Abstract:
The dissertation proposes a Community Creativity Facility in the Cultural Precinct in the lower Central Business District (CBD) of Pretoria. The client, Tshwane Leadership Foundation (TLF) and its affiliate, the School of Creative Arts (SCA), require a facility that caters for the visual arts within Pretoria’s city centre that uplifts its users on a socio-economic level. Furthermore, an arts facility in the lower CBD is absent and can contribute to inner-city activation. The dissertation investigates how a relationship can be established between the visual arts and Pretoria’s inner city community and city users. The building intends on fostering an arts appreciation and relationship through exposure, education and skills development. It seeks to educate people on the relevance and contribution of art. This will be investigated by analysing the role that art museums and galleries currently hold - the perceptions attached to them. The theory and the concept, which encourage active participation and interactivity, will inform the design of the building. The urban framework, the site analysis and the precedent studies also inform the dissertation. The design is primarily form-driven, as it was realised that the ground floor – the public realm – is the most important drawcard in exposing people to art. Thus, the spatial manipulation of the ground floor resulted in a public square that encourages exposure to art, accidental/impromptu encounters and informal activities to occur. The treatment of surface planes was also approached to allow for visual and physical connections. Commercial, educational and leisure programs were combined into a single building as a mixed-use building can further encourage exposure to art. As the building intends on facilitating creativity and creating spaces that are inclusive for its users, the design development explored this extensively through hand drawings, 3D modeling, concept models and computer generated drawings. Copyright 2011, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Philippou, A 2011, A community creativity facility : encouraging a public interface with art, MArch(Prof) dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12012011-112138 / > C12/4/27/gm
