This document serves as a mini dissertation in the professional Master of Architecture degree in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pretoria. It focuses on the educational ecosystem within the context of South Africa, with emphasis placed on the economically distressed environment of Mamelodi East. Mamelodi is a township situated in the north east of the City of Tshwane, Gauteng. Due to the location of the University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi Campus, this area has been a study of investigation for many faculties over the years. The spatial consequences of architecture on the educational ecosystem are questioned, with focus placed on the shift in the learning environment towards lifelong learning. The dissertation deals with this concept from the perspective of the holistic development of a person through the qualitative social activities of learning. Lifelong learning is explored throughout the dissertation from a spatial and non-spatial point of view. The spatial conversation deals with the intersection between architecture and education, whilst the non-spatial conversation advocates for a relationship between a community and its school, as integral in achieving lifelong learning. The study is grounded in a typological understanding of the schooling environment that arises as a result of South African educational policy documents. A critical stance is taken where the resulting school typology is challenged in relation to context. The intention is to redefine the current teacher-centric classroom and corridor typology. It is proposed that the schooling environment should be publicly redefined and serve as a support structure within its context, instead of isolating the educational experience. This is explored through the concepts of building as a boundary and building for pedagogy with the resulting development of a spatial matrix to provide architectural definition to South African educational policy. Tsako Thabo Secondary School was used as a case study school for the application of the matrix principles, however it is intended that these principles could be applied to other schools within similar contexts and typologies to achieve lifelong learning potential. Both the research and design process of the dissertation has been directed through the lens of Participatory Action Research (PAR) involving co-design and spatial agency theories. Particular focus within the co-design process was given to the development of design games as a mediation tool. An intimate use of both analogue and digital design games has been applied throughout. / Mini Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Departmental National Research Foundation (NRF) project titled, Stitching the city: From micro-data to macro-views (STINT), aimed at establishing a “transdisciplinary collaboration” to develop a “methodological framework and digital platform for the collection, storage, and sharing of spatial, socio-economic data at a street and precinct level” (Roussou, Brandao, Adelfio & Thuvander 2019). The STINT project was a collaborative effort between the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa (Departments of Architecture and GeoInformatics) and Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden (Department of Architecture) from 2019 to 2020. In particular, the collaboration was between the Unit for Urban Citizenship (UUC) and the Social Inclusion Studio (SIS) from Chalmers University’s architecture department. / Architecture / MArch (Prof) / Unrestricted

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