This thesis elaborates on the relationship between work and time and how it relates to quality architecture. Quality is a degree of excellence. The project proposed is aimed at promoting quality in the built environment through workmanship. Pretoria, in the Tswane Metropolitan area, is in Gauteng, the province responsible for most trade in South Africa. Hatfield in Pretoria is home to many students of various institutions, including the University of Pretoria. Many workers live in Pretoria and commutes daily between Pretoria and Johannesburg. The world is characterized by ever-changing aspects today, and especially in South Africa uncertainty prevails. Fluctuations in the economy have resulted in a feeling of insecurity. An unemployment rate of approximately 40% has caused many South Africans to become temporary, and often migrant, workers. This uncertainty also reflects in the built environment, where buildings have become "temporary", displaying a lack of workmanship in the planning and construction. The project discussed in this thesis is a result of intensive planning on the site, in collaboration with the proposed Hatfield Gautrans Station by Bernard Roccon (thesis proposal for MArch(Prof) degree, 2003), implemented to provide an efficient public transport link between Pretoria and Johannesburg. The functions of the project; a stable centre acting as a datum point and haven for temporary workers, is a result of this planning process. This thesis aims at re-establishing a trust in the built environment through quality architecture, by promoting work and workmanship. / Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Architecture / unrestricted

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Vad är ett ”Urban building”? Den första tanken som slog mig var en byggnad liknande ett komplex, med en mängd olika funktioner. Därför blev det ett självklart val för mig var byggnadens footprint skulle vara, när jag såg den "övergivna" landsplätten. Jag skulle vilja kalla den för en tom lucka kanske. Vidare tänkte jag vad detta komplex av byggnad skulle vara. För mig var det viktigt att skapa en mötesplats för människor, men med det sagt, inte ett kommersiellt centrum. Jag ville skapa möten genom en kulturell verksamhet. Byggnaden är menad som ett av Stockholm landsmärken, då tänkte jag att mötet mellan denna kulturella verksamhet, kontor, bostäder och kommers skulle resultera i en dynamisk megastruktur av något slag. Detta blev startskottet för projektet. Intentionen var att göra platsen trivsam, och spännande, och inbjudande, göra den tillgänglig, och öppna upp platsen för människor att nyttja. Därmed tänkt att bjuda in till spontan aktivitet. Taklandskap ville jag göra dels för att ta vara på den annars ganska oanvända ytan, men framförallt eftersom det blir en väldigt intim plats ”uppe i himlen”. På sätt och vis kan man säga att parken jag skapat symboliserar detsamma då den är avgränsad från biltrafiken och öppen för natur, och mänsklig närvaro. Eftersom platsen ligger så fint nära vattnet och hamnen ville jag gärna använda mig utav det. Därför blev det ett naturligt val för mig att placera de ”familjära” bostäderna på den axeln. Mellan bostäderna har jag infört en allé kantad av växtlighet, så som lättare träd/buskar. Allén är menad att användas av både boende men även av allmänheten som kanske vill promenera upp till takterassen, och för att kanske se en film på den öppna, självständiga utomhusbion? / What is an urban building? The first thought that struck me was a building, like a complex, with a variety of functions. Therefore, it became a natural choice for me where the building's footprint on the site would be when I saw the "abandoned" piece of land. I would call it an empty gap maybe. Furthermore, I thought what this complex of buildings could be. For me it was important to create a meeting place for people, but having said that, not a commercialized center. I wanted to create a meeting point by cultural activity. The building for me is intended as one of Stockholm's landmarks. I thought that the meeting between the cultural activities, offices, housing and commerce would result in a dynamic megastructure of any kind. This was the starting point of the project.   The intention was to make the place enjoyable, exciting, inviting, and accessible. I wanted to open up the site for people to use. This supposed to be inviting for spontaneous activity. I wanted to create a roofscape to take advantage of the otherwise unused area, but mainly because it is a very intimate place "in heaven, up I the sky". In that sense, you could say that the park I created symbolizes the same intimacy as it is separated from car traffic and open to nature, and human presence. Because the site is nicely near to the waterfront and a small harbor I just wanted to make use out of it. So it was a natural choice for me to place the larger residential housing on that particular axis. Between the homes I have introduced an avenue lined by vegetation, such as light trees / shrubs. The alley is intended for residents and also by the public who might want to walk up to the roof, and to maybe see a movie at the open, independent outdoor cinema?

The proposal for place like the district of Poblenou is a great adventure. The blocks of the famous urban Plan Cerda closest inside in itself dramatic history of old industrial era, when they have called Barcelona " The Manchester Of Catalunya ". And here I ask myself the question. What does the word landscape in this environment? How to apply to old buildings and chimneys of the idea of the archetype of landscape? Is it just those elements that had nurtured almost all Catalunya? They can be roof now abandoned industrial buildings become something else? The new facade?A Sea? A Landscape ?