The Amanzi Entaba path
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Date
2023
Authors
De Kock, Jesse
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Nature, a vast and endless palette of inspiration, sets the stage for a library for textures, patterns, and motifs. There is no better designer than nature itself and architects have long been inspired by it, trying to evoke emotional connections to nature.
My interest in the connection between man and nature, as told by the delicate fynbos biome, stems from a life-long love and appreciation for nature, taught through generations in our family. As a child, I was directed into appreciating the intricate small beauties lying within nature, the scents and textures that make up a perfectly balanced existence. Even in school, we were taught a respect and understanding of our importance in nature’s survival. Being taught the importance of nature, its role in our survival and vice versa, continued a childhood love implemented at a young age. My fondness for The West Coast National Park, and specifically fynbos, started in 2016, when I first visited this natural gem within the Western Cape. The endless beauty of something so refined brought peace in admiration of something that I knew to be intricate and unique.
The Anthropocene era, the era of human impact on the earth, has taken us far from nature, creating a separation, lacking environmental connection instead of striving to connect architecture to nature through the creation of emotional and spiritual spaces for everyday life, through “amanzi entaba”. This is a Xhosa phrase, made up of the word's “mountain” and “water”, for an emotional harmony between human beings and nature.
Fynbos, the “fine-leaved plants”, is an extraordinary biome, occurring solely on Africa’s southern peninsula. With a very wide range of plant species (roughly 8700), it stretches from the west coast to the east coast, outshining many rainforests in terms of sheer diversity. The beauty of fynbos truly lies in it birth and growth, a sensitive and intricate system of rebirth and fire.
A Fynbos Interpretation Centre, funded by SAN Parks, located within the West Coast National Park, is proposed to preserve and retell an overlooked and unique narrative. The poetical quality of the setting inspires an intervention that builds that tells a story. The Fynbos Interpretation Centre proposes an architectural intervention articulating various moments within a sensitive process and interconnectedness within human experiences as visitors move through spaces and times.
Description
Dissertation (M.Arch.(Architecture))--University of the Free State, 2023