Marabastad : your past, my present, our future. etc.

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is not only to question, but to start a dialogue and continue the existing conversations about architecture and identity. The initial questions posed in this dissertation are: Who am I ? Who are WE ? & Where are WE going ? Looking at the individual, the collective and place, one starts to uncover what defines humanity at its core. It is not the spectacle or fleeting moments of grandeur. It is the ordinary, the banal, and the mundane actions one performs on a daily basis that starts to define identity. This is the everydayness that defines one's existence. The rituals that one performs starts to define the way one uses space, but the space that is constructed, inversely defines the rituals performed. Humanity is in a constant exchange between oneself and the space one occupies. This dissertation investigates the ideas of the everyday and how it can manifest in architecture by building onto the existing rather than imposing preconceived notions of identity and space. The project investigates the concept of the everyday and its manifestation in the existing structures found in Marabastad. Marabastad is located on the north-west quadrant of Pretoria, and its rich and diverse heritage plays a vital role in shaping the way users occupy space within its boundaries. Our personal identities are not objects, they are not things; our identities are dynamic processes that build upon the core of an inherited cultural tradition. The sense of self can only arise from the context of culture and its historicity. (Pallasmaa, 2014.19)