portfolio
DELPHINA N. SERUMAGA-MUSISI
CONTENTS MANIFESTO UNIVERSITY PROJECTS: HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM ON JUTA THREE CASTLES FILM ACADEMY BRAAMFONTEIN CEMETERY EXTENSION WITS COMMEMORATIVE TOWER ARCHITECTURAL WORK: COTTAGE SERUMAGA, LOMBARDY EAST, JHB COTTAGE ROLFE-LEES, SYDENHAM, JHB STONED CHERRIE HEADQUARTERS, BENMORE, JHB HOUSE RENOVATION, BRYANSTON, JHB SONHEUWEL LUXURY HOTEL, NELSPRUIT COMPETITIONS: BLUEPRINTS OF PARADISE RETHINK HOTELS
2010 2012
MISCELLANEOUS: FURNITURE DESIGN RENDERS & MODEL BUILDING
portfolio
DELPHINA N. SERUMAGA-MUSISI
MANIFESTO
MANIFESTO ARCHITECTURE The function of human contact is essential to architecture and architects should not avoid the tactile dimension. Tadao Ando To discuss the form of the building I will design would be to restrict myself to a single period in my career, to deprive myself of the dynamism that is mankind, that is architecture. I will limit my comments on form to an appreciation of a simple, honest form and an understanding that form is to follow function and that function can include serving a feast for the eyes. Yet even these beliefs can evolve and so I can only speak of the desired effect of my spaces on those who experience them. Energy, not matter, is the true nature of things – a Yoruba proverb that will be reflected in my architecture. A successful space is one in which the energy as well as the layout reflect the essence of man’s life and his activities. In the same way a relationship between individuals is experienced by both parties, so should the relationship between people and my buildings be. I wish my buildings to be empathetic to the needs of the inhabitant and malleable to input. I wish to create a dialogue with and about each space and in doing so motivate the inhabitant to engage on matters beyond survival and leisure.
AFRICA The Capital remained an English-Indian creation in the African wilderness. It owed nothing to African skill; it needed none. V.S Naipaul, In A Free State (1971) We are moving out of the somewhat chaotic post-colonial era into an age of refined identities, and our generation’s role is to promote this revival. As with every renaissance, adjustments must be made to accommodate the changes in the world around us. We must find our place on the global stage, strive to achieve a balance between the relatively isolated Africa of old and the new Africa set in a global context. A home cannot function if the community in which it sits is in a dysfunctional state. My role is to facilitate this shift in mindset, encouraging dialogue and pursuing solutions for the societal and spatial issues that will arise. I must work with communities, hand the power back to the people, work to strengthen the emerging platform on which any individual is free to make a contribution.
AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE Never again will a single story be told as if it is the only one. John Berger As citizens of the developing world move into an era of heightened awareness, so too do our needs. Architects must facilitate the dialogue between traditional and statutory methods of governance, the past and the present and preferred lifestyles through our design of communal spaces. I will explore and develop concepts for the spaces that accommodate the new citizen. I will work with my primary informant – the citizen – to ensure that my spaces and building processes are reactionary, that is to say based on that which the informant has provided me with. In doing so I will ensure that my buildings emulate and embody the energy of Africa in the 21st century, with spaces, materials and construction processes that are appropriate and unique to each region. My legacy will not be mine alone, but one of the many manifestations of the energy of the African Renaissance.
university projects
HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM
They say that if you find water rising up to your ankle, that is the time to do something about it, not when it is around your neck - Chinua Achebe One need not wait for a crisis of humanity to ponder the state of man and his ability to coexist with others. This museum is to be a space of self reflection, of welcome introspective moments, allowing the visitor to reflect upon their journey, even as they take it. It will be a space for the people that draws you up and in to its embrace, taking you on an intimate journey of introspection. This journey becomes the exhibition, the artefacts and exhibits becoming the accessories to the body that is the visitor’s journey.
CONCEPT & DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
THE PROJECT A Human Rights Museum in Braamfontein. The site is on the corner of Juta and Station streets in a part of Braamfontein that is yet to be regenerated. The museum would activate the area by drawing the young Braamfontein population in, allowing for a casual interaction with the space. The experience of this urban foyer was central to my design. Exhibition spaces took a secondary role in the function of the museum - it is the experience that will stay with the visitor.
Section allows urban space on ground to open up to the sky, draws people in.
Main masses remain oating above ground, allowing for the creation of an urban foyer
Separation of the functions around central atrium
HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM
PLANS & SECTIONS
GROUND FLOOR nts
SECTION AA’ AUDITORIUM FLOOR
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EXHIBITION ENTRY FLOOR nts
SECTION CC’ nts
TYPICAL FLOOR nts
PLANS, SECTIONS & 3Ds
SECTION BB’ nts
3D HAND RENDER nts
HUMAN RIGHTS MUSEUM
SOUTH FACING ELEVATION nts
EAST FACING ELEVATION nts
ELEVATIONS & PERIMETER SECTION
THREE CASTLES FILM ACADEMY The CBD is an active hub, where life is on display in a strange marriage between chaos and order. The concept - inspired by Jacques Tati’s Playtime - was to take this experience and filter it into an ordered space. The chaos of Joburg CBD would still be emulated through the shared experiences and intersections of Site located in Johannesburg CBD, close to the Absa Pre- the different spaces, whether it be through the transparency of the structure (allowing cinct. Typical urban context, with quite densely massed buildings those outside to engage with the ‘in’) or the crossing of the public spaces with the private. The eim was to highlight the fact that there is an honesty to these interactions and a comfort to be found in the knowledge that all your choices in these spaces are made in a public forum - yet one can still disappear. The surrounding structures are fragmented in their footprints, creating unexpected spaces between structures and allowing for green spaces
BRAAMFONTEIN
MTN TAXI RANK
NEWTOWN
BANK CITY
CARLTON CENTRE
MAIN STREET LIFE
The greater area is defined by economic nodes, with transport hubs acting as nuclei and commercial activity clustering around it. There is a notable absence of activity in the area around the site.
Transport nodes indicated in a mixed use CBD. Transport node for those in the Three Castles area are more than a 5 minute walk away.
PANORAMIC OF PORT PLEIN PARK
CONCEPT & DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Playtime (1967), Jacques Tati
CONNECTING THE SITE TO THE SURROUNDINGS
THREE CASTLES FILM ACADEMY
BASEMENT
FOURTH
GROUND
FIFTH
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SIXTH SECOND
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The CBD is an active hub, where life is on display in a strange marriage between chaos and order. The concept - inspired by Jacques Tati’s Playtime - was to take this experience and filter it into an ordered space. The chaos of Joburg CBD would still be emulated through the shared experiences and intersections of the different spaces, whether it be through the transparency of the structure (allowing those outside to engage with the ‘in’) or the crossing of the public spaces with the private. The eim was to highlight the fact that there is an honesty to these interactions and a comfort to be found in the knowledge that all your choices in these spaces are made in a public forum - yet one can still disappear.
THIRD
nts
PLANS & SECTIONS
SECTION AA’ nts
SECTION BB’ nts
SECTION CC’ nts
THIRD
nts
THREE CASTLES FILM ACADEMY
SECTION DD’ nts
MARSHALL STREET ELEVATION nts
GOUD STREET ELEVATION nts
ELEVATIONS AND 3D VIEW
VIEW OF BUILDING FROM CORNER OF MARSHALL & GOUD STREETS
BRAAMFONTEIN CEMETERY The Project: Design a modern extension to the historical Braamfontein Cemetery.
TRANSITIONS - REBIRTH The concept of transition defines circulation and thresholds. I created a ‘focal’ point through my use of landmarks. All other circulation was designed to emulate ‘birth’ channels and corners, leading you into larger spaces. Thus my focal point retained its hierarchy.
The Enoch Sontonga Memorial, situated in the Black Christian Graves section of the Braamfontein Cemetery
The Main Entrance to the existing Braamfontein Cemetery
TRANSITIONS A major part of the concept has to do with transitions - what one experiences when experiencing a loss. This attempt to plot a ‘graph’ of grief leads one to the conclusion that a mourner needs a structured, ordered space to feel free.
CONCEPT & LAYOUT
LAYOUT_LVL 0
LAYOUT_LVL 2
LAYOUT_LVL 1
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WEST FACING SECTIONAL ELEVATION nts
MEMORIAL GARDEN PEOPLE OF PROMINENCE
EAST FACING SECTIONAL ELEVATION nts
EAST FACING SECTION nts
LEGEND
LEGEND
FUNCTION
GARDENS BURIAL SPACES MEMORIAL HALL CREMATORIUM MORTUARY CUBICLES MORTUARY PAVILION ADMINISTRATIVE
LEGEND
HIGH HIERARCHY MEDIUM HIERARCHY LOW HIERARCHY
HIERARCHY IN PUBLIC SPACES
FIGURE_ENCLOSED FIGURE_SEMI-ENCLOSED FIGURE_OPEN PEDESTRIAN ACCESS ACCESS TO PARKING SERVICES ENTRANCE
FIGURE_GROUND & ACCESS
BRAAMFONTEIN CEMETERY
PROGRESSION RAMP
EUCALYPTUS FOREST
MEMORIAL GARDEN PEOPLE OF PROMINENCE
COLUMBARIUM
COMMEMORATION POND
OVERALL LAYOUT nts
SECTION THROUGH COLUMBARIUM nts
LAYOUT & 3D VIEWS
3D VIEWS
WITS COMMEMORATIVE TOWER
CONCEPT & LAYOUT
The Project: A tower commemorating Wits’ 100th year in 2022. Students were permitted to pick their own sites on the Braamfontein campus The concept was to create a structure that did not draw focus to itself, but served to highlight the heritage around it. This would be a commentary on how past and present experiences can exist in one space, yet the present can not exist independent of the past.
CONCEPT & LAYOUT
architectural work
COTTAGE SERUMAGA THE PROJECT: Design and manage the conversion of a car port into an open plan cottage for rental. The main challenge was to create a habitable space in the driveway of the property.
1. Render of cottage form garden 2. Completed cottage from garden 3. Render of living area from bedroom 4. Completed living area from bedroom 5. Rendered of interior from living area 6. Completed interior 7. Render of living area from kitchen 8. Render of bathroom 9. Door by Delphina 10. View into garden from living area
CONTRIBUTION Measuring up of the existing CONTRIBUTION: building, design of new space, management of the construction process and building labour.
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COTTAGE SYDENHAM THE PROJECT:
Design the conversion of maid’s quarters and garage into two adjoined cottages. Generate the drawings for neighbour’s approval and submission to council.
CONTRIBUTION: Measuring up of the existing building, design of new space and generation of design and council drawings for submission to council for approval.
STONED CHERRIE HQ THE PROJECT Conversion of a single storey house into the new Stoned Cherrie Headquarters. It is now a double storey building with offices, workshop, display and changing areas
CONTRIBUTION Measuring up of the building and generation of As Built drawings for submission to council for approval, working from the existing working drawings.
DESIGN Mpho Matsipa in assoc. with Office 24-7
HOUSE BRYANSTON THE PROJECT Management of the renovation of a house in Bryanston.
CONTRIBUTION Purely management and design problem solutions. Delphina put together the building team/subcontractors who worked in everything except the floor and the lawn in the garden.
JOB LIST - Replaciment of all doors, skirting, cornices, tiles and BICs - Rhinolite and paint to all interior walls - Alteration to layout of first floor bathroom (to make bigger) - Installation of new light and plug points, heated towel rail - Replacement of all lighting fixtures with new ones - Re-tiling and rearranging of plumbing in bathrooms - Terracing of garden and installation of gutter to solve drainage issues - Paving to areas in garden - Repairing and waterproofing of external damp damaged walls - Removal of trees, brickwork planters and existing lawn
SONHEUWEL LUXURY HOTEL THE PROJECT A luxury hotel in Nelspruit.
CONTRIBUTION Conceptualize the form, working from existing plans. Concepts Discussed and Submitted to Impatto Architects, 2011
competitions furniture design presentation
BLUEPRINTS OF PARADISE This competition called for participants from architecture and the arts to express their dream of an ideal Africa of the future. My concept was derived from the homestead prototype. My project was an attempt to understand the possibilities when acknowledging the dialogue between the modern and traditional ways of life, ranging from a neighbourhood community scale to a national one. I drew parallels between the the lifestyles by placing them side by side at every level, expressing a desire to see the continent ďŹ nd it’s place on the global stage by re-establishing its own identities.
COMMUNITY CENTRE
PARLIAMENT BUILDING
CONCEPT & LAYOUT
OFFICES
MARKET AMPHITHEATRE
COMMUNAL AREA
INTERNET CAFE
STATUTORY GOVERNANCE
TRADITIONAL GOVERNANCE LIBRARY
OFFICES
LAYOUT
COMMUNITY CENTRE
OFFICES FROM AMPHITHEATRE
MARKET FROM OFFICES
OFFICES FROM MARKET
MARKET
CONCEPT & LAYOUT
GROUND
FIRST
SECTION
SECTION
PARLIAMENTARY BUILDINGS
RETHINK HOTELS
FURNITURE DESIGN
side
front
section
back
Chair designed and built by DSM
RENDERS & MODELS
Renders for Soccer Academy - d. Simon Tollman, 2010 Models for Nyanga Sport Centre - d. Simon Tollman, 2012