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Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional) to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / My focus is on working women in post democracy education and training programmes. Due to societal gender roles, rights for women, in both education and opportunity, should materialise in adult education systems. In order for women to be exposed to work opportunities as well as to maintain the domestic and child-rearing roles they play in society, these systems and spaces must be reinvented. I hope to defi ne indigenous feminist theories, and then to manifest these in the creation of learning spaces. Th rough deconstructing the hugely diverse lived experiences of women in their social roles, I will question educational subject matter, women’s representation as learners, workplace roles, domestic and child-rearing roles, and fi nally challenge the idea of the widely accepted school and classroom model as a centralised institution. Alternative practices of learning and knowing possibly have great impact on transformation for women. Th e ties between education and work lead me to choose factories as my site of interest. Th e site of Jeppestown is appropriate because it is where the light industrial practices about which I am talking, continue to exist. With this thesis I aim to propose an alternative model for working- women as students and educators. I aim to reinvent the systems and spaces in which women learn and in which contextualised feminist theories are manifested. / XL2018

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Urban Design to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / The modern day cultural landscape of man is no longer shaped by mere geology – but by the forces of culture, economics, social activity, politics and technology (Silva, 2012). Still, there are cases where geographical scars divide the cityscape, leaving voids in infrastructure and islands of open space within a thriving metropolis around these vacant patches of land. These vacant patches of land are often termed brownfield sites – once productive infrastructural components actively contributing to the formation of cities and industry. The mining belt of Johannesburg and some of its surrounds (particularly the area around the Heidelberg interchange and Faraday taxi rank) is a classic example where open patches of land exist, surrounded by a concrete jungle which is Johannesburg – “a world class African city” (joburg. org). According to Steyn (2007) the rate of urbanisation in Africa far exceeds that of the western world, which means that un-programmed, unprotected open land becomes soft targets for those prospecting ‘statistics’ flocking to the city – lured by the illusion of opportunity. Centrally located open land therefore becomes an extremely valuable commodity – a commodity that may aid in dealing with the rapid urbanisation issues that 21st century cities face. Not only are urbanities of the 21st century confronted by issues of rapid urbanisation and urban sprawl, but these urbanities need to combat issues in three omnipresent spheres – environmental, social and economic. It is within urban planning that these spheres have their closest overlap (Un-Habitat, 2009) and it is within this overlap that the concepts of resilience and sustainability can be best explored. As a result of their primary use, these fragmented wastelands are not well-suited for living, but do sometimes become the dwelling places of people willing to live in sub-standard living conditions. The mining belt of Johannesburg and its immediate surrounds is littered with brownfield sites - sites that share the characteristics of polluted, underutilised, fragmented, large stretches of vacant land, and are lacking in programme and urban form. This dissertation aims to pioneer a type of urban design uniquely developed for urban void landscapes – leftover sites otherwiseknown as brownfields – whilst addressing greater issues of sustainability and resilience. The study strives to understand how a landscape approach to urban design can be applied to revive and reclaim the drosscapes of Johannesburg. By reviewing a body of literature surrounding the theme of sustainable urbanism and investigating theories such as landscape urbanism, ecological urbanism, and compact cities, combined with understanding the life cycles of brownfield sites and how these sites can be revived to aid in solving issues faced by the 21st century city, the designer hopes to distill a set of urban design principles that can be applied over a variety of scales and integrated with other disciplines to revive brownfield sites and transform them into productive urban landscapes. Additionally, the designer endeavors to express the value of centrally located land; bridge the divide created by post-industrial landscapes; understand brownfield remediation processes and time-lines; integrate urban programmes and systems and link to and expand existing urban networks, based on the assumption that the drosscapes of Johannesburg possess the latent potential to positively add new dimensions to the current urban condition / XL2018

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture (Professional))--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / Probably one of the strongest common threads running through the multi-cultural society of South Africa is its passion and love for the public performing arts. The thesis therefore encompasses the design of a Performing Arts Centre in Pretoria. The intention is to use the building and surrounding urban space to promote performing arts activities, where they can be taught, refined and performed. The intent is to provide a building which will not only house the performing arts, but also engage the urban place as a public performance stage.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture: Professional)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / This dissertation encompasses the design of a low security correctional facility to function as a community re-entry centre in central Pretoria. In recent years, the Department of Correctional Services realised that alternative approaches and innovation is desperately required to deal with the issues of overcrowding, recidivism, known as the habitual return to a life of crime, as well as the spiralling cost of incarceration in South African prisons. This dissertation proposes a new detention building type in South Africa within which the education, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates can be dealt with holistically. In the proposed building, the designer will attempt to create awareness about the plight of offenders and their recovery from a life of crime while incorporating research with regards to sustainable architecture. It aspires to realising the opportunities that could arise from the human capital locked away in our correctional facilities if successful rehabilitation within an appropriate architectural environment could be implemented.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture: Professional)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2010. / This dissertation focus on repopulating the north-west section of Pretoria's city, known as Marabastad. Evoking densification together with urban regeneration through a mixed-use affordable housing development, it will also acknowledge the presence of the remaining Marabastad and support the relationship between formal and informal trading whilst contributing to the overall existing function of the area as being a major transportation interchange node. The site that has been chosen is on the northern edge of Bloed Street and lies between Jerusalem Street and the Steenhoven Spruit.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture (Professional Design)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2009. / The aim of this thesis is to design a music school [in Tshwane, South Africa] that will contribute to the development of our rich and vibrant music culture, which will furthermore assist in the promotion of the often unrecognized and struggling music industry as a major player in the South African economy. The building will contain practice and recording studios, together with classrooms for teaching music as well as performing spaces and administration facilities. The design attempts to introduce the building as a fully integrated element in the urban fabric and social infrastructure of the city so as to promote music and the performing arts to the broader public and help to redefine this precinct as the cultural heart of the inner city.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture: Professional)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2010. / The thesis comprises the design of a building to facilitate teaching and learning for mature learners, specifically in the creative professions, in the centre of Pretoria. The building offers facilities and spaces for visiting artists, tutors and mentors as well as for courses and workshops in continuous professional development. A limited number of short term living quarters are also provided for visiting artists. Because of the central urban location, the building will also include retail components as well as exhibition and multimedia spaces for the general public. The design involves a new development as well as the renovation and embracing of the Ons Eerste Volksbank building.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture (Professional))--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / The Department of Justice has sanctioned regional courts to hear divorce cases which were traditionally only heard in the High Court. This address the accessibility to civil services. Four branch courts in Gauteng have been upgraded to full service courts, including Mamelodi. These law reforms will increase the case load for the already over-extended court in Mamelodi, and the dissertation will aim to resolve accommodation short comings and bring the facilities in alignment with full service court standards. As a society we all are affected by or benefit from the protection the law offers. The buildings that facilitate these legal processes are a particularly challenging type of civic complex. The aim is thus not to design a new type of complex merely replacing existing models for the sake of changing existing typologies into something more modern, but rather to offer a proposal motivated by sustainability and guided by the belief that a building which embodies social outcomes should be designed to be a regional response with sensitivity to current conditions.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / The aim of this thesis is to design a music centre which will contribute to the development of the musical art within the public arena of South Africa. It will serve as a case study for how music education and awareness could be approached. The building will consist of open and enclosed performing spaces, recording studios, classrooms, practice areas, an auditorium and administration facilities. It will act as a vibrant node within the inner city, accompanied by a public square where music and dance will be encouraged. The design will strive towards urban integration within Pretoria Central Business District (CBD), forming part of the current revitalisation plan for the city. It will attempt to form part of the social infrastructure of its context and in turn encourage music awareness to the broader public. Although parts of the CBD have been upgraded, Pretoria CBD is in desperate need of revitalisation. People stream into the inner city each morning and leave it dormant until the next sunrise. Only recently have office blocks been converted into apartments. Nightlife is in its infancy. Introducing events and activities, especially those which is often performed at night, will contribute to what a city should be. Music can be the answer to such a need... Music and dance can let people recognise their shared cultural knowledge and style, in turn which will spearhead unification. This is especially important in regards to the fact of the segregation of not only urban environments, but that of cultural and social isolation.