Doctoral Degrees (Architecture)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Architecture) by Author "Peters, Walter"

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    Care, place and architecture: a critical reading of Christian Norberg-Schulz’s architectural interpretation of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy
    (University of the Free State, 2015-05) Auret, Hendrik Andries; Peters, Walter; Duvenage, Pieter
    English: This thesis questions the theoretical contribution of the renowned 20th century Norwegian architect and theorist, Christian Norberg-Schulz (1926-2000), by considering the cogency of his pioneering architectural ‘translation’ of the prominent German philosopher, Martin Heidegger’s (1889-1976) writings. It is argued that Norberg-Schulz neglected one of the key aspects of Heidegger’s philosophical contributions; the temporal nature of Dasein’s concerned being-in-the-world as care (Sorge). Heidegger’s concept of care simultaneously acknowledged the way human dwellers are ‘concerned about’ their mortal existence, and how they cultivate their world by ‘taking care’. Instead of referring to Heidegger’s formulation of lived temporality (as Norberg- Schulz did when describing the emplaced nature of lived spatiality), Norberg-Schulz relied on his mentor, the Swiss historian and architecture critic, Sigfried Giedion’s (1888-1968), understanding of time as ‘continuity and change’. Norberg-Schulz’s failure to develop the temporal implications of Heidegger’s ontological concept of care, constitutes the principal omission that prevents the fruition of Norberg-Schulz’s ultimate aim; transforming his “art of place” (stedskunst) into the “art of the experience of living” (2000b: 356) (livskunst). As an alternative, it is proposed that Norberg-Schulz’s art of place be elaborated upon (and re-interpreted) in terms of a new approach grounded in Heidegger’s understanding of concerned being-in-the-world; the art of care. The main contribution of this thesis consists in composing the art of care as the phenomenological ‘ground’ enabling the architectural poiesis of Dasein’s concerned (ecstatic) temporality. By grafting the art of care into the art of place, new possibilities are revealed within Norberg-Schulz’s oeuvre. In the marriage of the art of care and the art of place dwells the potential for appreciating and designing works of architecture as livskunst. Livskunst celebrates building as the care-full poiesis of human being-in-the-world. Secondary aims include formulating a comprehensive understanding of Norberg-Schulz’s theoretical contribution and describing the difficulties that ensue from engaging with time as continuity and change. The conceptual development of the art of care calls for a form of critical reading based on Heidegger’s account of the hermeneutic “circle”. Since Heidegger believed that Dasein is a “circular being”, grounded in the circular “structure of care” (1927a: 315), this hermeneutic approach offers the most appropriate way to engage with Dasein's emplaced existence within regions of concern.
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    ItemOpen Access
    A critical interpretation of the temporal impact of landscape, space and power on the built environment of Church Square, Pretoria
    (University of the Free State, 2018) Van der Vyver, Elizabeth Yolanda; Peters, Walter; Duvenage, Pieter
    This thesis critically interprets the temporal impact of landscape, space and power on the built environment of Church Square, Pretoria. It proposes to reveal, through critical analysis and comparison, the powers behind the processes of the making of Church Square as urban space, as well as the social and spatial relationships embedded in it. Four distinct periods or episodes can be identified in the history of Church Square and certain seminal moments caused the change from one episode to another. During each episode the physical composition of the space represented and reflected the powers that were the driving forces behind change. A two-dimensional representation of Pretoria in the middle of the nineteenth century shows that the landscape had been shaped by forces of nature and human dominance. The first aim is to determine the powers through which Pretoria was established and then to describe the advent of the philosophy of change, to identify the change from movement to settlement and to determine how the powers of law, state and church formed the Boer worldview. The authority of the state through which the beacons of the first Boer farms were erected is determined and the influence of the prevailing geography on primary settlement is explored. The change in landscape from agricultural settlement to town for the purpose of establishing a 𝘡𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘥𝘴…𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴¹ is documented. The reason for setting out Pretoria according to a grid pattern is described as both a sign of human dominance over landscape and of water management. Once the wider historical context has been established, the focus moves to the historical area in an around the Square. Although data collection from Surveyor-General diagrams (SG diagrams) and title deeds is rarely seen as part of the creative process, it forms an essential part of any architect’s design methodology and the findings from these legal documents finally find a proud, albeit understated, place in the visual, architectural design outcome. The same is true of an historical architectural study. Any attempt at reconstructing the past of the built environment in context will inevitably refer to land parcels, -ownership and -use, which often provide more insight into the powers that shaped and reshaped the landscape over time, than the buildings themselves. A visual record[ing] of surveyed change over time confirms the notion that landscapes are always temporal, of the moment and in process, that they reflect human agency and action, and that they provoke memory and facilitate or impede action. The study proposes to reveal both the dimension of historical time and the dimension of historical space, therefore including both meanings of temporality: as the real physical world and as one being limited by time. It aims to offer a new focus and approach to historiography of the area and to reveal the significance that the temporal relationship gives to data gathered in architectural history writing. The establishment and development history of Pretoria and Church Square hinted on the frequent change in dynamic between Boer and Brit and the sixth chapter aims to elaborate on this dynamic. It attempts to determine how the built environment in and around Church Square reflected change. It identifies four distinct periods or episodes in the history of the town that can be linked directly to the changed dynamic between Boer and Brit. It proposes to describe the seminal moments that caused change and to determine the powers that were the driving forces behind the change that was made visible in the physical composition of Church Square during each episode. Although the Boer-Brit dynamic visibly influenced the built environment of Pretoria right at its establishment in 1855, the strife between Boer and Brit can be traced back to the first conflict of 1795, when the British occupied the Dutch-owned Cape of Good Hope. A summary of the historical context is followed by a description of the run-up to the tragic Anglo-Boer Wars that were waged at the end of the nineteenth century in the 𝘡𝘶𝘪𝘥 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 (the ZAR or the South African Republic). The aftermath of the War is investigated and the opposing worldviews of the two cultures are presented. The aim is to critically interpret the impact that the changed Boer-Brit dynamic had on the built environment in and around Church Square. The struggle between the desire to preserve memories and the desire to suppress them has been a global topic of discourse since the middle of the twentieth century. On Church Square the presence and absence of memories can best be illustrated in the name of the Square. The name “Church Square” has prevailed even though the central church was demolished over 114 years ago. Recent political protests proved that the Square is still loaded with political meaning and the trauma associated with colonialism and apartheid. As some oppose the offensive idea of Church Square and attempt to destroy the images of past powers, others try to protect their cultural heritage and memory. Since apartheid was introduced as a political system in 1948, the physical composition of the space has remained more or less the same. There has only been one significant change, namely the insertion during apartheid of Paul Kruger’s monumental ensemble in the centre of the Square in 1954, where it remained through the transition into democracy in 1994, up until the present post-apartheid condition. The ambiguous term post-apartheid is used to denote the current South African period as a definitive break from apartheid. Although apartheid and post-apartheid seem on the surface to be two very distinct political and social systems they are inextricably intertwined and the different and opposing discourses on Church Square during these two time periods are presented in one chapter under different discursive headings or topical foci. These include the Afrikaner worldview that led up to apartheid, commemoration of traumatic events during apartheid, the Rivonia trial, modernisation and development proposals. Despite the relative stagnation of the physical appearance of Church Square, there has been a significant shift in the ideologies of the powers behind change. The activities in and around the Square during this time were thus not manifested in the physical, but in the rhetorical. Change was not structural but ideological and the debates surrounding the Square reflected the turbulence of the discourse. The topical foci confirm that even if the built environment does not change significantly, its landscape is always temporal, of the moment and in process. The urban landscape still reflects human agency and action and provokes memory and facilitates or impedes action.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Lived reality, perception and architecture: two community centres interrogated through the lens of Lefebvre’s spatial triad
    (University of the Free State, 2015) Stoffberg, Madelein; Peters, Walter; Van der Westhuizen, Diaan
    English: Community centres are ideally at the heart of society as a platform for social interaction. Moreover, these centres often provide direly needed services such as basic health care and educational or family guidance that sustain and improve human life. Spatially, community centres form nodes from which other informal commercial or institutional facilities can branch providing a civic presence in a relative homogeneous residential area. These catalytic structures help create new networks bridging the barriers of spatial segregation that is still remnant of apartheids legacy. Consequently, the central research question investigates the spatial production of community centres built after 1994. This inquiry is further interrogated through three research questions. First, what is the relationship between lived reality of community members (Spatial Practice) and the two-dimensional representation thereof as designed by architects (Representations of Space)? Second, what is the relationship between user‟s perception (Representational Space) and architects intent (Representations of Space) of symbolism, images and signs? Third, how do community centres, in the macro-context, reconfigure boundaries, form and function (Spatial Practice), as well as areas of centralization, condensation and displacement (Representational Space)? Through Henri Lefebvre‟s‟ spatial triad, the lived reality, the representational and inherent embedded codes are inspected. The three spatial concepts of the two respective case studies, the Helenvale multi-purpose resources centre and the Ubuntu community centre in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipal area are investigated through semi-structured interviews which are supported by a mapping and sort-chart process. A cross-case analysis interrogates the current public space as perceived by the users and designed by the architects. It is the thesis of a reciprocal relationship between lived reality, perception and architecture that investigates the impact of community centres on spatial transformation to inform future development.