24 Responses to 2017 SACAP Report

2017 SACAP final report A clear research strategy (attention to history and theory) (p. 5 and 18)

Limited number of lecturers that publish research papers (p. 10)

Lack of academic rigour among students (p. 10) Generous support from TUT for research (p. 11) • A research strategy has been developed for the department over the last few years and elaborated on in a different section of the report. The Department Research Committee’s establishment and its Constitution have been key to this development. The restructuring of the research methodology courses has also helped achieve the aims of improving the research culture.

• Our achievement in the reporting period is establishing the Department Research

Committee (DRC) (A_DRIC prior to joining Industrial Design) and developing a DRC

Constitution. The Constitution is attached to this document. “The TUT ARCHITECTURE

DEPARTMENT RESEARCH AND INNOVATION COMMITTEE (A_DRIC) CONSTITUTION is responsible for providing leadership in relation to strategic decision-making and management of research, innovation and research training at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design at Tshwane University of Technology. The A_DRIC manages all postgraduate degrees produced at the department, and therefore also functions as a departmental postgraduate studies committee.”

• Contained within the Constitution is the launch of the TUT|Tharabololo initiative, the official vehicle through which all work related to research events is planned. The TUT|Tharabololo sessions are a standing item on the formal timetable. A descriptive document is also attached: “TUT|Tharabololo is an initiative based at the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE), Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) at the

Department of Architecture and Industrial Design. Our team was constituted in 2017, prior to the merger between the two disciplines, and we have links with the University of Johannesburg’s Design, Society, Development (DSD) DESIS Lab (UJ / DSD). Indeed, the principles are based on DSD, as the two founders of TUT|Tharabololo started working together at UJ / DSD.

• TUT|Tharabololo aims to promote social innovation design at TUT and establish partnerships across other higher education institutions in Gauteng. TUT|Tharabololo aims to deliver timely, relevant research that has an impact beyond the university settings and our design studios. As part of our well-established community engagement efforts, we also aim to establish long-term, multi-year partnerships with the communities with which we are involved. These efforts have also led us to establish industry partnerships that are crucial to the success of our programmes.

• TUT|Tharabololo strongly links teaching and research. We aim to gear our teaching programmes towards design problems that are highly relevant to the socio-economic conditions of our local context and to align our design approaches with global knowledge in design, social and technical innovation. We established regular practice and academic conversation sessions where these issues are debated and participants are actively involved in producing research on teaching, design-build and community engagement methods and outputs. We also aim to develop design studio briefs further based on these principles to support current work. Covid-19 has disrupted the activities of TUT|Tharabololo, and we hope to bring it back to life in 2022.

• TUT|Tharabololo currently operates under the auspices of the SARChI Chair in Spatial

Transformation located at the department. • The reseach output has certainly improved with an increased number of postgraduate students now enrolled, especially students at the DArch level. Four members of staff are registered for doctoral degrees. One staff member has recently completed a doctorate, and with the establishment of the SARChI Chair and her collaborators, the research outputs are now better spread among the staff. Students in the structured master’s degree are also encouraged to write and publish. • Lack of academic rigour is actively being addressed, and there is a great improvement in the quality of writing. • Research support from TUT is acknowledged, and the staff make good use of this generosity. The intention is to translate some of the work generated in community engagement projects into research outputs.

2017 SACAP final report Good design relies on good research (Theory of Design V) (p. 28)

Research skills required to solve practical, real-world problems (Specification V) (p. 29) • Theory of Design V has been reframed within the context of the existing Prospectus description to include more focused exposure to design-led research. The module concludes with a micro-dissertation integrated with the design studio. The mini-dissertation assists students in strengthening rationales and improving topic selection for the sixth year. • Research skills training is better integrated into the courses presented in the master’s programme, which had fragmented content and a fragmented delivery method prior to 2018. Due to the improved integration, the lecturers for the various components work together in developing the themes for the year and weaving the various components together. The studio approach is focused on generative design that emerges from a process-driven investigation. The four quarters of the academic year allow for a parallel and continuous process of theoretical, design and practice investigation and development. The various components of work are not compartmentalised and are approached as a continuous, interrelated and mutually supportive flow.

• We set up an integrated programme for a research report: Contract Documentation and Specification. The aim was ‘making’ something in the MakerSpace and demonstrates student competence in technical and structural integrity, durable, cost-effective, climate-responsive construction, context-appropriate, ethical and socially responsible approaches to detailing and technical resolution (CHAPTER 3 – material study and philosophy of technology).

• We encourage the students towards THINKING IN SYSTEMS – MATERIALS, BUILDING

COMPONENTS, DETAILING ETC. – RELATING SYSTEMS TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE

PROGRAMME: Working with the MAKERSPACE; developing an approach to building materials, construction and detailing that relates to our context and socio-economic conditions; focus on ‘making’ to ease implementation, installation, assembly and disassembly; creation of structures with high capacity; focus on programme-less buildings (alternatively, buildings that have the capacity to accommodate any function), this approach will then be adapted to specific sites and functions as the year progresses.

• We also aimed to use SIMULATION METHODS AND TECHNIQUES.

• The students learned drafting and annotation standards by compiling a specification and writing a specification, plan, section or specification-drawing interface).

• In a structured process throughout the year, the students learned decision-making processes in construction with appropriate technology at all scales, from a detail to individual building to neighbourhood to city-scale – the student selects the focus. As an example, students may elect to design a landscape or a piece of infrastructure rather than a building.

Validation Book

Research methodology, academic writing, referencing, quality (p. 22) (10) • Research formatting has been addressed extensively through a well-developed research methodology course, and much more rigour is now expected of the written outputs from students.

2017 SACAP final report All output by one staff member (p. 22) (10) Develop a research ethos (p. 22) (10) Postgraduate programme to strengthen students as co-researchers (p. 22) (10) Establishing a research ethos takes time (p. 22) (10) Stress and time – free up time for research (p. 28) (16) • See other sections – specifically with regards to the establishment of the A+ID_DRC and

TUT|Tharabololo. • See above comment. There are various challenges, and not enough has been done in terms of partnerships between students and staff for co-research. However, the research contributions by students have increased significantly – especially with the significant enrolment in the

DArch programme. • See above and other sections of the report.

• Time for research is still a challenge but is being discussed for possible long-term solutions.

The department should better harness TUT’s opportunities in this regard, such as lecturer relief.

Image 2 Sketch n Cities by Nathan Ilunga Kabinga . The Book is a result of the research done for his MArch2 Thesis.

2017 SACAP final report Positioning within the faculty (p. 32) (20) • There is an institutional commitment – alignment with institutional, national and international imperatives.

• The institution offers excellent and varied support at upper levels of management for the department’s activities. Better integration of the Department of Architecture and Industrial

Design within the faculty is desirable.

• The department has positively influenced the faculty’s research culture through the work of the SARChI Chair. The Chair also chaired the Faculty Research Day (FRD) 2021, an online event that was the biggest FRD held so far.

• As coordinator of the event, the Chair aimed to focus on societal impact and relevance. The students of the Chair regularly participate in the FRD to support research culture development in the faculty. See the section on awards to see how we have received several awards at the faculty level over the last few years.

• The architecture department conducts many interesting collaborations with industry and communities. The collaborations must be better integrated into the faculty.

• During the Faculty Research Day 2021 under the leadership of the SARChI Chair, the Chair stated the direction our event objectives: TRANSITIONING FROM BASIC RESEARCH TO INNO-

VATION: RELEVANCE AND SOCIETAL IMPACT

• Sub-Themes:

- Conversations across disciplines

- Innovation in the time of Covid-19

- Research concepts in process

- Completed research projects: What next?

• “We call on all departments to participate in the FACULTY RESEARCH DAY 2021. This year’s theme is TRANSITIONING FROM BASIC RESEARCH TO INNOVATION: RELEVANCE AND SOCIE-

TAL IMPACT. The sub-themes are: Conversations across disciplines, Innovation in the time of

Covid-19, Research concepts in-process and Completed research projects: what next? These themes have been developed to encourage the participation of emergent researchers newly embarking on a research journey and more established researchers in postgraduate programmes across the faculty.

• The Faculty Research Day 2021 follows the success of previous research days, which have allowed researchers to test research ideas, collaborate and further reinforce the already thriving research culture in the faculty.

• The Faculty Research Day 2021 asks for timeous and relevant participation, and the theme and sub-themes allow for diverse interpretations across disciplines. We encourage participants to present to allow for cross-disciplinary engagement without diluting discipline-specific knowledge, yet having the courage to present complex concepts, projects and theories in a manner that allows a diverse audience to access the information. The Faculty Research Day 2021 will be an online event. We would like to harness this opportunity to deepen conversations among ourselves and disseminate our research to a wider audience beyond the faculty and the institution.

National and international collaborations (p. 32) (20)

• See other parts of the report. Collaborations have improved significantly, with more members of staff and registered postgraduate students contributing nationally and internationally to the department profile. Publication partnerships • See other parts of the report (publications). A_DRIC – structure, functioning, etc. • See the attached A_DRIC (now A+ID_DRC) Constitution Arch + IDgrad = d2 + m2 • See the section of the report on IDENTITY