No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The Msinga magisterial district, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa is notable because it has for many years been regarded socially as a pariah region by residents of the Province. Over the decades it has been a 'dumping ground' for people and cultures, an infertile land where gun-running, the illegal cultivation of marijuana, and continuous stock theft has relieved some of the abject poverty, but has also exacerbated the local incidence of faction fighting. However, the people of the area have responded to this ongoing social submission by reacting with creativity and colour in their clothing, cultural goods and homesteads. The cultural material of the district is, in my opinion, unsurpassed anywhere else in the Province, from the traditional interpretation of the Msinga dolls to the exuberant architecture of the contemporary homestead. The layout and elevational resolution of any type of vernacular homestead, defined by Oliver in the first chapter, is a result of a broad number of factors, most importantly resources in terms of materials, economy, climate and culture. The response of the people of Msinga in the Tugela Valley embraces all of these factors to produce a surprising resolution that distills a fresh response to the architectural depiction of a social emergence from the peasantry. The internationally acknowledged prominent form of Zulu architecture, the beehive hut, has been adequately documented in the past. Biermann, Walton and Knuffel carried out different levels of work on this building type from the 1950s onwards. Nowadays, dwindling natural resources in KwaZulu-Natal have resulted in the creation of a new set of vernacular architectures, responding to the environment and resources available, and reflecting the specific needs of the builders, from the expression of social and economic values, to the pragmatic reality of protection from 'political strife. On the one hand, the buildings. in the Msinga Valley are changing rapidly with the natural life course of each building. However, on the other, the development of new architectural styles with the continual building of new units within homesteads demonstrates a dynamic architectural and decorative tradition. The co-existence of the material cultures of Msinga and their architectural expression has to be documented and an attempt made at analysis. The threat of indigenous vemacular traditions disappearing at the expense of development is visible on the horizon. Regional planning initiatives are pressured to deliver houses and services on a large scale, which would be severely detrimental to the continuance of a vernacular architectural tradition. The architectural culture, although currently dynamic, is at risk, and thus begs for documentation. I aim to present the unique decorative tradition of Msinga as an architecture within the contexts of place and extant material culture. Adopting anything but a broad socio-cultural perspective in this case is both short-sighted and ill-focussed. The architecture of rural areas is a material culture that is embedded in the history, social and political struggles, and economic strife. Yet, in contrast with these negative influences, it demonstrates an exuberance that is continued in the other material cultures in Msinga. I begin with an overview, pull out the thread of Msinga as an area, then distil the material culture and, ultimately, the architecture and the decoration. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Due to the pressure of increasing population growth in Skidegate, BC, large areas of land adjacent to the Skidegate Reserve have been purchased by the Skidegate Band to satisfy the community's housing needs. These areas, having been developed following a typical suburban subdivision approach, have considerably increased infrastructure costs and have spread development out to inaccessible areas isolated from the existing community. This project proposes an alternative to this type of development, it reduces the environmental impact of the development as well as its cost, and it attempts to re-introduce the concept of community and its cultural heritage. My interpretation of Haida cosmology operates at two scales in the project. On the site planning level, the development finds its precedent in the linear development of traditional Haida villages. In terms of the housing, the three axes that define the paths of supernatural power : central vertical axis (hearth), longitudinal axis (connection between the forest, the house and the water) and the transverse axis (link between the houses along the line) have served as vehicles for introducing elements of Haida traditional culture. The development occupies one-third of an area currently clear-cut, the remaining two-thirds would be re-forested. Clusters of houses are placed on either side of a central gravel road maintaining the road on one level. Within every cluster there are three zones: a parking/workshop area adjacent to the road; a common area shared by the houses of every cluster; houses arranged along an axis. Each house is given the same view opportunities, level of privacy and access privileges. Each cluster contains different housing units based on a prototype. The prototype has a central continuous post and beam structure that contains common areas, and two enclosed side bays for more private functions. The spatial continuity within the post and beam structure establishes the connection between the water, the house and the forest. This prototype responds to the diversity of family types within this community, and the technology allows for user involvement in the construction process.

No description available.

No description available.

Urbanization in 20th century Brazil has been characterized by a large rural-urban migration. The reinforcement, throughout the national territory, of an urban life-style brought about by this growing urbanization has somehow decreased the cultural distance between the country's urban and rural environments. In spite of that, cultural differences between the two environments do exist, and it is not wrong to assume that a cultural change occurs along the rural-urban migration process. The present research deals with the issue of urbanization and cultural change in Brazil. It focuses specifically on informal urban housing, built by rural immigrants to the city. This was done through a case study of an unplanned settlement, in Natal RN, Northeast Brazil. The study points out the dwellings' physical references to both tradition, that is, to the rural world from where the dwellers have come, and to change due to the urban environment, where they now live. The study also analyzes the socio-cultural causes for tradition and change of the dwellings. Its main finding is that this whole process leads to the formation of a hybrid type of urban house.

A survey of earthquake disaster mitigation strategies and building principles which could applied in rural areas of the Less Developed Countries. Earthquake vulnerability of traditional buildings and problems of earthquake hazard mitigation in these countries are discussed, along with some strategies that may help reduce the impact of future earthquakes. The performance of rural buildings during past earthquakes is analyzed to have a clear understanding of building behaviour during an earthquake. After the analysis, the research traces various recommendations and safe building techniques that would improve the earthquake-resistance of these buildings. Moreover, the study reviews problems often involved in implementing mitigation measures and in transferring technical information to semi-illiterate and unskilled workers, in conjunction with some methodologies on how to transfer information to the rural population. The study concludes by outlining the urgency for the need of pre-earthquake mitigation strategies and suggests some ideas to help narrow the gap which exists between the available information on earthquake mitigation measures and its application in those countries most affected by earthquakes.