Abstract:
This study will develop a framework, comprising a set of design considerations, that sheds
light on what ideas (theories) and what events (practices) result in the architectural
analysis, conceptualisation, and making of places. To do so, this study will situate the
question of architectural place-making in a global and a local post-apartheid South
African context. It will highlight the philosophical position of phenomenology as a
method to explicate place, but also identify problems regarding the adoption of
phenomenology in architecture: that this philosophical position is esoteric and often
impenetrable for architects, educators and students, and also that architectural
contributions of this position are fragmented and disparate. Furthermore it will identify
trends that compromise place-making in architecture, these including the dominance of
our visual sense (ocularcentrism) and the intellectualisation of our discipline. To counter
these concerns a phenomenological architectural framework will be developed in three
parts. Part 1: The Designation will define the notion of place by means of an investigation
of the evolution of placial thought. It will show that place is a phenomenological enquiry.
Seminal themes in phenomenology (Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty) will be
highlighted as a philosophical foundation to the study. Drawing on a set of principles
that constitute this philosophical foundation, a theoretical framework will be established.
This framework will consist of the following categories: The Material Aspects of the
Lifeworld, The Lived Dimension of Place, and The Mental Dimension of Place will form a
spatial triad. Part 2: The Inquiry, will elaborate on each of these dimensions of the triad in
the form of a narrative. Relevant place-making considerations that emerge will be
highlighted, and illustrated through architectural applications. Part 3: The Distillation will
summarise the dynamics and constitutive parts of this spatial triad, and show how it acts
as a sufficient framework through which to analyse and conceptualise place. It will
illustrate four architectural place-making applications of the framework and elaborate
on ways in which this framework can inform architectural curricula that prioritizes the
experiential nature of place.
