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Final Presentation

The Per[form]ance of sound

In this brief we were tasked to design a multi-use building with an opera house for the Gauteng Opera in Ferrierasdorp, Johannesburg.

The concept: Sound and the physical form of sound

Opera is a performance art that elaborately composes visual and aural performance in a theatrical setting. When I think of Operas, it is the distinct boldly dramatic sound that comes to mind. This led to my interest in the visual aspect of sounds, particularly opera related sounds because opera singers are known for the unbelievably high frequencies they can produce with their voices.

Cymatics, the basis of my exploration, is the study of waves, especially sound waves and their visual representations. In cymatics Chladni patterns show how the sound wave vibrations excite matter into geometric forms at different frequencies. This proves that Sound does have form and it can affect matter and cause form within matter. The aim is to shift the focus of sound to unveil the substance of things unseen to make sound a visual experience through the building.

Des Baker

This project titled: [Re]movers was done for the 2016 Des Baker competition. Theme: Scale.

A collaborative project with our main focus on the informal waste collectors a.k.a The Trolley pushers. We just upgraded their trolleys to increase their work efficiency to make their lives a little easier.

#desbaker

A test of my graphic skills- a poster I designed for the local elections this year

#Graphics poster vote

Ecotherapy, which is using nature to provide therapy. Nature heals and rehabilitates the orphans that inhabit the building which has views and forms dedicated to maximising their exposure to nature.

#Architecture Ecotherapy Orphanage

Drawing inspiration from the book “The Songlines” by Bruce Chatwin, which mentions the Aboriginal idea of Songlines which is a belief that there are paths across the land which they have sung into being. The route is recorded in the songs they sing because the songs consists of the the things they see in the landscape as they walk. These songs are passed down from generation to generation and they are maps of the land. The land thus becomes a sacred place.I was personally inspired by the natural surroundings of the farm which induce serenity and inner peace and asked the question, can nature heal?

#Nature songlines Healing

Edge(land)scape

This brief’s focus is Johannesburg’s south, which has always been cast aside and forgotten unlike the inner city and the Northern suburbs. The South is less developed than the rest of Johannesburg and consist largely of an agricultural landscape.

“This project presents an opportunity to experiment with and explore new models of habitation and landscape translation – it presents challenge to strike a balance between architecture, landscape and urban design.” – Alexander Opper.

#Architecture Agriculture Johannesburg

The upgraded playground project in its final design state to date with geometrical shape additions of squares and triangles.

#Playground Architecture

In the subject of Architectural history this semester we have been looking at the history Modernism in architecture. We were tasked to do a precedent study on an assigned modern building and present it to an audience.

The Rockefeller centre Manhattan, New York by Raymond Hood and Wallace Kirkman

A Manhattan skyscraper at the forefront of modernism

The era of modernism was a time in the world where everyone was breaking away from the known. A time where almost everything was being reinvented and new inventions were being created. This is also the era when architects became obsessed with creating utopias. According to me The Rockefeller centre is one form of a small scale utopia that was created in 1929.

The collaborative architects of the Rockefeller centre wanted to create something totally new. ”A City within a city”. A paradoxical statement because a city cannot exist within a city but somehow this statement seems true. They wanted to take the horizontal city that we know and fit it into a vertical element i.e. a skyscraper. These architects were successful in their endeavour and they created the world’s first multi-use building. In the time we live in today, buildings with multiple uses are the norm but that wouldn’t have been if they hadn’t thought about how to make a city within a city.

#Architecture #History #Modernism #rockefellercenter

Play(land)scape

Children are interested in play spaces they can manipulate according to their imagination, where they can connect with others and create an experience for themselves which will make them want to return. I was exploring with models when a light bulb turned on and I thought of Tazos (small disks that were found in packets of chips). So now the whole concept became about using circles with slots along the edges to construct a playground. A modular playground you can build and take apart and play with the pieces as you please. A great space for a child and their imagination. A Utopia for children.

#Architecture #Playground #Tazos #Modular #Circles

Play(land)scape

Play(Land)Scape: a children’s playground in Chimphamba, Malawi

A very real life brief we were assigned by Architecture for a Change to design a playground for the children in the village of Chimphamba in Malawi. The playground needed to be viable and sustainable because there was a chance it could be built.

“The challenge is to conceptualise, design and represent a highly creative, functional, robust and aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sustainable playground in the village” –Alexander Opper

#Playground #Malawi #Architecture

An interdisciplinary collaborative project focusing on food security in our communities

#Architecture #Agriculture #Agricycle #Vertigrow #Collaboration

Public(Land)Scape

Final product: an experiential bridge that draws people to it using interesting elements on the bridge that creates different shadow experiences. The bridge is somehow meant to embrace shadows by using them positively (pun intended). And the bridge itself is meant to cast minimal shadow on the ground, so the shadow roles swap. Shadows are made on the bridge as opposed to them being under the bridge.

Looking at the concept and the design that emerged in retrospect, the bridge becomes very dystopic but it tries to make a positive dystopia which is quite a paradox.

#Architecture #IntersectionBridge #Dystopia #Shadows

Public(Land)scape 26/02/2016

Utopia and dystopia somehow crept into my work even before I went to research the word utopia.

First project of the year: Redesign the Kingsway/University road intersection bridge.

We had to reverse design using complete project proposals. And had to filter and extract what interested us and create abstract representations in collage, model and line drawing then later use these to create a new design…this is what I came up with:

#Architecture #intuitive #abstract

About the work

Scapes

The 3rd year first semester curriculum is based around the idea of scapes: Public(land)scapes, Play(land)scapes and Edge(land)scapes.

Each project focuses on a particular landscape that is different from the urban city landscape that we usually design in .This gives us an opportunity to design in 3 different environments that have different qualities but are similar in a sense. The word “landscape” doesn’t just talk about the topography of a place but it talks about its location, condition, function and to a certain point its atmosphere as well.

Being equipped to design in different conditions from the urban city is a tool needed by every architect.

#Architecture #landscapes

About me

A 3rd year architecture student learning, discovering and experimenting with architecture. Architecture is not just a subject or career to me, it is a tool for experimentation. The diversity that exists within architecture allows one to take other subjects, values or just personal ideas and implement them where applicable to see how they are reinterpreted or transformed through architecture.

#Architecturestudent #architecture

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