Portals between worlds: a place of accustomisation celebrating the Himba cultural identity through a critical regional dialogue between modernity and tradition in the Kunene region
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Date
2021-10
Authors
Loots, Chrizelle
Journal Title
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Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
This dissertation explores the beliefs, rituals, and vernacular morphology of the Himba culture to discover how architecture can create a place of meeting and accustomisation between the world of the Himba and tourists as a contribution to cultural sustainability. The Ovahimba is an indigenous group situated in the desert environment of Opuwo in North Namibia. Due to the aesthetic indigenous qualities of their culture, they are one of Namibia’s greatest attractions. Over many years of modernisation and a number of other external elements, the Himba people are increasingly exposed to modern/western customs, causing the culture to adopt a hybrid identity, entailing modern and traditional characteristics. In order to preserve the culture in its current state, cultural sustainability should be encouraged in the region through the economic, social and ecological development of the Himba culture. This essay will present a research proposal on how critical regional architecture can provide a gathering and meeting space for the Himba people and tourists, in which the Himba can benefit economically and socially, while also celebrating and preserving their culture. The research question of this study can therefore be formulated as follows: How can a critical regionalist approach be used to create architectural spaces of accustomisation, in which foreigners can be introduced to the Himba culture in a respectful yet revelatory way, in order to eventually establish a fruitful dialogue between globalist modernity and indigenous tradition in the Kunene Region? The theoretical theme of critical regionalism assisted with establishing different approaches that are sympathetic to the traditional Himba way of life while, simultaneously defamiliarising potent aspects of the local culture and environment in order to reveal new readings of this ancient way of life. These approaches were implemented to achieve the estrangement of contextual, cultural and regional structural elements to reach the design principles of tactility, defamiliarisation, participation, arrière-garde and the implementation of traditional and landscape practices. This thesis proposes the merged traditional/modern Himba culture with a scheme suitable to their “project identity”. The critical regional implementation of these elements also provides a lens through which tourists can understand and celebrate the Himba culture while contributing to cultural sustainability. Ultimately, the thesis investigates and suggests a ritual Himba Pavilion, intertwining all of the related thematic (community, tourism and cultural conservation) and theoretical (context, culture and vernacular architecture) aspects.
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Keywords
Dissertation (M.Arch. (Architecture))--University of the Free State, 2021, Himba culture, Himba (African people) -- Namibia, Cultural sustainability, Architectural spaces of accustomisation