Architecture

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Oikos of relational encounters: an Eco-Tourist Visitor’s Centre and Extension to Twinstreams Environmental and Education Centre in the Umlalazi Nature Reserve
(2021-10) Nel, Jeanne; Auret, Hendrik; Smit, Jan; Smit, Petria; Raubenheimer, Hein
In the time of the Anthropocene, we have reached a point as humans where we have removed ourselves from nature and, in turn, have idealized and romanticised views of our initial natural habitat. We have abandoned our initial biophilic relationship with nature. In the context of the Umlalazi Nature Reserve, the varying levels of our anthropocentric interventions are highly prevalent and serves as a metaphor of our relationship with the environment in the Anthropocene. The landscape is comprised of two prominent manmade forests- a eucalyptus plantation, as well as an indigenous forest that was planted years ago. This relationship, however, exists alongside a myriad of other relations, including spaces of liminality between manmade vehicular roads, a natural stream, a forest, as well as pathways and openings within the forests. It is evident that for our relations with nature to oppose the dominating forces of the Anthropocene, an awareness of the fragility of these relations needs to be stimulated. Professor and philosopher, Timothy Morton’s notion of ‘Dark Ecology’ proposes that, in order for a new ‘ecological awareness’ to emerge, we must abandon the romantic ideals that we have of nature and our surrounding environment. Dark Ecology, alongside principles of biophilic design are investigated throughout this dissertation as a way to recast the romantic expectations we have evolved to possess and stimulate a new form of ‘ecological’ awareness through an ‘oikos’ of relational encounters. This project and dissertation illustrates how the implementation of a biophilic architectural approached, shaped by Dark Ecology, may recast the romantic expectations of nature and stimulate richer relational encounters between the flaneur in the forest within the Anthropocene and eco-tourism industry.
Open Access
Rescripting the permanence of Ramkraal: a skills development centre within the historic ruins of the Ramkraal prison for the community of Batho
(University of the Free State, 2023) Coetzer, Leon; Smit, Jan; Smit, Petria; Bitzer, Martie; Auret, Hendrik
Conservation and adaptive reuse projects help to reactivate long-forgotten places and offer a revived space for the growth of the next generation of South Africans. The question is: How can a community-catalysed skills development centre in-between Batho and the Bloemfontein CBD be sensitively integrated and rescripted within a ruin – the Historic Ramkraal Prison in Bloemfontein – thereby inverting the established power structure by activating learning settings aimed at self-liberation? When confronted with culturally significant and heritage-protected architecture, the usual response is to encompass it in time and turn it into a museum rather than analysing the immediate context and creating a place for growth for communities and people who need it. The proposed design offers a place of self-liberation while both retaining the existing structural fabric and sensitively adjoining new structures to these, in order to rescript established orders and architectural character. The study focuses on adaptive reuse of culturally significant heritage buildings and how the new can creatively respond to the old. After several failed attempts to preserve the Prison complex — all focusing on preserving the historic physical remains of the ensemble — the proposed design offers a community-centred solution where the preservation of heritage resources as historical beacons ultimately depends on the vitality of surrounding communities.
Open Access
Spectral flesh remembrance: an inverted monument and foundry embedded in the decommissioned Pelindaba nuclear weapons site
(University of the Free State, 2023) Wood, Arran; Smit, Jan.; Smit, Petria; Bitzer, Martie; Auret, Hendrik
The Angola-South African War left extensive scars and remains a raw place in the lives of many South Africans. Yet it has become a kind of suppressed memory that is hard to grapple with in the post-democratic reality, and the majority of South Africans choose to conveniently overlook the consequences of this conflict. The memory and memorialisation of the war has become a shrouded spectre. One of the most obscured facets of the war was the fact that South Africa managed to construct nuclear weapons, and (even more astoundingly) became the first nation to voluntarily decommission their nuclear arsenal. In the wake of ghost-like memories of the past, the question arises: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘢𝘳? Those in power, too, choose to forget the haunting effects in the hearts of those conscripted into the war and the suffering enforced by it. The manifestation of this amnesia-like state comes in the form of the nuclear weapons site, rusting and forgotten. Through a symbolic repurposing of decommissioned firearms in a foundry and the remembrance of spectres from the site in an inverted monument, a design is proposed as a means to reveal the forgotten and censored. The exposure of restricted historical documentation is part of the outcome of this research; to find what is still prevailing of something that no longer officially exists and document the remaining structures. Regarding placing architecture and conflict in context, special care is taken in analysing precedent studies of the built form as well as structural theory of ‘the form in conflict’ with a morphology responding to place as much as process. The proposed architecture of structure, relating to spectral remembrances of the flesh, attempts to explore the role architecture can play as a mediator and reminder of forgotten conflicts.
Open Access
Towards an architecture of explorative divergence: an autoethnographic interrogation of explorative divergence as a mode of design and practice underpinning the oeuvre of Mathews and Associates Architects
(University of the Free State, 2023) Mathews, Pieter J.; Auret, Hendrik
A recurring theme in architectural theory is the question of “meaning”. To what purpose do we create architecture? My own personal credo can be defined as an intention to foster a bias for good architecture amongst the public by creating buildings which offer a holistic, embodied experience to which the dweller can relate. Expressed more simply, I care about the quality of the relationship between the public and architecture. I postulate that good architecture can be achieved on the basis of the symbiosis of two core ingredients, namely propositional density and narrative depth. “Propositional density” is a term borrowed from graphic design theory and can be defined as “the relationship between elements of a design and the meaning they convey” (Lidwell, Holden & Butler 2003:190). The theory states that a design is more intriguing and memorable when its elements have layered meanings; when one simple element conveys multiple meanings. In this study the term is used to refer to the complexity (density) of the meanings (propositions) of an architectural element or elements. Propositions can be further distinguished as being surface propositions – the multifunctionality of architectural elements – or deep propositions – the underlying sculptural and cinematic propositions of these elements. “Narrative depth” refers to the attempt to reveal the narratives of sites and cultures by conveying stories through architectural elements, thereby making buildings contextual. One can differentiate between visible and unseen narratives. Visible, or seen narratives, are direct references or representations of the narratives associated with the site. Unseen narratives refer to those representations that can only be understood if the viewer has specific insight. The reading of underlying, unseen narratives depends in part on the personal history and knowledge of the person interacting with the built environment. Perhaps more important than arguing the definition of good architecture is the following: understanding how architects can set about achieving or creating architecture with sufficient propositional density and narrative depth, in order to establish meaningful relationships between dweller and building (i.e. so that people can relate to buildings in such a way that a bias for this kind of architecture is established). The above represents the intention with this practice-based study: to unearth the ‘how’ so that we can reflect on and improve our methods of design and praxis. Explorative divergence can be described as an open-ended, interdisciplinary working method which goes hand in hand with a receptive mindset. Simultaneously, I argue that architecture practices would benefit from dabbling in a wide range of projects (from publishing and running a think tank, to curating art exhibitions and initiating guerrilla projects), as this would enrich the toolset of the practice. To unearth the characteristics of E-D, as it pertains to the practice of Mathews and Associates Architects, I will focus on three dominant divergencies or core competencies as lenses through which E-D can be understood: • Curation (including composition, judgement and intuition) • Sculpture (referring to aspects like making, form and materiality, texture, material and construction, innovation, and designing for semi-skilled labour) • Cinematic architectural choreography (including investigations into sequence, routes, movement, framing and temporal experience) These core competencies (which are areas of study in their own right) will be approached ‘as an architect’, and even more specifically, as ‘this architect’ has experienced them through architectural practice. Consequently, the method of inquiry is grounded in an auto-ethnographic exploration of the origins of E-D practice in my upbringing, education, travels and career. An exegesis of early student travel journals will reveal influential buildings and architects that inspired my E-D thinking. The places I experienced, and the discussion of like-minded creatives, will establish the thesis within the discipline of architecture. The style of the thesis is anecdotal, recounting stories to illustrate principles which are supported by academic references. In this manner the characteristics of E-D, as it pertains to the praxis of Mathews and Associates Architects, are defined; thus, a case can be made for the E-D method to produce architecture with high propositional density and narrative depth. Ultimately, I believe this kind of architecture has the greatest potential to allow people to relate to the work, and thereby find meaning in it.

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