Architects in South Africa, intentionally or unintentionally, play ~ political role within apartheid ideology each time they hecome involved in housing provision. This thesis will investigate their role within the new housing policies which were heing developed in South Africa in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The specific focus will he an analysis of the work of the Architectural Branch of the National Building Research Institute (N.B.R.I.) who initiated a community participation pro~ess to formulate an upgrading strategy for the Winterveld settlement, 30 km north of Pretoria. An historical perspective will reveal how the plotowner and tenant communities were estahlished in the Winterveld and how conflicts arose hetween these groups, the South African government and the Bophuthatswana government. An investigation of the issues around which these conflicts revolve will reveal why it was that the conflicts could not he resolved. This will, in turn, uncover why it was that in 1980 the architects of the N.B.R.I. initiated a community participation process to formulate an upgrading proposal to deal with the intolerahle living conditions in 1 the settlement. Each stage of the participation process will he discussed and analysed with special emphasis heing placed on understanding how the actions of the architects served various interested parties. It will hecome clear that the architects had no power to intervene as independent arhitrators. Their actions and final proposals were to a large extent hased on their own interests and those of the most powerful actors in the situation. Finally, we shall consider or unintentionally served whether the Architectural Branch intentionally the interests of the apartheid state. Conclusions will he drawn with respect to architects understanding their work from an historical perspective which encompasses a hroad appreciation of economic and political factors.

The need for the study arises from the assumption that the present liaison mechanism between architects in the private sector and the Transvaal Provincial Administration is deficient. The weaknesses are defined and presented by way of sub-problems and hypotheses arising therefrom. In order to limit the extent of the research and investigations, the study is confined to the liaison mechanism relating to primary schools only, within the Province of Transvaal. The data have been obtained from replies to questionnaires received from selected but individually unidentifiable architects in private practice as well as from answers to a standard set of questions verbally put to officials in various State departments. To further illustrate weaknesses in briefing and communication, a few case histories have been described. The assessment by related literature has largely been confined to the views of educationists, sociologists, economists and architects. In essence, these views accentuated the importance of sound communication, role expectation and role perception amongst the professionals representing the various disciplines engaged in the need for design and construction of educational buildings. Related literature leaves no doubt as to the importance of correct selection and acceptance of the architect as the leader of the professional team. A detailed investigation of the present liaison mechanism clearly reveals the areas of weakness which consequently affect efficiency as well as the steps that can be taken to improve the efficacy of the liaison mechanism. The progressive stages of a project from its inception to its completion are discussed in strict chronological order and in detail, leaving no doubt as to where the delays can and do occur. In conclusion, an effort is made to pinpoint the areas which need attention. Recommendations are also suggested in regard to eliminating any misunderstandings in role perception and expectation, and for the improvement and accuracy of the initial briefing. / Dissertation (MA))--University of Pretoria, 1983. / Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services, 2012 / Architecture / unrestricted

This thesis will examine the works of artists-turned-architects, Arakawa and Gins in light of current research in the arts and sciences on affect and self-organisation. The aim of their project is to arrive at a 'daily research' in which a person may: 1. observe and learn about the operations of his or her own perception and action; 2. interact (dismantle and re-assemble) the identity boundaries reinforced by the habitual implementation of concept and category. This thesis takes account of multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to embodiment and engages Arakawa and Gins from a practising artist's point of view. Given this practical orientation of the study, the aim is to makes a series of critical reflections on the work of Arakawa and Gins and demonstrate how such an approach brings theory and practice together. Exploration of the central aspects of their processes will prepare a person (researcher or practitioner) to begin a practice that is designed to combine studies of embodiment with the co-evolving relationship of organisms and their surroundings, to form the basis of a practice of embodied cognition. The thesis sets out this investigation into three chapters. In Chapter 1, I propose that the context for Arakawa and Gins' work be understood as the result of multidisciplinary interarticulations and multi-modal approaches to embodied activity. The position they occupy in relation to disciplinary endeavours such as art, architecture, psychology, bio-topology and theoretical physics is a process of constant problematisation, convergence and repositioning. A survey of key writings on Arakawa and Gins demonstrates the complexity of their work and the difficulties authors encounter situating them within a context that adequately addresses the scope of their project. In Chapter 2, I map a series of activities that accrue to form embodied configurations made perceptible by Arakawa and Gins' procedural architecture. These tactics apply to the observational-heuristic stance they take towards the perceptions and actions that constitute a person's identity boundaries as well as the transformational approach they take towards perceptions and actions that construct the material surrounds. I propose that the movements initiated by their architectural procedures become the practice of embodied cognition. That is, the ability to increase awareness and construct the shape of awareness is, at the same time, the ability to observe and learn about the anatomical, physiological basis of cognition. Through Æffective readings and embodied engagements I explore how Arakawa and Gins propose that the distribution of awareness may reconfigure the relationships among the organism-person-surround. The practice that repositions a person in relation to him- or herself, to others, to constructions of knowledge and modes of acquiring knowledge, questions the autonomy of any construct, especially constructs that are historically entrenched such as the organism, art, science or agency in general. In Chapter 3, I argue that by investigating the connection between and across the organism, person and surround, a person must reconsider activities, such as judgment and Reason, as ongoing embodied processes. The implication of such a shift impacts upon everyday practices as well as vocational and professional practices aligned with research and development. Throughout this thesis I argue that tactics of Arakawa and Gins' procedural architecture and the ethics of their reversible destiny project are the most productive way to approach the practical and theoretical inquiry into the contributions that humans can make towards co-constructing the world. The complex and intricate processes that emerge from their work will enhance the quality of life by allowing persons to apply the benefits of research in art and science to everyday actions. By devising procedures for re-entering perception and action, the transition from self-awareness to a practice of embodied cognition acquires a renewed urgency for daily life. Further, I have suggested that Arakawa and Gins' works demonstrates how deliberate recursive action may become a practice of embodied cognition. This occurs in three ways. Firstly, any form of deliberate assessment and coordination of top-down conceptual-analytical processing and bottom-up perceptual processing will open the activities of reasoning, selecting, deciding, and judging to new embodied modes of knowledge acquisition and therefore to unprecedented configurations of value. Secondly, the reconfiguration of what counts as knowledge, from an ontological perspective, impacts upon research processes and the way in which research cultures are situated in relation to communities. Lastly, the practice of embodied cognition sets a new agenda for convergent 'daily research' especially the interaction between art and the 'outside of art' and between third-person science and the science of our own fiction. These practical actions will counteract our commitment to closure on many fronts, both personal and historical, from the education of the senses to the construction of social justice.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

The main aim of this research is to develop a list of principles relevant to the design of neighbourhoods and in particular neighbourhood centres in Tehran. The study embodies two main phases, a literature review and a survey. During the literature review various dimensions of a neighbourhood centre are explored among both 'prescriptive' and 'explanatory' theories in architecture and urban design. Attempts are made to extract the essence and concepts of individual projects among the prescriptive resources, while the investigations of explanatory resources are focused on finding concepts and ideas which are applicable to design. The characteristics of neighbourhood centres are then classified into three categories called functional, perceptual and operational. These categories embody different sections which are separately studied among the literature and design principles are derived out of the writings and presented at the end of each section. Finally, a provisional list of principles is developed as the result of the literature review. The survey is designed to examine the above principles in the real world in two contrasting neighbourhood centres in Tehran. Face-to-face interviews with the residents of the neighbourhoods, together with the observation of cases, comprise the research instruments. The interviews are based on qualitative open-ended questions in order to find out the characteristics of the centres which the residents mostly appreciated or disliked. A checklist is formulated to explore design factors out of the survey responses. The design principles resulting from the survey are then compared with the initial list. The outcome of the research is the final list of generic principles which draws together the results of the literature investigation and the survey. These principles are primarily aimed at those directly engaged in the design of neighbourhood centres such as architects and urban designers. It also includes information for the management body of the centres. For the ease of users the principles are classified into ten sections under the three main categories mentioned above. Along with the above results, there are some secondary findings about the respondents' differences in perception and evaluation of their neighbourhood centre which are presented in the concluding chapter of the thesis. The study intends to decrease the gap between theoretical research and practical work by presenting design principles, extracted from the conceptual theories, that can be easily used by designers. Based on both theoretical and empirical approaches, it also helps to draw attention to the importance of neighbourhood centres in enhancing the quality of day-to-day lives of the city inhabitants.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / A conservative estimate based on 1975 building construction figures, including residential, office,commercial and factory construction, ascribed two thirds of all building to real estate developers. Yet in their traditional roles as private practitioners, architects have to a great extent been pushed aside or left out of development projects. An inflationary economy has welcomed competition from related businesses such as the "package dealers" who can give guarantees of project cost and delivery time. When involved in development projects, architects have often exercised limited design control, largely due to their late arrival or exclusion from major portions of the decision making process. Recently, many architects have begun to see that to change this pattern, they must broaden the scope of their knowledge, and that by assuming an entrepreneurial role in development projects, they can begin to achieve greater decision making capability and design control within the development process. This thesis first looks at why new roles are emerging within the architectural profession relating to development work, and then looks at new ways in which architects are working with developers. The traditional way of working, utilizing a standard owner-architect agreement, is compared with recent variations to it, which include providing partial architectural services, taking an equity position in a project, participating in a design/build arrangement, and assuming direct responsibility as developer. Three case studies are presented, representing three of these different architect-developer arrangements, which focus on the issues of design control and design process as a function of the professional relationship which the architect assumed in each project. A number of factors were found to contribute to the architect's control over the design and the design process, some or all of which may be applied to, or are intrinsic to, each of the various ways of working. The research concludes with a discussion of the implications for future practice, a description of some of the new roles for architects which have emerged as a result of new ways of working with developers, and addresses the role of education in training architects for development work. / by Wendy G. Krum. / M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S. in Engineering)--University of Florida, 1992. / "Fall 1992." Description based on title screen as viewed on February 8, 2010. DTIC Identifier(s): Private Contracting, Military Contracting, Navy Contracting, AIA(American Institute Of Architects), FAR(Federal Acquisition Regulation), Far Clauses, Commercial Contracts, Government Contracts, Comparative Analysis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 100). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of New Brunswick, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references.

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