This thesis addresses the urgent need to awaken our numbed senses by means of haptic architecture. As today's technologies continue to hyper-stimulate and under-differentiate, it is architecture's obligation to resist the resultant de-sensitizing of daily experiences. A return of a multi-sensory and corporeal element to architecture can reveal new possibilities for restoring sensory balance, and for connecting our bodies to our surroundings. Through the authority of all the senses, we may re-discover our human identity within the larger context of the world. <br /><br /> The proposed design is a spa health club in downtown Toronto. Throughout history, public baths have been important spaces in cities. Bathers are able to be social or solitary as they choose, while cleansing body and senses. Today, such spaces are lost in the race where thousands upon thousands of advertisements compete for one's imagination. Combining the ancient bath culture with the contemporary fitness culture, the design of the spa health club aims to heighten awareness by engaging the body and all of its senses. Central to the design is an urban public park offering transitory moments of tranquility and sensual pleasure. The spa, with its public park, offers a space that resumes the dialogue between body and space, creating haptic memories and, above all, raising human consciousness.

This thesis addresses the urgent need to awaken our numbed senses by means of haptic architecture. As today's technologies continue to hyper-stimulate and under-differentiate, it is architecture's obligation to resist the resultant de-sensitizing of daily experiences. A return of a multi-sensory and corporeal element to architecture can reveal new possibilities for restoring sensory balance, and for connecting our bodies to our surroundings. Through the authority of all the senses, we may re-discover our human identity within the larger context of the world. <br /><br /> The proposed design is a spa health club in downtown Toronto. Throughout history, public baths have been important spaces in cities. Bathers are able to be social or solitary as they choose, while cleansing body and senses. Today, such spaces are lost in the race where thousands upon thousands of advertisements compete for one's imagination. Combining the ancient bath culture with the contemporary fitness culture, the design of the spa health club aims to heighten awareness by engaging the body and all of its senses. Central to the design is an urban public park offering transitory moments of tranquility and sensual pleasure. The spa, with its public park, offers a space that resumes the dialogue between body and space, creating haptic memories and, above all, raising human consciousness.

The Central Statistical Services (CSS) currently estimates that there are approximately 412 421 profoundly deaf people and approximately 1 237 264 extremely heard-of-hearing people in South Africa. Irene Bester of the SABC has noted that there may even be around 2 million people in South Africa who regard sign language as their fi rst language. It is estimated that the number of deaf and hard of hearing people stands at 5 million (Kruger 2000:35). According to Ethnologue there are 12 100 deaf persons in South Africa, including 6 000 Black, 2 000 English white, 2 000 Afrikaans white, 1 200 Coloured and 900 Indian (Gallaudet University 1986). Whilst there are a number of primary and secondary institutions dedicated to the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, facilities which function on a tertiary level are limited. Research has indicated that there exists a dire need for a facility to fi ll this void, and to simultaneously accommodate experiential spaces as well as the administrative functions required for the proper management of the needs of this sector of the population. The main objective of this dissertation is to create a centralized facility for the deaf and hard of hearing in Tshwane. This facility would focus on the wellbeing of the student and facilitate his or her introduction into society as a productive and well adapted individual through specialized and career orientated training and experiential exposure. As discussed in this document, the facility will serve as the headquarters for DEAFSA in Pretoria and also as a training facility in various fi elds. The provision of adequate and well-appointed facilities for the development of life skills for the deaf and hard of hearing is of paramount importance to achieve this objective. Apart from the educational and administrative components, one of the main features of the facility will be a Sound Exploratorium. This will be a space where sound will be introduced through the four other senses, making it possible for those who are hearing impaired to experience sound. Curiosity is intensifi ed when the use of one sense is limited or totally absent. Sound will become another dimension of the architecture and will be introduced through the building fabric and other media. The individual will be guided through the building and experience the sounds of the city and their environment through their other senses. Tagged sensory movement will guide the user through the facility, giving the individual a sense of power and accomplishment, and thus increasing the intensity of the experience. The architecture becomes a stage for activities where the visual and experiential dominates spatial understanding. The facility will enable the user to experience the city in a different way and become aware of how sound influences us within the built environment. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Architecture / unrestricted

In humanity’s current condition, the advantages of organic material sources are supplanted by the qualities of synthetics that allow for rapid growth and altered capabilities, whilst man becomes further removed from his natural existence as a being that once possessed the aptitude to understand and work with these materials. Prior to our industrial, mechanised and materialist consumer culture, the direct interaction with the natural world provided humanity with more comprehensive and experiential ground for growth and learning. As we are connected to the world through our senses, space becomes the primary enabler of such a platform. Relying on the haptic qualities of materials and the body’s ability to experience and embody its immediate surroundings, architecture’s role in the integration between man, nature, and industry is explored. As a natural industry with a significant public interface, architecture acts as a mediator between man’s “constructed nature” and his “first nature” – referring to man’s estrangement from his environment. This dissertation investigates the adaptation of industrial buildings to accommodate public interaction whilst responding to the environmental impact that the production of building materials has on the environment. Alternatives to commonly used materials such as glass, steel and carbon fibres were researched, and so hemp, flax and bamboo became the primary elements used in the making of the architecture. / Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted