Artifice and the ancient past interpretation centre for the ruins of Adam’s Calendar
Loading...
Date
2019-09
Authors
Van der Westhuizen, Mieke
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
The theme of this study is the overlapping of artifice, landscape and the ancient past. It investigates different interpretations, narratives and ambiguities between the empirical and logical understanding of the landscape. The term artifice is used here in all three its primary designations: first, as a clever or artful skill; second, ingenuity, an artful stratagem; third, as trickery obscuring false or insincere behaviour. The artifice of the landscape generates the framework which choreographs the individual experience of the visitor, in architectural form. To integrate the concepts of the investigation to a physical space, a site called Adam’s Calendar, on the southern Mpumalanga escarpment, is selected. The arrangement of the stones on the site may or may not be the oldest manmade structure on earth (Heine, 2006: 2). The choice of the site is based on the mysteries and gaps still present in the historical information of an ancient African people and their understanding of their physical surroundings and the spiritual realm. The Interpretation Centre is a tool to understand and contemplate the threshold between our world and what our ancient past means to us, as well as the mythological sphere which is filled with uncertainties, prejudice, half-truths, figments, lies, beliefs, and assumptions. The architectural form is derived from the physical landscape surrounding the proposed site. The proposed structure takes on the purpose of an artificial landscape within the real, and signifies the in-between space where contemplation and interpretation is encouraged. The artifice does not only act as a veil or introduction to the clues of the ancient past, but also as an informative guideline to the interpretation of the physical, mythological and symbolic narratives of the site. The site is loosely organised by the intertwinement of choreographed, mythological, exhibition and entirely imagined lines. Amid these lines, visitors are encouraged to explore the context of the site and to meditate on their capacity and willingness to find ‘fragmented truths’ amid their individual experience of a site, which may or may not be a relic of the ancient past.
Description
Keywords
Dissertation (M.Arch. (Architecture))--University of the Free State, 2019, Artifice, Landscape, Ancient past, Civilization, Ancient -- Stars, Civilization, Ancient -- Space