Includes bibliographical references. / This dissertation concerns itself with the land question in South Africa. Izwe Lethu is the title of an apartheid struggle song, still sung today in the many social uprisings and moments of civil disobedience. The title translates to ‘Our Land’ in the Nguni languages. My response to the question of land is explained through the design and reconfiguration of three electrical sub-station buildings. The project seeks to uncover alternate understandings of the built environment by exploring it through the fact of blackness. It tries to demonstrate that the problem of coloniality as complex and systemic, and spans many dimensions-psychological, social, and political. Each site is used to explore a different method of unravelling these dimensions, bringing a certain aspect of decoloniality into focus on each site. Addressing these complex questions in architectural discourse is part of a strategy to realise, envision, and inspire actualising decoloniality. The underpinning ideas of the project are that land is central to decolonisation and the Fanonian idea of decolonisation as self-creation or Becoming.

Includes bibliographical references. / The amendment of the Restitution of Land Rights Act (no. 2 of 1996) has reopened the period for lodging a land claim in South Africa until 2019. The previous period for lodging a claim closed in 1998 but claims lodged over 20 years have still not been attended to. There exists a concern that with the re-opening of land restitution within both rural and urban spaces, that previous claims will not be seen to, while new claims will take years to resolve. This is unacceptable. How can the process of land restitution be better managed, conducted and performed so as to fulfil the requirements and goals of land restitution –reconciliation and social justice. The focus of this research turns to the urban space in the Western Cape through a purposefully selected case study of a successful land claim. South African cities and human settlements are growing, with South Africa being the most urbanised country in Africa. The competition for urban space will increase in time. With the demand for land being the contextual reality, urban land restitution needs to position itself in relation to South Africa’s dispossessing past. Through a qualitative research approach, a single case study of urban land restitution was used through which to answer the research questions: what constitutes good enough in relation to land restitution in a competitive urban environment? Findings revealed that urban land restitution is complex, with multiple layers, multiple actors and multiple challenges. It exists in a fine balance of factors influenced by competing agendas. Good enough in this space covers communication, recognition of individuals, respect and action. It entails a three dimensional process and accounts for change in people, place and space over time. Recommendations relating to these findings are themselves pitched at multiple levels from the national to the city space and at more general concerns. Recommendations attempt to promote good enough in a complex urban land restitution environment for the future.

Includes bibliography. / The aim of the research was to develop and explore a practice in architecture that would respond to the shifting nature of everyday contemporary life. The practice of design is examined and ideas about space from philosophy are used to broaden the scope of architecture without moving away from its disciplinary intentions and obligations. A theoretical framework is used to underpin the method proposed for student-collaborators to test. The testing by students took place over a number of iterations, each iteration being used to improve the proposal. This dissertation captures the proposal in a moment of its unfolding.The proposal requires a few more iterations before its conclusion.

This dissertation sets out to discover a new of mode of being for the Pentecostal church which will ensure its survival and continued existence in the contemporary urban environment of the Claremont Central Business District. It is argued that the institution of the church is under threat in the urban context. The church is in decline and urban land is in demand. The dissertation argues cross-programming the church will ensure its survival within this context by introducing new and diverse revenue streams which reduces dependence on dwindling membership contributions, opens up new dialogues between the church and its context, thus justifying its place within the context by filling gaps within and building on the existing contextual programmatic mix. Central to this programmatic problem the space of the church still needs to hold onto and express the essence of what it is that makes it a sacred space. The initial data gathering was done by site, programmatic and statistical analysis; this data was gathered on site and through various publications. In addition, theoretical and technical research was gathered through various peer reviewed texts and publications. In the process of gathering information, common themes, patterns and connections between the different analyses were made which in turn led to further research or conclusions which assisted the argument and informed the design development of the project. In conclusion, it was found that the central idea of cross-programming the urban church was workable. Here there would undoubtedly have to be some compromise as each programme presents different requirements, but ultimately the application of the key theoretical theme of verticality brought unity to the scheme. Additionally, there was also need for some unconventional construction techniques to achieve comfortable internal environments. Finally, the result of the incorporation of diverse programming proved to yield greater and more diverse interactions between the church and its context which ultimately ensures its place, role and survival in the contemporary urban context.

Bibliography: leaves 82-84. / The methods of displaying data from archaeological surveys are of considerable importance in representing realistic impressions of archaeological sites that few people are able to visit. In many cases, further study of a site is not possible at the location of the site. This would require that the surveyed data of the site be displayed in such a way as to be accurate and realistic as well as including interactive tools, enabling further studies. Traditional displays of archaeological data have been either in textual form or in the conventional hardcopy form of maps and drawings. With the advent of computers and computer graphics alternative methods of displaying the data have become possible. 3D graphics have become an important method of displaying archaeological data. In 1995 and 1996 the Department of Geomatics at the University of Cape Town participated in the survey of the 3.6 million year old hominid footprints in Tanzania. The survey was required for the documentation and study of the footprints. In order to facilitate this in 3D graphics, software packages that allowed user interactive tools to be included in the display had to be investigated. Methods of displaying the data also had to be investigated. Java3D was selected to create the 3D models and user interactive tools that included measurement tools, gradient tools and profile tools. These tools were created for the Laetoli footprints but were applicable in other archaeological displays as well.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-72).

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / The idea of space lies at the root of all architecture; architecture is about spatial experience. This thesis is an investigation around the ideas of architectural spatial experience how we experience space and how to construct rich spatial experiences in architecture. The design project revolves around re-imagining the Lion Battery site on the slopes of Signal Hill. The design tests out the theoretical explorations laid out in this document and then incorporates tradtional and parametric approaches in the resolution of the design. The aim of this project is to explore experiential architecture.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis is focused on architectural theories and design concepts which will add to the discourse of the what learning environments should or could be in the 21st century. It is based on the idea that spaces for learning need to be more “alive and that architecture can stimulate positive social interaction between people. The current public education system and its related standards, requirements and policies, with regards to physical learning spaces, does not address the present needs of children as it ought to. Many schools in South Africa are not built and designed to function as sustainable buildings and they often do not cater for the economic, environmental or social needs of current and future learners, teachers and community members.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81). / This study examines the social, political, and architectural influences that shaped the two Cape Town inner city housing projects in the Bo Kaap and District Six that were built after the introduciton of the Slums Act of 1943, between 1938 and 1944. During this period there there were changes in the hegemonic perceptions of the city. The eradication of slums served as a catalyst for spatial change and the dislocation of lived space as the city sought to re-create itself as a modern, rationally planned metropolis. The civic authorities and architects appeared to use the criteria of the modernist discourse as a mechanism to wield social control on marginalised members of society; creating mechanisms of removal, exclusion, surveillance and control based on ethnicity. This reflects the perceptions of the French philosopher, Foucault regarding power and control.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-124). / Colonial practice informed the development of the built environment in Cape Town and resulted in the production of a landscape that represented the hegemony of colonial power. Where the over-arching concern is the relationship of power and space, the process followed locates the inquiry in issues of social identity and exclusion as representations of power relations. If it is assumed that space is a function of social values and practices that are related to power, it follows that when power changes the built landscape should also change. This is an enquiry that tests this assumption. Cape Town is a port situated in southern Africa, and was initially developed as a colonial settlement in the seventeenth century when the Dutch assumed power over the Cape; thus constituting the first power shift located in this argument. The undeveloped wilderness was changed from a condition of 'origins' to a town representing Dutch power and social practice. The second power shift occurred when the British took over the colonised territory in 1806. While Dutch spatial practice was concerned with defending itself in an unknown territory, the British embarked on a process of expansion into the interior that was dominated by practices of segregation. Union government in 1910 marked the third shift and the beginning of a neo-colonial era where spatial practice remained largely aligned with a modernist European paradigm that produced alienating landscapes. The post-structuralist theories of Lefebvre and Foucault are interpreted to illustrate the 'representation of space' and 'power' in this context. The different spatial sets characteristic of each period, are presented as a construct that is developed to inform the method. The power shifts and modifications that constituted power changes through time are interpreted through a process of narrative and mapping. The accumulation of spatial practice through time produces a hybrid landscape where spatial practice in the context of the post-colonial condition represents cultural difference.