Spectral flesh remembrance: an inverted monument and foundry embedded in the decommissioned Pelindaba nuclear weapons site
| dc.contributor.advisor | Smit, Jan. | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Smit, Petria | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Bitzer, Martie | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Auret, Hendrik | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | Wood, Arran | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-05-21T06:52:53Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-05-21T06:52:53Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | en_ZA |
| dc.description | Dissertation (M.Arch. (Architecture))--University of the Free State, 2023 | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | 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: ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฃ๐ช๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ณ? 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 โthe form in conflictโ 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. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/12535 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.title | Spectral flesh remembrance: an inverted monument and foundry embedded in the decommissioned Pelindaba nuclear weapons site | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Dissertation |