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New craft in a Western Cape design identity

Thesis (MTech (Interior Design))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town,1996 / This research project has endeavoured to analyse the extent to which
craft ideas and techniques are combining with technological skills in
order to formulate an identity for Western Cape furniture design.
This identity has been shown to be strongly linked to the
determinants of style". which include the national striving for a
South African zeitgeist. a sense of unified spirit. The problems of
eclecticism are discussed in the light of superficial ethnic cooption.
The new craft of the Western Cape (and more specifically Cape Town)
of South Africa. is represented against the background of the old
craft of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain at the turn of the
century. Those old methods and ideas influenced the Cape Colony
especially when it was under British rule. This dissertation shows
that the new craft ideas and methods are synonymous with the new
ideology of South Africa. a new craft for a new South Africa.
The designers and practical work selected to be part of this research
all share a common approach in their positive attitude towards
experimenting with new techniques and using available resources to
produce quality furniture which is accessible to most consumers. The
work of four design groups: Greenspace. Metropolis. Flying Cow and
the Montebel70 Smithy are discussed in terms of the objectives of
this research which are essentially linked to the unravelling of the
determinants of style and their relation to the concept identity in
the South Africa which has succeeded the first free and fair general elections of April 1994.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1309
Date January 1996
CreatorsConnellan, Kathleen
PublisherCape Technikon
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/

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