Jean-Mari Steyn Portfolio | 2012 - 2014
“ We see architecture as an act of profound optimism. It is what we have to give and it is what we leave behind. “ -Tod Williams, Bille Tsien Architects.
Architecture is created by humans for humans. It should consider the human condition and the effects it can have on individuals and society. Architecture should provide refuge to the society, not only physically but psychologically as well. Architecture should build people and society in a positive manner. Architecture should have a positive effect on the quality of life for the individual and society. Architecture should become poetic to the degree where it personifies human dynamics and the respective interaction s with the spatial and environmental conditions. It should communicate and repect its current context but should also focus on the future and the impact it will have on thethe future society.
Irene, Pretoria A memorial to remember the famlies and concentration camps that were scattered over South Africa during the Anglo Boer War.
REMEMBRANCE
September 2012
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BOUKUNDE Room 4-3 Remodeling of Room 4-3 to translate words into light.
POETICS OF LIGHT
August 2012
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Waterkloof A house for the Ambassador of Kenya to live, work and entertain in. It borrows from the materiality that is vernacular to Kenya.
HOUSE KENYA
June 2013
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Pretoria CBD A public library that provides refuge for the children of the surrounding neighbourhoods. It is a place people can escape to and experience tranquilty.
PUBLIC LIBRARY
November 2013
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Refugees use their old, known environments as a Mind Palace to help them remember their culture and lives in their own country and circumstances. With their removal from a familiar place, these Mind Palaces will eventually start to fade as there is very little in their new circumstances to help them remember the old. It has its positive attributes in losing an old Mind Palace and creating a new, but for a refugee it means losing your past, your culture and your being. In a new setting it is often difficult to create a new Mind palace because everything is unfamiliar and overwhelming. Through this design, I want to create a space that will provide refugees with a new space to use and start a new Mind palace, but also remembering and being able to attach their culture and previous circumstances to their new environment. This will help with the conservation of their cultures and still provide the oppertunity to become part of the South African context in which they find themselves.
June 2014 Pretoria CBD A Mnemonic Device for a foreign culture. An art gallery and dye factory for an immigrant culture to remember home.
A MNEMONIC DEVICE
A Mind palace, also known as a Memory palace, is a mnemonic device where we use visual stimuli to help us remember specific things in a specific context. It is a physical location where memories can be contained and preserved.
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Architecture has also contributed to the mistreatment of labourers around the world, by creating sub standard working conditions where people found themselves. Factories have become a symbol for this mistreatment. As the craftsman creates something from natural materials to finished product and using all of his senses to create a perfect product, similarly architecture should engage all of our senses to fully understand and experience the architecture that we are axposed to. In a society where sight has become our main sense of experience, we tend to loose some of what should be experiences. Architecture should also engage all the senses to create an experience that could be understood and experienced on a deeper level.
November 2014 Pretoria CBD A Head office for a Trade Union with the a space for a craftsman.
LABOUR OF LOVE
Trade Unions can be traced back to as early as the 18th century. The vast industrial expansion that was experienced, lead to the mistreatment of labourers all over the world Trade Unions have playes an important part in the development of the labour industry. The main aim of a Trade Union is to protect and fight for the rights of the individuals. Actions taken by Unions can either have a positive or negative influence on the industry.
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