undermine, on economic and social terms. This condition subverts these urban nomads, who are those forced into transience to access urban opportunity. Korsten is investigated as a key transition space in the Port Elizabeth area, straddling the impoverished north and wealthy south, as one of the key spaces where the urban nomad moves through to access better resourced parts of the city. The space of Korsten is understood to be a key domain for the urban nomad in Port Elizabeth and is thereby an appropriate place for intervention to intensify the city and improve urban quality, thus dignifying and enriching the lives of citizens and improving equity in the city. The notion of opportunity is focused on as the catalytic vehicle for urban quality to be improved, ultimately resulting in the design of Korsten as an urban resources centre with new educational and economic resources as a central structuring element in a re-scripted field of resources. The architectural design is produced within the paradigm of field conditions. This results in a design product which integrates as a part of a field condition of public resources in Korsten. A qualitative methodology is adopted within the critical research paradigm and will use methods of desktop surveys, literature reviews and participant observation to collect data.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of the Nelson Mandela presidential library on constitutional hill
- Authors: Diesel, Devon
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Library architecture -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Library buildings -- South Africa -- Johannesburg
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40435 , vital:36165
- Description: The ideology of society can be argued to the main generation of the spatal coding and structuring of the city. it is thus spatal and physical remnants of past ideologies that form the ideological legacy as a product. The product with determines the lived experience of society in the city today. this study examines the nature of space as a socio-spatial construct of the ideological legacy of society and how in turn this legacy affects the physical and spatal manifestation of the lived experience of a society with a contrasting ideology, within the city of current Johannesburg.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The design of a community owned winery in Philippi informal settlement Cape Cape
- Authors: Steytler, Willem
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Wineries -- South Africa -- Cape Town -- Designs and plans , Wine and wine making -- South Africa -- Cape Town
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39196 , vital:35057
- Description: The study focuses on Philippi as a particular place and the communities that dwell there. It aims to study the spatial dispositions caused by apartheid and colonialism. The dissertation highlights the inequality of South African cityscapes which is then extrapolated in the conditions that exists on the Cape Flats. A core focus of the study is the way in which architecture might aid the spatial inequality in a post-apartheid South Africa. The first bottle of wine was bottled in South Africa seven years after the Cape had been colonized. This means that the wine industry has always been synonymous of colonialization to a certain degree. Further research reveals that the part of the Cape Flats that is today known as Philippi Township was used for grapevine cultivation by German settlers from the 1830s, but with the advent of the forced removals, the 1950 Groups Area Act zoned that land for the relocation of the non-white community. The community on the Cape Flats experiences a significantly lower quality of life than many of the suburbs in Cape Town. (http://journals.sagepub.com) It can be noted that the areas surrounding Cape Town have an abundance of vineyards owned mostly by a singular demographic with a significantly higher income than those living in the townships. Research has indicated that the ‘terroir’, (climatic and environmental conditions) of Philippi is ideal for grapevine cultivation and there are upwards of 250 hectares of open land. The viticulture industry is one of the biggest sources of income for the Western Cape but the problem lies in the fact that the revenue created is channeled only to an elite group of people. To counteract the repercussions of apartheid many strategies have been implemented by the government; among these is land reform. The physical and spatial nature of this place is investigated to create an architectural viewpoint on the matter. The treatise explores the design of a community-owned winery in the Philippi Informal Settlement and examines how the resultant architecture might address the impaired configuration of the urban make-up while strengthening the sense of identity. The idea is that through leap-frog development locals will plant vineyards in open spaces, making the township a greener space to live in, whilst also generating income for the local inhabitants and allowing for the transfer of knowledge. The use of precedent studies into the nature of building type, site visits as well as site- and precinct investigations were necessary to reach an understanding of the building type and a possible architectural response to the sensitive topic. All research is qualitative using inductive reasoning. Qualtative research is based on observation to gather non-numerical data. Inductive reasoning is reasoning where the premises support the conclusion, which means that the conclusion is the part of reasoning that inductive reasoning is trying to prove. The understanding gained from the above-mentioned methods led to an appropriate architectural response in the form of a design. The design is the conclusion and proposed solution of the treatise.
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- Date Issued: 2018