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The future of the past: inherent atmospheres
This dissertation is an attempt to extract architecture from the site itself. Michelangelo, the Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer, famously said, Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. He clearly understood hi...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics
2018
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| _version_ | 1867613276167208960 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Hobbs, Michael Phillip |
| author2 | Coetzer, Nic |
| author_browse | Coetzer, Nic Hobbs, Michael Phillip |
| author_facet | Coetzer, Nic Hobbs, Michael Phillip |
| author_sort | Hobbs, Michael Phillip |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This dissertation is an attempt to extract architecture from the site itself. Michelangelo, the Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer, famously said, Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. He clearly understood his role as the vessel by which an idea came to life in the physical world. In this light, the chosen site is treated much like a block of marble in the hands of a sculptor (the architect) and this dissertation is the documentation of the slow shaping, polishing, and final revealing of an idea. The design is conducted within the speculative future of the Breakwater in Cape Town Harbour. Two main interests are outlined: 1. Landscape: a desire to better understand architecture as the mediator between man and nature, essentially, and to view landscape as architecture and architecture as landscape through the dissolution of convention and the celebration of the imagination. Architectural space is treated as an extension of the site. 2. Rebirth: waste, as a by-product of contemporary consumer culture, is defined as something which no longer has value, something which is superfluous. The technological arm of this investigation is focused on the process of spatially re-imagining the breakwater site through the use de-constructed shipping vessels (machines which have become outdated and can no longer function in the post-industrial/information age). The main focus on landscape and rebirth filters through into the design of the Iziko Cape Town Maritime Museum to accurately represent the project's development from its theoretical founding to its speculative architectural resolution. Overall, this dissertation is focused on pushing the boundaries of spatial experience through the adaptation and re-imagining of a decommissioned ship. We know very well how to make good buildings which are comfortable and comply with council and environmental regulations. This endeavour is aimed at exploring new possibilities. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/28078 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:33.643Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| publisher | School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics |
| publisherStr | School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/28078 The future of the past: inherent atmospheres Hobbs, Michael Phillip Coetzer, Nic Fellingham, Kevin Architecture This dissertation is an attempt to extract architecture from the site itself. Michelangelo, the Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer, famously said, Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. He clearly understood his role as the vessel by which an idea came to life in the physical world. In this light, the chosen site is treated much like a block of marble in the hands of a sculptor (the architect) and this dissertation is the documentation of the slow shaping, polishing, and final revealing of an idea. The design is conducted within the speculative future of the Breakwater in Cape Town Harbour. Two main interests are outlined: 1. Landscape: a desire to better understand architecture as the mediator between man and nature, essentially, and to view landscape as architecture and architecture as landscape through the dissolution of convention and the celebration of the imagination. Architectural space is treated as an extension of the site. 2. Rebirth: waste, as a by-product of contemporary consumer culture, is defined as something which no longer has value, something which is superfluous. The technological arm of this investigation is focused on the process of spatially re-imagining the breakwater site through the use de-constructed shipping vessels (machines which have become outdated and can no longer function in the post-industrial/information age). The main focus on landscape and rebirth filters through into the design of the Iziko Cape Town Maritime Museum to accurately represent the project's development from its theoretical founding to its speculative architectural resolution. Overall, this dissertation is focused on pushing the boundaries of spatial experience through the adaptation and re-imagining of a decommissioned ship. We know very well how to make good buildings which are comfortable and comply with council and environmental regulations. This endeavour is aimed at exploring new possibilities. 2018-05-14T12:57:21Z 2018-05-14T12:57:21Z 2018 Master Thesis Masters MArch (Prof) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28078 eng application/pdf School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Architecture Hobbs, Michael Phillip The future of the past: inherent atmospheres |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The future of the past: inherent atmospheres |
| title_full | The future of the past: inherent atmospheres |
| title_fullStr | The future of the past: inherent atmospheres |
| title_full_unstemmed | The future of the past: inherent atmospheres |
| title_short | The future of the past: inherent atmospheres |
| title_sort | future of the past inherent atmospheres |
| topic | Architecture |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28078 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hobbsmichaelphillip thefutureofthepastinherentatmospheres AT hobbsmichaelphillip futureofthepastinherentatmospheres |