IMAGINED REALITIES A PLACE OF PLEASURE BEYOND THE WALL
IMAGINED REALITIES A PLACE OF PLEASURE BEYOND THE WALL JAMIL RANDERA
RNDJAM002 This dissertation is presented as part fulfillment of the degree of Master of Architecture(Professional) in the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town
October 2015 CONVENORS Associate Professor Nicholas Coetzer Professor Iain Low SUPERVISOR Kevin Fellingham
CONSENT AND PLAGARISM DECLARATION
“I hereby: a. Grant the University free license to reproduce the above dissertation in whole or in part, for the purpose of research. b.Declare that: (i) The above dissertation is my own unaided work, both in conception and execution, and that apart from the normal guidance of my supervisors, I have received no assistance apart from that which I have stated (ii) Except as stated below, neither the substance or any part of the dissertation has been submitted for a degree in the University or any other university. (iii) I am now presenting the dissertation for examination for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional)”
Plagiarism Declaration: 1. I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and pretend that it is one’s own. 2. I have used the Harvard Convention for citation and referencing. Each contribution to, and quotation in, this report from the work(s) of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced. 3. This report is my own work. 4. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work. Signature ______________________________
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together “ This dissertation, although my own, is made up of the combined energy of those who have been around during its conception. The friendships I have made within the walls of the Centlivres Building are unprecedented. Max, Wessel, Taz, Georgia May, Lawden, Cath, Kim and all those who have influenced me in the studio, thank you.
Thanks to Tom for your structural engineering insight and to Nick for your editorial help. To all those lecturers and tutors who have influnced my thoughts up to now, and in particular, Kevin Fellingham for your inspiring insight into the world of architecture. My family, Hanif, Brenda and Hannah.
SPECIAL MENTIONS Brian Richards- Structural Engineer Melinda Silverman - Architect
CONVENORS Associate Professor Nicholas Coetzer Professor Iain Low SUPERVISOR Kevin Fellingham
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“It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.� Jeremy Bentham (1776)
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PREFACE
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his project is as much a personal journey as it is a piece of academic discourse. It is a following of my subconscious thought and a constant battle against my gut. To some extent, it is a personal attempt to justify architecture for the sake of joy. In some regard, it goes against the basis of my architectural education, which has at all times pushed me to attempt to design people out of their circumstances, to design for the unspoken of society, to improve their situation. This project attempts to broaden my view on designing for social change; an experiment to understand the principle of design for the greater happiness and pleasure of an individual, which can, in time, lead to the greater morale of a society.
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^ Fig.01. Early programmic studies focused around event
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PREPOSITION There exists in our lives, certain delights which are seemingly overlooked. How can architecture bring these pleasures to the surface through an enhanced experience of a place and a jaunt of our imaginations ?
ABSTRACT
T
here exists in our lives, certain delights which are frequented by few, seemingly un-obtainable to many, yet more sublime than we care to imagine. Architecture, I believe can bring to the surface such pleasures. Through an enhanced interaction with a place, a building may gift its users a new perspective, perception and ultimately a breath of pleasure. This dissertation centres on the architecture of pleasure and poses a theoretical investigation that takes place across multiple histories and imagined realities along the Sea Point Promenade. The investigation focuses on how architecture enhances the qualities of the site and evokes collective memories in its users. The methodology which framed the approach to this question begun with a typology study of the architecture of pleasure in the suburb of Sea Point. This approach focuses on the stories found in literature and ‘by word of mouth’, stories which have been told about the area and how they can be translated into architectural form. The second, more pragmatic approach, categorises and documents the site and its significant conditions into digestible parts. This study shows that in general, architectural intervention in the area tends to define a clear line between the land and the ocean and that at very few instances, is the audience able to fully experiences both. As a result of the relevant investigations, the project I propose aims to redefine how we view the threshold between the land and ocean in Sea Point. Through a strong urban strategy and a building that celebrates the site, the audience is allowed the opportunity to enjoy and perceive the place through a new lens, one that was previously accessible only to a daring few.
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CONTENTS Plagiarism declaration 04 Acknowledgements
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Preface
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Preposition
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Abstract
09
Intent
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Methodology
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01
5am-1pm
AWA K E N I N G FRAMEWORK
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PLACE
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PROGRAMME
68
GEOGRAPHY
80
Invisible Matter
21
The Situation
39
Typologies of Pleasure
69
Siting Pleasure
81
Story And Nostalgia
27
Urban Morphology 42
Case Studies
78
Three Anchor Bay
84
Spatial Programme
86
Summary
91
Quantifying Pleasure 36
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Urban Mapping
50
Visual Mapping
60
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1pm-5am
AT M O S PH E R E
IDEATION
94
EPILOGUE
114
Vision
95
Conclusion
115
Intial Studies
96
Bibliography
117
Bridging
98
Table of Figures
120
Pier
100
Final Presentation
126
Circle
102
Programme
106
Understanding Form
108
Spatial Moments
112
Stuctural Intent
114
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^ Fig.02 -Mock poster for an event that could occur at the public amphitheatre
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INTENT
T
his project explores, on the one hand, the whimsical stories around us, which evoke the ideas of the unknown. On the other, it delves into the intrigued architect’s mind, which dissects and layers the seemingly mundane; this uncovers a hidden richness, and the power of the site: simultaneously life-giving and life-taking, calm and fierce. The project is framed as a series of imagined encounters which aim to endure and enhance the experience of the site by connecting land and ocean. As a guiding principal - a metaphorical lighthouse - I have aimed to create a project that allow its users to re-ignite their imaginations and senses through a direct engagement with the previously unobtainable. Though this interaction and distraction, the user will gain a new point of reference and ultimately a memorable feeling of pleasure.
The ideas of what is pleasurable is relative to an individual’s desires (although time has shown there to be many forms of pleasure that cross these desire lines, regardless of age, status and any such variables). The ideas of happiness and pleasure at all times have been coupled as dependants. The notion has been debated, refined, controlled, philosophised and redefined over and over. Fundamentally though, we all seek pleasures, to entertain or distract us from the ordinary and mundane.
The architecture of pleasure has often been a contested pursuit. This ancient idea has frequently been regarded as sacrilegious to architectural practice. Hedonism in architectural endeavours is generally considered to be void of social consciousness and typically regarded as a distasteful practice. In his essay “The Pleasure of Architecture” (1977), Bernard Tschumi claims that those who aimed for the experience of pleasure through architecture are ‘decadent’. One could claim the ‘decadence’ stems from the general lack of a quwantifiable outcome of pleasure. Other than immediate human emotion, it is generally an invisible product. Yet, history has shown that people have strived for pleasure in all endeavours. Architecture is no different. This dissertation pursues a process of design that engages both the imagination and the senses through participation by the user. An appreciation of beauty beyond utilitarian concern is suggested. A dialogue between the surreal and context is set up whereby the user is both absorbed by the surroundings and at times isolated in a surrealist image. Ultimately, the vision is of a place of great intrigue, a place with which people engage; a place which allows them a moment to reflect, distract, pause and enjoy.
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METHODOLOGY *
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he process of design is by no means a linear one. This document retrospectiveily highlights the moments in the process that led to the eventual outcome. This report focuses on the ideas and process that have lead to the design, rather than the design itself. The document has been structured in two parts that are a narrative of a day in the life of the building. Each part deals with a specific timeframe in the course of a 24hour period at the building. An attempt has been made to portray the scene of the building during a period by focusing on events which occur. These two narratives act as the overall framework of the report. They are further broken down into sections elaborating and explaining the imagery that has been evoked though the stories. 1 AWAKENING
(5am-1pm)
The opening narrative describes a typical morning scene at the building and attempts to portray the atmosphere of the building during this time. The sections following this also deal with the early stages of the design and the parameters which helped to define the design process. Framework In this section, the formative ideas of the project are explored. A theoretical framework is established that guides the project. Place The choice of Sea Point as the study area is explained and the important urban and social informers in the Sea Point are explored. The geographical and cultural context are explored through mappings and phenomenological studies which
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together with the framework, form the constraints for design. Programme Building on the established framework, this section explores programmatic development. Collage and imagery that express atmospheric conditions are used as a tool to establish spatial qualities. Geography This section investigates the physical conditions of the site, the natural phenomena and how they can be enhanced through architectural intervention. Three Anchor Bay is analysed and categorised into important geophysical features which become a final layer of design informants. A final summary of these informants ensures clarity before the start of Part 2. >>>
>>> 2 ATMOSPHERES
(1pm-5am)
This narrative continues with a description of an afternoon and evening scene. Illustrating the architectural transformation from day to night. The sections following seek to incorporate the design informants for Part 1in the process of design.
Epilogue A conclusive statement highlights the and refelcts on the process of the project
Ideation This section explores my design vision from early design ideas to the choice of a circular form.
*Note: It is important at this point to mention a conflict I had with myself early on in the process. The dissertation year gives one the freedom to explore new areas of thought and imagination. My thoughts have always been that there are two ways to approach the project. On one side, an approach which attempts to address existing social struggles through an architectural proposition, an interesting solution to an ordinary problem as such. The second is to explore ones imagination outright and propose ideas that serve as provocative visions of an architectural nature. My inclination tends towards the latter, but my strengths lies in a pragmatic approach. I have found this choice extremely enduring. Throughout the project I have had to constantly mediate between self criticism and doubt in trying to create an improbable project in a very significant context. This report serves to rationalise my thought process into a series of clear and informed decisions, which for the most part, they have been. At the same time, the role my subconscious has played in the various stages of this project is equally as important as my rational thoughts, yet almost impossible to substantiate. This simply serves as a defence for my thought process; at times, decisions have been made on ‘intuition’ alone.
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01
AWA K E N I N G 5am - 1pm
O
n this particular winter’s day in early August, the glow, wielding its iconic glimmer, can dimly be seen from the cusp between land and building . The air is damp from the morning mist which has engulfed the Atlantic coastline. The bay is calm. The customary icy breeze cannot be felt creeping off the water. The morning is silent, bar from the occasional creak of the wooden floorboards, as the waves below brake against the rocks and concrete supports, gently disturbing the structure. The salty water fills the voids in the rock. Some of these voids are the natural scars from thousands of years of ebb and flow; others, the man-made result of when the Malmesbury Rock was punctured to receive the load from the edifice above.
A daring few have begun their routines before that of the sun. They can be seem running the length of the promenade, eventually breaking their linear route along the walls edge, parting from the land, crossing the water and ramping up the podium at the end of the structure, as if victorious, only to have to return the way they came. The ocean is in full frame today. The alluring blues are all reducing into one, as if viewing a ‘Monet’, framed gracefully by the deliberate steel diagonal truss. The grey of the sky contrasts with this rich-blue hue and the unique texture of well-cast concrete that sheens after having been soaked with water. As the sun attempts to pierce through the morning fog, overpowering the glow of the light-box, the bay begins to jostle with activity. A group of paddlers, taking advantage of a rare, tranquil winter’s morning, navigate their way down the ramp to the kayak sheds. They manoeuvre gracefully under the concrete arch, a metaphorical gateway to another world. The underside of the arch is now covered in bright green algaes and a few barnacles, as if having always been part of this elaborate ecosystem. Fish flock under this structure and people flock for the fish. In fact, one can faintly glimpse a red beanie, like something out of a ‘Wes Anderson’ film, bobbing along the fishing platform - no doubt another fishermen, making an early escape from home, distracting himself with hours of not catching fish a top >>> a lazy timber seat.
> Fig.03- An early vision of a morning scene on Three Anchor Bay Pavillion.
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>>> The sound of glass-filled dustbins, packed with the spoils and regrets of the previous night, being wheeled ashore pierces the morning calm. It’s a tell-tale sign the day’s begun. Like most mornings, the staff of Floppy Fish are ready to receive the delivery of a fresh catch. Today, for the first time in a week, the large glass façade of Floppy Fish will be opened for patrons to bask in the forecasted sunshine. But even prior to today (with high winter swells and gloomy weather), customers have been treated to a spectacle: waves crashing into the thickened glass, a full view of the oceans power.
Those who have visited Sea Point on a morning such as this will be familiar with the distinct salty smell which overpowers all else. This morning, there’s also the smell of fresh brewed coffee, as the shutters of ‘Bay Brewers’ are opened to reveal the timber-clad coffee kiosk. First in line for a fresh brew are the folks setting up the equipment for the Sunday concert in the amphitheatre. Just behind them are the life guards on duty today, ready to open up the changing rooms and swimming deck for any sun seekers, families or eager bathers. Although the swimming pontoon is closed for another month due to higher than usual tides, the life guards remain to ensure saftey in the circular swimming arena.
>>> continued in “Awakenings” pg.96
> Fig.04 -A group of paddlers leaving the bay into a misty ocean, passing under the concrete arch
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F R A M E W O R K
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I.
INVISIBLE MATTER
II.
STORY AND NOSTALGIA
III.
FOR PLEASURE
I. INVISIBLE MATTER Architecture is a re-active activity. There are many forces which affect it that cannot be seen. My process of design is rooted in a first thought and developes from here. This is my thought and its process.
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he question which sparked the start of this dissertation is a simple one, how can one represent a force which is invisible? An interest in natural phenomena and how it can affect a body in space lead initial investigations with magnets, stimulating the idea of movement in architecture. A series of magnetic artefacts were built and represented in estranged ways to represent the forces that cannot be seen. (Fig.5&6) A focus on the reaction to a force emerged and I was posed the question: is architecture the force creating the reaction or the reaction to a force? The answer, I believe, is that architecture should be both a reaction and a force. With this in mind, a series of images were developed which represented both a force and a reaction to a force using simple line drawings and patterns (Fig.7-9). By celebrating and representing the invisible as image, it becomes more about the image than the invisible force itself.
Using this idea of architecture as an image (a manifestation of its influences), one is able to dissect the theory of ‘Genius Loci’ as coined by Christian Norberg Schultz. An architectural focus on place and geography is emphasised, and places the architect in a role which interprets a place. (NorbergSchulz,1980) Place is viewed as an objective constant and is layered in richness by not only the geography but by history and invisible cultural forces that have shaped it. This is explored by Barbera Allen, who suggests that a place is a construct of its culture (culture being the interactions between humans, and between humans and landscape, in an ongoing process of experience) (Dutton and Mann, 1996). Allen’s work builds a connection to personal histories of a place, emphasising the fusion of the physical with the imaginative structures that all inhabitants of a place use in constructing and construing it. Simply, the memory of place is a lens which can be used to dissect it.
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^ Fig.05- Early sketches of magnetic machine
> Fig.06 -Imagined magnetic fields imposed over a photo of magnetic constructed pendulum device .
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^ Fig.07- Plan of magnetic pendulum.The circles reprseent the latent magnetic charge and the arrows the potential of its motion.
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^ Fig.08- Plan of magnetic pendulum. The horizontal lines represent the field through which they must pass.
> Fig.09- A plan of magnetic pendulum showing the disturbance and reaction to the force of the magnet in motion.
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^ Fig.10- Historical photograph of the Sea Point Coastline before the construction of the Sea Wall.
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II. STORY & NOSTALGIA
M
emory is surreal and can be re-created through stories and folk-tales. The memories of a place are a narrated sequence through it and architecture is in many ways understood through narrative. Stories of a place allude to what are significant features or moments in the architecture (Zumthor 2006). History is confined to our memories yet has bearing on much of our built environs. How can memory and history play a role in framing a design? Manuel De Landa, in his text, “A Thousand Years of Non-linear History” explores the notion of history and how it has constructed the world around us.
“ We live in a world populated by structures - a complex mixture of geological, biological, and social constructions of materials shaped and hardened by history. Immersed as we are in this mixture, we cannot help but interact in a variety of ways with the other historical construction that surround us, and in these interactions we generate novel combinations. In turn, these synergetic combinations, whether of human origin or not, become the raw material for further mixtures. This is how the population of structures inhabiting our planet has acquired its rich variety, as the entry of novel materials into the mix triggers wild proliferations of new forms.” De Landa, M. (1997).
Understanding why things are as they are is a tool to add layers to this observation. This involves looking beyond the traditional history to the stories told by the early occupants of a place, and developing a new way to understand
it through a lens. So the importance of storytelling in architecture has a significant bearing on this section. For one to explore a narrative, a subject must be chosen. The subject in this respect is the ‘place’. The place which I chose is Sea Point in Cape Town. A personal inclination lead me to this region of study - its cultural and geographical diversity offer a rich base on which to begin. For this reason an intuitive decision was made. With no predetermined outcome for this dissertation early in the year, it proved necessary to make a choice and explore it. An investigation that begins in this manor can lead to many unexpected discoveries. Such discoveries are illustrated by the stories told in this section. This dissertation does not wish to imitate, celebrate or rejuvenate the past. It seeks rather to explore it as a method towards a design. The stories to follow were discovered in literature deep in the shelves of the Cape Town archives. Literature of this nature about Sea Point is scarce. Two texts in particular are the source of these stories. In “I Heard the Old Men Say: Secrets of the Cape That Has Vanished,” (Green,L.G.1965), Green recalls the stories of personal interviews with elderly inhabitants of Cape Town. In “Under Lion’s Head: Earlier Days at Green Point and Sea Point” (M.Murray ,1964) a portrait of the development of the area is richly told. Each story I chose within these texts has been selected for its specific location along the Sea Point coast as a relevant cultural or geological exploration. These are the invisible layer of Sea Point, the ‘imaginative structures’. >>>
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>>> The following images are an exploration of stories and folk-tales based around prominent architectural moments on the Sea Point Promenade. The focus of this section is to understand the significance of the different stories and how they can be construed as architecture. The images are my interpretation of the stories, and serve as an imaginative manifestation. Although told independently, a common thread in each story is found which contributes to the greater understanding of the area. ON SHOW AT THE PAVILION
Sea Point Pavilion At the very heart of the Sea Point promenade, the Sea Point Pavilion basks in its incredible setting, boasting to be the best public pool in the world. The pavilion and pools have not always been so alpha, starting from humble beginnings in 1887 as a simple tidal pool in front of the ‘Queens Hotel’ (Murray, M.1964). In 1911 they were reportedly washed away but the infamous surging swells of Sea Point. By this time, the Sea Point Pavilion was already under construction just nearby and was set to be the new home of the pools. The new Pavilion opened in 1914 to an ambush of events and contest. “There were talent contests at the pavilion. The audience would boo you or cheer for you. Everyone would sit in their bathing costumes on the sand.” “The original pavilion was nothing like what we see there today, on top of the pavilion was an open air cinema, Above the cubicles by the pool were a tearoom and an open-air stage. It was beautiful at night.” M.Murray, ‘Under Lions Head’ (1964) Eventually, the original theatrical pavilion was removed and replaced by the public pools. The pools are just as intriguing today as I imagine them to be 50 years ago. If the Promenade is the place where people from all walks of life parade their identities, the Pool is where these are, in a sense, equalled. “As clothes are removed, bodies of all shapes and hues are openly on display.” (Verster, 2008) The image remembers the pavilion as a site for spectators and events. It portrays the original Victorian pavilion with the current day diving board as the centre piece for a show of talent. The pool and pavilion become a place of spectacle and wonder. An air of excitement for ‘event’ invigorates all who come to visit, whether for a family outing or a lonesome early morning swim.
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Fig.11>
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THE EVOLUTION OF A TOWER
Botany Bay Some 500 million years ago, once-molten magma intruded the sediments of the Malmesbury group rocks. This important geomorphic event can be seen today at the Sea Point Contact site just past the Pavillion. Here, slivers of dark coloured Malmesbury rocks, altered by intense heat, are intermingled and folded with the pale-coloured intrusive granite to form a complex mixed rock (migmatite) (Compton, 2004). The significance of this site is not well known. But the 500 million year old rock holds in it proof of the age of the earth. During the second voyage of the Beagle Vessel from 1832 to 1836, a young geologist, Charles Darwin, visited this site along the Cape of Good Hope. His observations at the Sea Point Contact would later be referred to as proof that the world is old enough for his Natural Selection hypothesis to hold true. During this trip to the Cape of Good Hope, Darwin received a letter from his sister, informing him of his growing fame amongst the geology society and calling him back to England. (FitzRoy, R. 1839)
The imagined observation tower stands on the site of the Sea Point Contact, allowing Darwin to look back on where he has come from and cementing the story for future visitors. It is both past and future, an anacronistic structure landed in time gone by. The tower becomes a new point of reference along the seafront, serving as a landmark from both land and sea. It’s verticallity gives it a duality. People are attracted by its apparent alieness, only to discover on arrival the significant moment which it declares . The tower becomes a proprietor of history and gives pleasure for those who visit it.
Fig.12>
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TUNNEL TO ANOTHER REALM
Marais Road Graaff’s Pool was originally a stone quarry that would fill up with water at high tide. For years it was an informal pool, until a walk way was added across the rocks to the edge of the water. There are various suggestions about how the walkway came to be. Lawrence Green, in “I Heard the Old Men Say: Secrets of the Cape That Has Vanished,” recalls that a certain Sir Jacobus Graaf had a secret passage built under the rail so that he and his family could walk unobserved in bathing costume from his house, Bordeaux, to the rock pool. A lesser known story of the site is a about Mr Graaff’s wife, after whom the pool is named. Lady Graaff, who was allegedly paralysed, used to cross the gravel road in her wheel chair from her house to the edge of the rocks, where she was then carried to the pools to bath in the summer months. In 1895, when the railway service was introduced between Cape Town and Sea Point, the gravel road was block by the tracks and there was no way for her to get there. The story goes that her husband built a tunnel under the tracks from the Bordeaux mansion to the beach and extended the walkway to the natural pool where she bathed daily (M.Murray,1964). The significance of the story is not in its accuracy but rather in highlighting the vast richness which so many structures around us poses. Later in life, the pool was to witness many more stories. In becoming popular amongst the Cape homosexual community of the 70s it became a rather taboo place to visit. The wall concealed the activities of those behind it and in time it became known as a kind of no-go-zone. It’s not often that such a small intervention can have so many lives and tales to tell. It has meant different things to many people over its years and these should be celebrated. Whether the stories are true or false, taboo or kosher, this place has provided endless pleasures to many.
The images depicts the pool as a prominent public entity and connects it to land with an amphitheatre. The amphitheatre performs the same function as the tunnel in the stories, connecting the users with that which was previously inaccessible, and reconnecting land and ocean.
Fig.13>
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A DOG SHOW
Green Point Lighthouse Green Point Lighthouse is the oldest in South Africa and has seen many interesting changes in the landscape since its construction in 1823. The Lighthouse could be compared to the metaphorical wise-man, with many stories to tell. John Dimond, in “Wrecked Under the Green Point Light”(2009), re-alls a story, just about a century ago, when the Prince Alfred ship was passing Sea Point during a voyage around the Cape of Good Hope. The captain, an animal lover, had with him a Newfoundland dog aboard. The dog, in a burst of excitement after sighting a sea-bird, leapt overboard to catch it. The captain, without thinking, jumped in after the dog. The ship ran aground just below the lighthouse. The captain never caught the dog. It swam to the shore and was adopted by a Sea Point family.
The image envisions a pier and tower, built upon the site of the wreck, to help the captain find his lost dog. The pier offers a new perspective from which to view the land. It offers the captain an opportunity for a sort of visual audit of the land and sea. Peering over the deck rail gives one an intimate view over the ocean below, forming a personal bond with it. The tower and its colours are inspired by the historical pleasure piers which house rides and amusements for its visitors.
These images depict the stories in a new light. They attempt to embody both the story and its ‘archi-type’. A theme that has emergeed from the archetypal exploration, is a series of typologies which inherently hold pleasure at their core. The pool, pier, pavilion, observation tower, and amphitheatre are all platforms for pleasure. They hold the potential for event, spectacle and theatre, be it of a human or natural kind. Of course the idea of pleasure is an relative experience. Many attempts have been made to define it, quantify it and justify it. The section to follow is my exploration of this.
Fig.14>
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III. QUANTIFYING PLEASURE
A
journey into the moral philosophy surrounding the pursuit of pleasure is important to determine the relevance of this form of architecture in the South African context, and any context for that matter. This step is nessasary as a self justifucation for me to pursue this idea further. Hedonism could, in a country with far greater problems, be considered decadent if it is not pursued appropriately. The feeling and outcome derived from an act of pleasure is in most cases not quantifiable, not physically tangible. Jeremy Bentham, known to be the father of modern utilitarianism thought, aspired to determine the outcome of an act of pleasure. His philosophy on utilitarianism coined the following as its central axiom,
“It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”. (Bentham, 1776) The ‘greatest happiness theory’, or the principle of utility, forms the basis of all Bentham’s thought. In his work, “An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation” (1789), Bentham elaborates further on this with a statement about the balance of pleasure over pain: “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to their throne. They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think.” Bentham (1789) Bentham’s understanding of happiness is in simple terms: the predominance of pleasure over pain. He believed that the true source of happiness was through experience and feeling, and attempted to derive a formula to calculate this. Bentham attempts to place ethical reasoning on a logical footing by deriving an algorithm that calculates the amount of pleasure a specific action is likely to cause. A net-positive results would render an action ethically appropriate to endure. This formula is known as the Hedonic or Felicific >>>
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>>>
Calculus, as termed my Bentham in Jeremy Bentham, “An Introduction to Principles of Morals and Legislation”, (1789). For the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the variables and circumstance to be considered when using the formula, rather than the formula itself. Intensity - How strong is the pleasure? Duration - How long will the pleasure last? Certainty - How likely or unlikely is it that the pleasure will occur? Remoteness - How soon will the pleasure occur? Fecundity - The probability that the action will be followed by sensations of the same f kind. Purity - The probability that it will not be followed by sensations of the opposite kind. Extent How many people will be affected? In the simplest terms, consider a person whose interests would be most directly affected by an action. Take an account of sum of the values of pleasure before and after and act, as well as the values of pain. The result would fall to the side of pain or pleasure. To further this idea, Bentham contrived what he called a ‘mnemonic doggerel’ (Dinwiddy and Twining 2004) Intense, long, certain, speedy, fruitful, pure— Such marks in pleasures and in pains endure. Such pleasures seek if private be thy end: If it be public, wide let them extend Such pains avoid, whichever be thy view: If pains must come, let them extend to few.
Bentham (1789)
How then does this relate back to architecture and the project at hand. A general sense of wellbeing is important for the morale of the people of any society. Architecture should strive beyond just the provisions of necessity and include the proxy of pleasure in its endeavors. Bentham’s work therefore helps argue the case for pleasure as a necessity for any city to aspire too. If an architectural intervention can, through the logic of Bentham’s theory, provide net pleasure to a large population group, it should be encouraged. A city becomes a place where this is happening on multiple levels, where events and architectural moments provide a sense of wellbeing and joy beyond that of the everyday worry.
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P L A C E
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I.
THE SITUATION
II.
URBAN MORPHOLOGY
III.
URBAN MAPPING
IV.
VISUAL MAPPING
V.
WATER AND LAND
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I. THE SITUATION
he choice of Sea Point as the study area was impulsive. It came early on, during the first few explorative weeks of the dissertation. The area was imperative to my thought process and helped to inform and develop my premise for the dissertation. As a personal reflection, my process tends to start without a specific predetermined idea in mind. So the choice early on to work in Sea Point was a stepping stone towards an investigation. Building a narrative around Sea Point lead to the unexpected discoveries which have been investigated in the two previous chapters. Although the framing of this dissertation is specific to Cape Town, the issue of pleasure is global. One of Cape Town’s greatest built assets is arguably the Sea Point Promenade. Since its conception, this space has played host too many city dwellers, who visit the area to take a moment to enjoy themselves and find pleasure in what is on offer. An unusual strip of land, the Sea Point Promenade forms a space unlike any other in Cape Town. It is here, in this small strip, that one can observe the complexities of South Africa in all their glory. Life is paraded shamelessly in all forms. Overdressed runners hustle past homeless persons kissing and ex-gang members training. Elderly ladies recount the old days while trendy teenagers fly past on the skateboards, dodging pet dogs on leashes.
“Black, brown, white, young, old, locals, tourists, rich, poor, Jews, Muslims, Christians, stylish, tasteless – they are all here, arriving from apparently nowhere to join the ritual of walking a man-made path along the sea…” (Verster, 2008) This is a unique situation in that these kinds of interactions, at this proximity between very different people, are in fact not so common in South Africa today. Identities and cultural complexities are still far from clear in this country – and here, in Sea Point, they seem to be negotiated in unusual ways on a daily basis. “In this everyman’s land between ocean and city, the most bizarre and unexpected things happen every day.” (Verster, 2008) It is this unique situation that influenced me to use the context of Sea Point for my design. There is an overriding sense of excitement and joy in this place. Anyone who has visited the Promenade on a weekend will understand this sentiment. It has the ability to transform ones mood. This I believe is due to the collective pleasure that the thousands of people are sharing. It is an energy that can be enhanced through an architectural intervention which promotes and enhances this experience.
39
THREE ANCHOR BAY
THERMOPYLAE
MOUILLE POINT
GREEN POINT LIGHTHOUSE
40
SEAPOINT PAVILLION
SEAPOINT CONTACT
QUEENS BEACH
MILTONS POOL
GRAAFFS POOL
Fig.15 - Aerial image of Cape Town with the promenade area of study highlighted
41
II. URBAN MORPHOLOGY This brief study seeks to understand the spatial structure and character of a Sea Point Promenade by examining the historic patterns of its components and the process of its development as a place of pleasure.
Fig.16- Sea Point from the ocean before the sea wall was constructed. Glen Gariff Rd can be seen in the centre. 42
WALL
The most prolific element along the promenade, the element which defines it, is the sea wall. The wall, which is estimated to have been completed in 1920, completely transformed the coastline. The wall is built from the Cape Granite which was extracted in the quarrys on the slopes of Table Mountain. A piece of infrastructure which holds back any storm surges from washing away the land, the wall has become the urban identity of the area. It has enhanced the threshold between land and sea, dictating what is accessible and what is not.
Fig.17- Three Anchor Bay from the rocks before the sea wall was constructed. 43
Fig.18- Pavilion Station,notice the rail line is close proximity to the beach before thewall was built 44
RAIL
It was in 1862, when the first tram link to Sea Point was opened, that the area started to develop towards what we see today. At the time, the area was home to many wealthy families who spent summers at their coastal houses. The main Sea Point station was located in Three Anchor Bay and was not only a place of commute but housed many public gatherings too. The rail line was electrified in 1927 (with much of the area receiving street lights). The line eventually closed in 1929 (Murray, M.1964). When the line was lifted, the railway property became public land which could not be built upon. So the wide green lawns along the seafront, of which Sea Point is so proud, are the only memorial to the vanished Sea Point railway.
Fig.19- Pavilion Station,notice the rail line is close proximity to the beach before thewall was built 45
Fig.20-Old Pier taken from Signal Hill. A beacon in the bay 46
PIER
The old Cape Town Pier, built in 1910, demolished in 1939, is now part of the reclaimed foreshore complex. The Pier was a highlight of Cape Town’s community life: open to all races, extremely popular for leisure. With open-air concerts on a small pavilion-type stage, the pier was a hub of event. “But the pier also offered a perspective of Cape Town that was almost exotic: the view, in a sense, of the traveller, the new arrival, borne by sea, peering over the deck rail.” (Murray, M.1964) It offered residents an opportunity for a sort of visual audit of their home town. Once it was removed to make way for the deep water harbour, Cape Towns inhabitants begun to flock to Sea Point. The promenade soon replaced the Pier as the urban connection with the sea.
Fig.21- Old Pier taken from the tower at its end with the band stand on the right. 47
Fig.22- Historic photograph of the Pavillion Baths (1930) 48
BATHING
Swimming and Sea Point are today synonymous, and add to the relaxed, leisurely feel of the area. This was not the case until the 1850’s, when a venturesome few began to bath in the ocean (prior to this, it was considered ‘freakish’). Even so, bathing was only permitted before 8am, as it was considered taboo to do so in the presence of women and children. It was only in 1887 that the first bathing pool was provided by moving some rocks near Saunder Rock to allow water to flood in. From then, the excitement spread and various tidal pools were constructed, as well as the well-known Pavilion. Three Anchor Bay, prior to the construction of the wall, was the beach of choice for those in the area (Murray, M.1964).
Fig.23- Photograph of bathers in Three Anchor Bay prior to the construction of the wall.(1905) 49
III. URBAN MAPPING In “The Agency of Mapping�, James Corner suggests that mapping enables repressed representations to become visible. The following mappings highlight active agents of social intervention which play a pivotal role in the atmosphere and spatial hierarchies along the promenade.
50 Fig.24
51
URBAN GRAIN
Sea Point and Green Point are the most densely populated areas in the Cape Town CBD. According to the 2011 City of Cape Town Census, Sea Point has 16 164 and Green Point 9 013 residents. PROMENADE SECTIONS
A walk along the promenade helped to categorise it into various sections. Although it is used in a linear way, each sections offers a relatively different experience to the other.
Fig.25
QUEENS BEACH SEAPOINT PAVILLION
SEAPOINT CONTACT
52
MILTONS POOL
GREEN POINT LIGHTHOUSE
GRAAFFS POOL
THREE ANCHOR BAY MOUILLE POINT
THERMOPYLAE
53
WALL
A sectional study of the present day sea wall shows the potential treat of a storm surge in the area. The 2008, “Global Climate Change and Adaptation, A Sea-Level Rise Risk Assessment� highlights the promenade as a risk area if a 4.5metre wave is to hit . The height above sea level is not the concern. The report states that the unstabilised land behind the sea wall is the largest factor in the risk. If the sea wall were to give way, this land would swiftly become part of the ocean once more.
4. 4.
Fig.26
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1.Restored Section
2. Low Impact
3. Storm Surge
4. Large swell
3. 1.
1&2.
1.
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LAND MEETS SEA
The wall is a paradox in that its very existence is the reason for the promenade and all the splendours which come with it. Yet the wall, as much as it allows us a safe interaction with the ocean, also acts as a threshold of disconnect between the city and the ocean. The wall elevates us above the water, and at a few points, suggests that we venture down below. This mapping locates where the land punctures the sea and later a visual mapping catagorises these points of linkage.
Fig.27
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Fig.28
BUILDINGS
CAMPS BAY
ROADS AND PATHS
58 INTERSECTIONS NODAL
CBD V&A
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IV. VISUAL MAPPING A brisk walk along the promenade is described in this visual audit. The images attempt to potray the prominant features and varied sections of the Promenade.
The Atlantic Movng along the promenade is a constant tease with the ocean just below, yet out of reach.
Fig.29 60
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The Sea Wall The threshold between land and sea. Equally as obstructing as it is providing.
Fig.30 62
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The Fog The fog adds a spatial quality to the area when it arrives. The horizon is removed and one is enclosed in the space.
Fig.31 64
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Land Meets Sea Related to the mapping in the previous section, this documents the points where one can transition from the promenade to the rock/beach/water below .
Recreation Along the promenade various activities take place. Defined only by the ground cover and width of the promenade.
The Pavilion The Sea Point Pavillion is a hub of people from all walks of the life. The distinct aqau blue water and orange paving has become a vivid memory in many lives.
66
Fig.32
Fig.33
Fig.34
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P R O G R A M M E
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I.
TYPOLOGIES OF PLEASURE
II.
CASE STUDIES
I. TYPOLOGIES OF PLEASURE
T
he previous studies have shown that a programme that is inherently public is necessary. In ‘Story and Nostalgia’ typologies were highlighted due to their contribution to the sense of place of Sea Point. The pier, observation tower, pavilion, pool and amphitheatre all have the idea of event at their centre. They are the typologies which best allow for a built relationship between humans and nature. The pier allows one to reach far into the ocean, and isolate one’s self from the land. The tower enhances the experience of the sublime. The pavilion and amphitheatre become places of spectacle where people wonder about the goings-on around. The pool, as well as being a place of recreation, is a binding agent around which programme can gather. These typologies are all enhanced by water and the natural conditions which are so prominent in Sea Point.
This public programme seeks to enhance the experience of the area - both the experience of natural phenomena and human interaction. The mapping and visual studies show that, although the Promenade is a priority public open space, there are few built forms which engage the public. There is a linearity to the promenade which straddles the coast, but the perpendicular movement is limited. The following collages imagine the typologies as surreal spaces populated by event and enhanced by the changing conditions of nature.
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The Pier and Amphitheatre Imagined as the social heart of the design, the pier offers a new perspective to the landscape. The pier is activated by kiosks, a bandstand and various public seating including an amphitheatre of sorts where one can view events or the goings on around.
<Fig.34 >Fig.35
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Kiosk The kiosk is a variable programme that can change according to conditions. The kiosks type would vary between seasons, what is an ice cream stall in summer could be a coffee stall in winter.
<Fig.36 >Fig.37
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Pool and Observation Tower The tidal pool is a way of making the ocean accessible to all. The observation tower allows the public a grand view and acts as a beacon in a relatively flat landscape. A closer relationship is formed with the ocean when one is able to be on it and above it with little disturbance in-between.
<Fig.38 >Fig.39
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Moments As a strategy for designing the public realm of the building , highlighting key moments on the site will inform the spatial configuration. This image represents the potential qualities that a building can have when it uses the changing conditions as a design informer.
<Fig.40 >Fig.41
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II. CASE STUDIES Finding a case that held public pleasure as its core was imperative to understanding the nature of the design. Both these case studies enhance places where water is a vital attibute.
Copenhagen Harbour Bath BIG + JDS Part of a wider urban scheme which aims to establish the Copenhagen Harbour as a public realm. Harbour Bath offers an urban harbour landscape with dry-docks, piers, boat ramps, cliffs, playgrounds and pontoons. As a terraced landscape, the Harbour Bath completes the transition from land to
^ Fig.42
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water, making it possible for the citizens of Copenhagen to go for a swim in the middle of the city. The scheme highlights the importance of public well-fair and well being. The provision of leisure amenities is an important part of this well being.
Lunz Lakeside Stage Hans Kupelwiesers Built to provide an attractive venue for the annual Summer Festival hosted in Lunz, Lower Austria. The project was conceived as three parts consisting of a floating stage, a forestage and an open spectator stand. The open-aired seating area is able to transform into a covered seating stand . When closed, the lower
parts of the roof trusses fit perfectly into the profile of the seatingplatform beneath. (Fig.42) The stepped roof covers the concrete seating exactly, allowing the upper part of the roof to once again become a seating platform. (Schaeffer, 2010)
^ Fig.43 - The three phases of movement.
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G E O G R A P H Y
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I.
SITING PLEASURE
II.
THREE ANCHOR BAY
III.
SUMMARY OF PART 1
I. SITING PLEASURE
W
ith a premise and area of study defined, a specific site could be selected. Again, an impulse lead me toward the Three Anchor Bay region which is located in the recreation section of the promenade. There is a personal affiliation with this site. Being a starting place from which I have paddled out to sea on numerous occasions. I have pondered and become in tune with the bay on a personal level before the time of this dissertation. A combination of this and Three Anchor Bayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prominent urban placement as a knuckle between the CBD and the Atlantic coastline (Fig.43-44) were enough for me to celebrate this site with an architectural intervention with pleasure at its heart. Three Anchor Bay, in all its beauty, stirs up rather a lot of uneasiness in me. It is a powerful site, both in its prominence and it is volatile nature. It can be both a tranquil friend and a fearless enemy. This prospect interests me, knowing that what is to be designed here, will inherit such a persona, such is the power of the Bay. The Bay, I feel is not celebrated. As a gate way to The Atlantic, its prominence is diluted by a weak urban junction. The grand, tree lined Western Boulevard meets Beach road and the ocean in an unfortunate anti-climax. Celebrated by a car park, a petrol garage, and a grass traffic island (Fig.43-44) which is lost in this wide tangle of road. On the Sea Point side of this junction, the CPOA building stands nine stories high, an island in this context. Its turns its back on the public library and the street to meet the sea views. The Mouille point side receives a no better treatment with a petrol garage as its highlight, based at the bottom of the three story Bay Point apartments. Between these two promenade buildings, lies a no manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land of left over grass space and car park which services the nearby tennis courts. (Fig.43) On the seaward side of Beach Road, directly opposite the garage, sits a vast, but well used car park with prominent sea views. A vehicular ramp to the beach acts as a barrio between the parking and Beach Road. The ramp used as a boat launch is an important feature of this bay and gives it an edge over its counterparts. At the bottom of the ramp, twelve kayak sheds are situated.(Fig.47) These are a huge asset to the area. Three staircases lead into the bay, two onto the rocks, and one to the beach(Fig.47)
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SHELL BEACH RD
MAZE
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PUTT PUTT
THREE ANCHOR BAY PARKING
Fig.44-Three Anchor Bay from above
MAI
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KAYAK SHEDS
LIBRARY
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II. THREE ANCHOR BAY
RIFF
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RD
BEACH RD
LD
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WESTE
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Fig.43
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THREE ANCHOR BAY PARKING
KAYA
K SHE
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BEACH RD
SHELL
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Fig.44
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SITE PARAMETRES
137m
b
a 93m
86m
33m
b
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Fig.45
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a
ocean
beach
kayak
beach rd
walkway
SITE SECTION
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walkway
ocean
walkway
car park
section a-a
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Fig.46
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ACCESS & TIDES
f eo
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Fig.47
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eds
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MOMENTS
Beach
Rocks
Waves
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III. SUMMARY OF PART 1
FRAME WORK Frameworkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s establishes the process of investigation and the theoretical thought that lead the conception of the project. History and story become are used as a tool to unpack the hidden layers of Sea Point. These layers are explored as the architectural typologies of a pier pavilion, tower, pool and amphitheatre. The idea of pleasure becomes central to the project. PLACE In Place the area of Sea Point and the Promenade is unpacked in a series of mappings. The mappings highlight the prominence of the sea wall and the lack of connection between the land and sea. PROGRAMME A series of images portrays the various typologies as places of intrigue and pleasure. Architectural and spatial qualities are represented here as ideas. GEOGRAPHY Geography highlights the lack of accessibility on to the site as a key urban design concern. How can one experience the rock and water in a new and intriguing way becomes the central informants to the design as well as teh tidal fluctuations.
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END OF PART 1
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2
AT M O S PH E R E S 1pm -5am The day has warmed. Sea point Promenade, as is traditional of a sunny Sunday, is bustling with activity. At the Three Anchor Bay Pavilion, people are taking full advantage of this late winters sun. The timber deck of the swimming platform can hardly be seen beneath the plethora of colourful towels. Families, lovers, pontificators have all come here to be closer to ocean. Some are enjoying a swim in the icy Atlantic, others are drying off on the concrete seating which has warmed after being soaked in the sun all day. It is low tide, people are therefore able to spill onto the rocks which rest just a metre or so below the bottom deck. Some have chosen to stay close to the stucture, others venture futher along, hugging against the sea wall as they jump betwen the rocks. Overhead, the promenade level is filling up. People have started arriving for the first jazz concert of the season. Arriving early to ensure they get their preferred vantage point. The stage is set up on the south side, somewhat protected from the sea breeze which often resides here after sunset. The amphitheatre is a montage of colourful cushions and people. A sense of excitement fills the air as the musicians starts their sound check, the first note reverberating across the bay. Business at the I-Sea Creamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kiosk has been quiet during winter, but today, the concrete floor around the kiosks is a sticky mess of fallen ice-cream scoops, business must have been good. Queues have started to form around the various other kiosks as people come for an early dinner before the concert and sunset. The sunset tower is open and people are piling in for a drink with jazz in the background and the show that is a late winter sunset across the Atlantic in the foreground. As the sun begins to dip, the glass -which wraps the outer edge of the pavilion -becomes a rich tone of blue and pink, reflecting the sky and water. For those walking along the promenade, the building would have seemingly infused into the water below. The concert starts, the sky is pink, the water still, the crowd is ignited by the spectacle before them. As the sun ends itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day, the translucent structure above is illuminated. The glow, now the back drop to the jazz band, silhouettes them. The day is over, but the night holds many pleasures. The bay glistens as the light is reflected off the water below. Some people leave, others, attracted by the light, wish to stretch this pleasurable feeling a little longer. Eventually all is quiet, bar from the creek of the wooden floor boards as the waves below brake against the rocks.
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I D E AT I O N
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I.
VISION
II.
INITIAL STUDIES
III.
BRIDGE
IV.
PIER
V
CIRCLE
VI.
SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT
VII.
UNDERSTANDING FORM
VIII.
SPATIAL MOMENTS
VIIII.
STRUCTURAL INTENT
I. VISION The Three Anchor Bay Pavilion is a place which connects its users with the environment of the site. As a public building, visitors will be free to engage with its various spaces as they wish. The spaces will encourage people to explore further, to discover the richness of the site. Programs such as kayak rental and swimming entice the users to engage beyond their normal physical realm and actively seek a new experience. Through an emphasis on the public platform, it will encourage visitors to engage with one another in its various realms. Spaces of spectacle and event are at the centre of such interactions. One should be able to pass though easily or happily pause for a moment to wander at the views beyond. Movement is a key agent of spatial arrangement. The architecture should teleport the visitor into the new frame of reference. One which is in constant conversation with its surrounds, reacting to the ebb and flow of the Bay. Using structure, surface and daylight, the spatial atmosphere will constantly vary according to the moment it frames. The various atmospheres should allow users to experience them beyond purely visual sensations. The building should lightly touch the water, emphasising its (the waters) importance and respecting its power.
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II. INTIAL STUDIES
Dealing with a site of the nature, a site of significant natural phenomena, one can become overwealmed by the endless possibilites. The intial sketch phase explores possible ways to site a building in Three Anchor Bay. The explorations compare placing a structure on water vs land. The idea of parasite architecture as well and temporary structures were all considred at this stage. The ideas of a bridge and pier were both developed further. These typologies represent the best way to experience the ocean through architecture. Later, a more defined programme and clarity of design intent showed the need for a connected volume with a natural movemet flow, offering unique spatial interactions along the way.
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N
Fig.48- Early free form studies
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III. BRIDGING
The idea of bridging the Bay was explored for some time. Connecting the two flanks would allow for an easy transition from land to sea.The first design scheme was envisioned as a programmed bridge with kiosks and restaurants activating the upper level. At sea level a tidal pool, scuba centre and change rooms would sit. Part of the pool platform would float and adapt with the changing tides. The weakness of this scheme is that it did not help to address the linearity of the promenade, it was merely a continuation of the current urban pattern, with some moments of pause. A building which offers a journey rather than a short-cut would be better suited in creating a place of intrigue and discovery.
Fig.49- Model of bridge sketch design showing movement route across bay
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Fig.50- Plans & section of sketch design
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IV. PIER An exploration of a pier begun and the idea of bridging was set aside. An emphasis on a building which enhances the visitor’s experience of the ocean is explored. Viewing the pier simple as a structure that houses a series the special moments. This exploration lead to a massive dead end for me. Much time was spent deliberating with no solution ever arising. From the failure of this exploration I was able to gain a clear understanding on my design intent. Moving forward, the idea of a pier has not been lost completely. *NOTE: At this point I was losing a perpetual fight against self-criticism with every decision I attempted to make. I was in a rut. Time passed with little to show for it other than sketch after sketch of each idea that came to mind, only to soon be replaced by my next thought. I had lost track of the vision of the project, the “why”. Why was I designing on this site, with this programme? Answering this question was the key to moving forward. Thankfully, relief was found in the form of a circle.
Fig.51- Model attempting to site a pier in the bay
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Fig.52- Sketches of the many ideas, none were able to materialise.
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V. CIRCLE
After clarifying the intent of the design and highlighting the important moments on site, a way of connecting them was found. The use of a circular form allows for the linking of each moment on the site and to transform the bay into a place of intigue.
Th
em
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r is
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l to
One must return from where they came.
When the end is also the beginning, a new statial complexity is found
Fig.53- Diagram to show the formal transformation from a linear pier to a circular one.
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wa
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Rocks Wat
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Rocks
Beach
Fig.54- The circular form as a linkage of moments
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Fig.55- Conceptual mass placed on site
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Pulling tangents parallel and perpendicular to important urban lines such as streets or views , was the strategy explored below.
Ga
Once the circle as a form had been settled on, an exploration into how it can meet the land was conducted. A massing model was used to assess the various options of entering from the Promenade level.
parallel
to ramp
Fig.56- Conceptual mass placed on site
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VI. PROGRAMME ARRANGEMENT The public nature of the programme, initially was difficult to define. Conceiving a building of this nature needs an attraction which draws people to it. The attraction is the events which continuously take place along the building and around the site. These events are defined by the spatial qualities which the building and its users create. The predominant public programme is designed to enhance certain qualities and experiences on the site. The main economic draw factor will be the restaurant and sunset terrace. Second to that are rentable Kiosks which would have a variable programme attached to them. The kiosks act as a more informal economic variable and attract people of varied income brackets. Two larger kiosks will accommodate a kayak rental shop and a tourism/recreational activities office. This will promote various other recreational businesses in the area. The kayak sheds -which have been removed from beneath the promenade to allow for a viewing stair/ amphitheatre- will be relocated to the ground floor of the building. Kayakers will have easy access to the bay through a sloped terrace which leads into the water. On the same floor, changing rooms and showers will service those who come here to swim in the sheltered water. Along the swimming terrace, various level changes will allow an easy transition into the water or to the rocks at low tide. The change rooms sit 1.5m above the high tide water level. During the annual spring tide, these change rooms may at times sit below the water line, an important factor in the choice of materials which are to be used to enclose this space.
Public Realm walk way, seating pool deck, amphitheatre sundeck,fishing platfom
Economic Restaurant Kiosk
Recreatonal Kayak Sheds, change rooms, bathing deck, kayak rental
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Fig.57- Programme Mass
Kayak Sheds
Kiosk and Rental
Change rooms
Restaurant
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VII. UNDERSTANDING FORM
Continuously Ramping Truss Form
Concrete Base With Bridge Truss
Steel Frame Structure
108
Fig.58- Model study of form
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Fig.59- Sea Level Plan on Change rooms and kayak sheds
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Fig.60- Early 3d showing massing over all three stories.
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VIII. SPATIAL MOMENTS Moments which bring to the surface certain qualities of the site are an integral part of the design process. These moments are adoptions of the typologies investigated in Part 1. The following images express how the nature of the site has enhanced the spatial quality of each moments. 1. The building activates parts of the bay which were overlooked previously. Steps lead from the swimming platform to the rocks below. During low tide the rocks become an accessible surface for one to explore. At high tide, one can sit on the steps with their feet in the water. 2. The swimming platform gives users a chance to engage with the ocean on a closer level. Large steps gradually lead you into the water. Over head the main circulation ramp leads the visitors eye upward. 3. A porthole looking above and below the structure creates an interesting dialogue between the various levels 4. The large glass window sits at the bottom on a seated platform. The window frames the view and is an incredible to be during a storm.
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VIIII. STRUCTURAL INTENT
A floating volume The structure should seemingly float above the bay, lightly touching the rocks. In order to have the least possible effect on the rocks below, concrete mushroom piles will act as a podium base on which a woven truss structure is placed. The concrete piles, or podiums, will have a similar roughness and tactility to that of the rock, creating a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;natural connectionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to the ground. The podium lifts the structure high enough to help protect it from the ocean and waves. The concrete mix will be of a robust kind, using a concrete that can withstand the seawater better than ordinary Portland mixes. The podiums would be built during spring low tide due to their wet construction nature. Once the concrete has been set, the rest of the structure can be lifted over the bay and into place using cranes on either flank. The woven steel structure, is imagined as a filigree truss structure which iswrapped around the inner and outer circles. The truss meets the podium in a pin a number of pin connections which allow the structure necessary flexibility. Between the truss sits pre-cast concrete flooring to avoid the need for wet construction on the site. Between the slabs is steel latices work which connect the inner and outer truss giving it rigidity. Much of the structure is open to the air, where enclosure is needed, it is generally of a translucent nature. The upper floor which houses the restaurant space is the priority enclosed space. It makes use of a curtain wall facade which wraps out the outside of the truss work. Where openings are need, the curtain wall uses hinged connection to open to maximum affect.
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E P I L O G U E
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I.
CONCLUSION
II.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
III.
TABLE OF FIGURES
I. CONCLUSION Through this project, my mind’s eye has shifted toward the unknown. Beginning with little more than a thought about ‘the invisible’ and an inclination towards a place of significant natural phenomena. The process of discovery has led to numerous unexpected encounters. Concluding through an evaluation of my opening statement can best describes these encounters. There exists in our lives, certain delights which are frequented by few, seemingly un-obtainable to many, yet more sublime than we care to imagine. Architecture, I believe can bring to the surface such pleasures. The process of unpacking and exploring Sea Point has surfaced these delights for me to enjoy. Equally as the final design would enhance ones perception of the place, the process has enhanced mine. This project explores, on the one hand, the whimsical stories around us, which evoke the ideas of the unknown. On the other, it delves into the intrigued architect’s mind, which dissects and layers the seemingly mundane; this uncovers a hidden richness, and the power of the site: simultaneously life-giving and life-taking, calm and fierce. The design is thus an exploration of the hidden richness of a place. It celebrates the lesser known place-makers and offers the ordinary person an extra-ordinary experience. The spaces are focused on offering new pleasures to the user. These pleasures are the natural phenomena; the ocean, tides, rock and pleasures of the human interaction, of being submerged in water, theatrical events and intimate encounters. Ultimately, the vision is of a place of great intrigue, a place with which people engage and in which people will engage with one another. A place which allows them a moment to reflect, be distracted, pause and enjoy.
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II. BIBLIOGRAPHY PUBLICATIONS Barzilay, M., Hayward, C., Lombard-Valentino, L. (1984) L’Invention du Parc.Tours: GraphiteEditions/EPPV. BOOKS Compton, J. S. (2004). The Rocks and Mountains of Cape Town, Double Storrey Books. De Landa, M. (1997). A thousand years of nonlinear history, Zone Books. Dinwiddy, J. R. and W. L. Twining (2004). Bentham: Selected Writings of John Dinwiddy, Stanford University Press. Donovan,J. ( 2008) ,Deconstructing La Villette, A Critical Analysis of Parc de la Villette’sInfluence as Design and as Competition, Landscape Architecture Dissertation Dutton, T. A. and L. H. Mann (1996). Reconstructing Architecture: Critical Discourses and Social Practices, University of Minnesota Press. Green, L. G. (1965). I Heard the Old Men Say: Secrets of the Cape that Has Vanished, and Little Known Dramas on the Fringe of Living Memory, H. Timmins. Group, B. I., et al. (2010). Yes is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution ; [on the Ocassion of the Yes Is More Exhibition ; Close Up: BIG at Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, 21 February - 31 May 2009, Evergreen. Guallart, V. (2008). GeoLogics: Geography, Information, Architecture, Actar. Haddad, E. G., et al. (2014). A Critical History of Contemporary Architecture: 1960-2010, Ashgate Publishing Company. Hildebrand, G. (1999). Origins of Architectural Pleasure, University of California Press. Ingels, B. (2015). BIG, HOT TO COLD: An Odyssey of Architectural Adaptation. Kostof, S. and R. Tobias (1999). The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History, Thames & Hudson.
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Mathews, S. (2007). From Agit-prop to Free Space: The Architecture of Cedric Price, Black Dog Pub. Limited. Murray, M. (1964). Under Lion’s Head: Earlier Days at Green Point and Sea Point, A. A. Balkema. Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980). Genius loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture, Academy Editions. Nesbitt, K. (1996). Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965 - 1995, Princeton Architectural Press. With particular reference to : Bernard Tschumi-Architecture and limits I Bernard Tschumi-Architecture and limits II Bernard Tschumi-Architecture and limits III Tadao Ando-Towards a New Horizon in Architecture Alan Colquhoun- Three kinds of Historicism Peter, B. (2013). Form Follows Fun: Modernism and Modernity in British Pleasure Architecture 1925–1940, Taylor & Francis. Price, C. (2003). Cedric Price - The Square Book, Wiley. Ryan, R. (1981). A city that changed its face, McKerrow Atkins Publishers. Tschumi, B. (2012). Architecture Concepts: Red is Not a Color, Random House Incorporated. Tschumi, B. (1988)Parc de la Villette, Paris. New York: St. Martin’s Press Zumthor, P. (2006). Atmospheres: Architectural Environments, Surrounding Objects, Birkhäuser. Zumthor, P. (2010). Thinking Architecture, Birkhäuser.
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UNIVERSITY DISSERTATION Malan, A. (2011), BELOW BORDEAUX, Hidden Histories in Sea Point, M.Arch Dissertation, University of Cape Town Gericke, L (2009), Mindful mediations at Three Anchor Bay ,M.Arch Dissertation, University of Cape Town WEB-PAGES Audacity. 2005. Cedric Price - From “Brain Drain” to the “Knowledge Economy. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.audacity.org/SM-26-11-07-03.htm. [Accessed 28 April 15]. CCA. 1990. Cedric Price: Fun Palace. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/ collection/283-cedric-price-fun-palace. [Accessed 29 April 15]. Chris Rowan. 2009. Capetonian Geology: the Seapoint contact. [ONLINE] Available at: http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2008/11/capetonian-geology-the-seapoint-contact/. [Accessed 29 April 15 DOMINIC BASULTO. 2011. Designing a Hedonistic and Sustainable Future. [ONLINE] Available at:http://bigthink.com/endless-innovation/designing-a-hedonistic-and-sustainablefuture. [Accessed 28 April 15]. Francois Verster. 2009. Sea Point Days, A film by Francois Verster. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.seapointdays.co.za/?page_id=11. [Accessed 25 April 15]. Quirk, Vanessa. “BIG’s Waste-to-Energy Plant Breaks Ground, Breaks Schemas” 05 Mar 2013. ArchDaily. Accessed 30 Apr 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=339893> William Sweet. 1995. Jeremy Bentham (1748—1832). [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. iep.utm.edu/bentham/. [Accessed 29 April 15]. Capetown.gov.za, (2015). [online] Available at: https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/ Documents/2011%20Census/2011_Census_Cape_Town_Profile.pdf [Accessed 18 Oct. 2015]. DIGITAL MEDIA Ingels, B. (2011, May). Bjarke Ingels: Hedonistic sustainability [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/ bjarke_ingels_hedonistic_sustainability
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III. TABLE OF FIGURES
All figures are authors own unless otherwise stated. Fig.10 – Photograph of Three Anchor Bay before the wall was built. Cape Town City Archives Fig. 15 – Aerial Photograph of Cape Town edited by author Anywherenrado.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.anywherenrado.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/09/Cape- Town-from-Above.jpg [Accessed 15 April. 2015] Fig. 16 – Historic photograph of Three Anchor Bay Photographic Collection Cape Town City Archives Fig. 17 – Historic photograph of Three Anchor Bay Photographic Collection Cape Town City Archives Fig. 18 – Historic photograph of Pavilion Station Photographic Collection Cape Town City Archives Fig. 19 – Historic photograph of Three Anchor Bay rail line Photographic Collection Cape Town City Archives Fig. 20 – Historic photograph of Cape Town Pier From Signal Hill Photographic Collection, Cape Town City Archives Fig. 21 – Historic photograph of Cape Town Pier Photographic Collection Cape Town City Archives Fig. 22 – Historic photograph of Pavilion Baths Photographic Collection Cape Town City Archives Fig. 23 – Historic photograph of Baths in Three Anchor Bay Photographic Collection Cape Town City Archives Fig.42 – Copenhagen Harbour Baths Images.adsttc.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://images.adsttc.com/media/ images/500d/80dd/28ba/0d66/2500/018e/large_jpg/stringio.jpg?1414389992 [Accessed 20 April. 2015]. Fig.43 – The three phases of movement of Hans Kupelwiesers’ ‘Lakeside Stage’ 2004 Schaeffer, O., et al. (2010). MOVE: Architecture i Motion - Dynamic Com¬ponents and Elements, Birkhäuser. Fig.44 – Three anchor Bay from above, edited by author Google E(Compton 2004)arth, 2015 124
03 01
01
03
02
02
01 Beach Entrance Band and event podium
Picnic bench
02 Promenade FFL : 5500 On ramp from beach
01 Swimming Deck FFL : 1400
00 Sea Level FFL : 0
02 Swimming Deck
02 Promenade FFL : 5500
01 Swimming Deck FFL : 1400
00 Sea Level FFL : 0
Poly- carbonate clad bathroom
Shower Cubicles Sun deck
03 On The Rocks
03 Viewing Deck FFL: 9500
02 Promenade FFL : 5500
Access to rocks
01 Swimming Deck FFL : 1400
00 Sea Level FFL : 0
Sun deck
04 Cafe on Water
Ice Cream Kiosk
03 Viewing Deck FFL: 9500
02 Promenade Restaraunt on the water
FFL : 5500
01 Swimming Deck FFL : 1400
00 Sea Level FFL : 0
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Axonometric Plans
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Atmosphere Perspectives
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