Pretoria city : a spatial field in tension

Abstract

Architecture is a representation of our society’s aspirations and of our social, economic and political paradigms. Since 1994, has the city of Pretoria been successfully represented? Does the city succeed architecturally in creating space that is democratic and that embraces our country’s diversity? The large influx of people within the city of Pretoria has created a terrain consisting of a series of contradictions and conflicts. These conflicts and contradictions within the city are a result of social, economic, spatial, physical and historical tensions that exist within society's social, economic and political paradigms. Physical and spatial reactions have occurred as a result of these tensions that exist within the city of Pretoria. This dissertation will explore these urban spaces that are in tension and investigate what opportunities and limitations such spaces offer the city of Pretoria. The objective is to consider what architectural intervention will arise from the resolution, synthesis or conflict of these tensions. Can these spaces that are in tension within the city foster a new post-apartheid way of city-making.