2 minute read

3.2.2 Height and scale

Next Article
LIST OF REFERENCES

LIST OF REFERENCES

Grid patterns are a distinguishing feature of early Boer towns in South Africa, echoing Pretoria with Church Square at its centre. The Boer towns were based on a simple standard model, well understood by both planners and users, with its regular design lines of order imprinted on the land and the wild landscape (Van der Vyver, 2018). Church Square, or Market Square as it was also called, was the heart of Pretoria, the focal point from which the city grew.

On 13 September 1890, the Union Jack was first raised at Fort Salisbury (now Harare) to mark the British settlement in the Mashonaland territory by the Cecil Rhodes’ Pioneer Column. The place where the flag was hoisted became Cecil Square, presently known as Africa Unity Square. The square was the centre of colonial Salisbury from which the colonial city developed.

Advertisement

The two central axes in Pretoria and Harare therefore became dominant visual and spatial features that gradually expanded as a grid system from which the respective cities developed. As the heart of the two cities (Pretoria and Salisbury, now Harare), Church Square and Africa Unity Square occupied the position of privilege and significance in the respective capital cities of South Africa and Zimbabwe. The third site selected for the study, the Voortrekker Monument, is a prominent landmark built on a hilltop that stands out on the Pretoria horizon and is visible from almost all directions as one approaches Pretoria. It is regarded as the cultural home of the Afrikaans people.

3.2.2 Height and scale

Height is defined as the measurement of something from base to top or the vertical distance. It is measured along the vertical axis (y) between two points in a twodimensional Cartesian space that does not have the same y-value. If the y-values of two points are the same, their relative height is 0.

According to Timothy Judge of the University of Florida, and the researcher, Daniel Cable of the University of North Carolina, tall people may have greater self-esteem and social confidence than shorter people (Dittmann, 2004). They also highlight that tall people may be viewed as more leader-like and authoritative by others (Dittmann, 2004). These led to the conclusions that taller men or women are perceived as more powerful than shorter men or women. Perceived power here refers to how dominant and influential a person is in work or social situations. Taller people are therefore

This article is from: