Doctoral Degrees (Architecture)

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City morphology and effective control mechanisms: towards land use optimization and sustainable development: a case study of Lagos mega city.
(2018) Agamah, Franca Unekwu.; Adebayo, Ambrose Adeyemi.
Rapid urban growth and resultant modifications to the environment have significantly changed urban morphologies. Given the rapid growth of metropolitan Lagos and its constrained access to land, spontaneous, muddled patterns of development have resulted in unsustainable development with varying consequences for the environment and its inhabitants. These have implications for carrying capacity, aesthetics, resources and urban liveability and call for policy formulation and measures to plan and control development patterns. The hypothesis of the study was underpinned on the argument that land utilization and control of urban spatial growth are functions of adequate planning and effective frameworks in achieving sustainable development. The study provides a framework for assessing urban structure and morphology with a rationale for planning sustainable cities. It reviews the dynamics of urban growth and its complexities alongside planning and design methods and approaches. The study notes that different elements of cities respond to various stimuli that should be taken into account in seeking to achieve sustainable development. Lagos mega city’s policies and spatial development strategies have, unfortunately, not done so. Guided by critical and pragmatic theory, the study employed triangulated mixed methods to assess the morphology and temporal growth of Lagos mega city and the factors that influence it; it examined urban planning frameworks, policies and control mechanisms; implementation, enforcement and compliance. Three study areas (Lagos Island, Apapa and Victoria Island) were purposively selected as case studies and data were collected through onsite surveys and observation; interviews with planners and the administration of questionnaires to property owners. The findings show that the metropolis is characterized by poor land utilization and ineffective control of urban development which is constrained due to surrounding water bodies and burdened by rapid population growth. The hypotheses tested using the T-Test statistic indicate that while poor land utilization and uncontrolled urban spatial growth are not exclusively a function of poor planning and ineffective frameworks, changing city functions and urban growth have implications for land use that require forward planning. The study therefore developed the Land Use Optimization and Effective Control Model that encapsulates approaches, process and factors towards compact, mixed-use development for a sustainable urban form. The model will guide planning agencies and development plans to align with the objectives of sustainability.
A new vernacular architectural language informed by the use of space in informal settlements: selected case studies in the Ethekwini Municipality, South Africa.
(2018) Ojo-Aromokudu, Judith Tinuke.; Loggia, Claudia.; Peters, Walter Hermann.
Informal settlements are home to over 60% of urban poor in developing nations. They present a unique character in urban areas, making them easily identifiable. Nevertheless, they are often conceptualised in negative terms emphasising the illegality and non-conformity to building standards, arguably due to the limited understanding of the spaces created and meaning to the residents. The negative connotation of informality often directly or indirectly influences the upgrading interventions. This study sets out to gain an understanding of the use of space in informal dwelling environments, which could inform appropriate response and interventions to informal settlement upgrading programs, towards creating self-reliant and sustainable communities. It also intends to conceptualise a new vernacular architecture that incorporates the evolving character of dwelling spaces in the informal settlements. This research seeks to reconsider the informal dwellings in an objective light through the lenses of the residents. It reinterprets the self-built dwellings in relation to vernacular architecture. To do this, the key research questions raised are - What are the nature and characteristics of dwelling spaces in informal settlements that could inform appropriate response and interventions to upgrading programs? How can this be theorized into a “new vernacular architectural language?” The research applies a qualitative research methodology in three case studies in eThekwini municipality. The findings show that the settlements, as a whole, are an integral part of the dwelling experience and is affected by prevailing context, which includes accessibility to land (serviced or un-serviced) and accessibility to recycled materials for building purposes. This is also related to social ties often emanating from original homes, and leadership structures that are unrecognised by local authorities. A multi-layered dwelling pattern has been identified and categorised as simple, complex and multi-dwellings. These patterns show similarities to the vernacular language, particularly in the extensive use of outdoor spaces. The research concludes that the informal dwellings provide residents with experimental, existential, and aspirational meanings, as residents navigate their way into the city, and that the 21st century vernacular language is therefore trans-positional across rural-urban context.
Afrocentric placemaking and architecture in contemporary urban built form: a case of Bulawayo’s civic precinct, Zimbabwe.
(2019) Mthethwa, Majahamahle Nene.; Adebayo, Ambrose Adeyemi.
Inspired by Afrocentrism ideologists such as Molefi Kete Asante (2007), the researcher advocates for non-dominance of one community by any other, as this has created problems across sub-Saharan Africa. The social phenomenon of internal colonialism thrives on cultural authoritarianism that the ruling elites or dominant social groups accentuate through the built environment. This study explored collectively accepted makings of Afrocentric sources that would inspire Afrocentric placemaking and architecture in contemporary urban built form and promote social equality, justice and a sense of belonging. The study of these Afrocentric sources would motivate architects to design contemporary local built environments that respond to African value systems. The study focused on the Mthwakazi Nation’s historic capital, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. A mixed method approach was adopted, with a qualitative method applied generally and a quantitative one locally. Special consideration was given to concerns such as African cosmological orientation, culture and identity that pivoted indigenous legal, political, governance and economic institutions. This enabled a narration of precolonial built forms. Various concepts and theories such as placemaking, social identity, symbolic interaction theory, Afrocentricity and existential theory were drawn on to explore the possibility of contemporary architectural design and urbanism that captures the African worldview. Given their ability to exhibit identity phenomena, the focus was civic spaces and buildings. International precedents such as the Sydney Opera House and its linkage to the Bennelong House in Australia, which demonstrate the extent to which Australia has taken on the mantle of European culture and the significance of historical events as a source of inspiration in urban placemaking. Symbolic interactionism evokes indigenous ecological features to encourage creation of locally responsive built Page | viii environments. The Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature is presented in this study as a typical example. Built forms and parallel historical developments were examined from the precolonial, to the colonial and postcolonial periods to identify appropriate Afrocentric sources for contemporary placemaking. In Zimbabwe, Shona traditional built forms were anchored by Great Zimbabwe while King Lobengula’s historical settlement of koBulawayo reflects amaNdebele architectural developments that date back to KwaZulu. Both kinds of traditional settlements provide indicators to Afrocentric sources for envisaged strategies in placemaking and architecture in African cities. To the African mind circularity and movement capture what the cosmos represents. Movement is rhythmic, regular and seasonal. With respect to symbolic interactionism, circularity and movement is how the cosmos reflects itself to an African mind; hence the criticality of organic and rhythmic motion in his/her art and architecture. The study contends that the Collective Centred Afrocentric Placemaking (CCAP) knowledge model is to assist the conceptualisation of Afrocentric placemaking and architecture in contemporary urban built form and thus create an authentically existential sense of belonging in African cities.
The transformation of architectural pedagogy towards a new model for architectural education at universities of technology in South Africa.
(2016) Luckan, Yashaen.; Lokko, Lesley.
Architectural education and practice in democratic South Africa have been challenged to respond to broad national imperatives which have completely transformed the educational and professional legislative frameworks that govern the architectural profession. Two key objectives emerged out of the transformation agenda: Spatial transformation and socioeconomic redress. This posed challenges to architectural education, while at the same time presented many new opportunities for universities of technology to develop their unique and distinctive identities. However, the main criticism of architectural education at universities of technology is that its historic strengths of technology transfer and widened access, have been surrendered in favour of adopting curricula and pedagogic approaches of the traditional universities. Industry and the traditional universities are of the opinion that universities of technology should continue with a technology focused curriculum. The universities of technology have generally reacted to this criticism by spending time and energy on conceptualising curricula with a science and technology focus. The main argument of the thesis, however, is that architectural education at universities of technology has to build on its historic strengths while enhancing knowledge transfer to the benefit of society; this cannot be confined in any narrow definition of a science and technology curriculum. The definition of technology is asserted as a cultural construct and therefore cannot exist as distinctly separate to the artistic creativity required of architecture. Artistic creation, however, cannot be isolated in the ‘silo’ of studio production, but must emanate from socially engaged processes. The thesis explores the historic influences on architectural education to understand the reasons for the current state of architectural education at universities of technology in South Africa. Various theoretical positions and ideologies on education, architectural pedagogy and learning space development are critically analysed in the form of an extensive literature review. This is supported by empirical research and case studies in order to determine the unique and distinctive characteristics of architectural education at universities of technology, and their value to context and society. The synthesis of the critical research culminates in a new conceptual model for architectural education in South Africa, which is based on the principles of neo-humanism, defined by contextual responsiveness through the constant engagement of unit-subjective realities with the collective- society realities in a transformative, participatory pedagogic paradigm.
Technical know-how in the indigenous knowledge system underlying Batammariba traditional architecture in Togo and Benin.
(2013) Yavo, Phillippe.; Adebayo, Ambrose Adeyemi.
The desire to revitalise indigenous architecture and the built environment through socio-cultural, political and bio-physical relevance has created a strong need for the understanding of cultures and traditional built environments, especially in the developing countries. This study aims to fill the gap in understanding indigenous knowledge in relation to the production and maintenance of traditional architecture and settlements. This can be achieved by examining how such knowledge is depicted and communicated by the traditional master builder in the absence of written language; as well as exploring the forms, quantities and measurements, structural processes, thermal control and waterproofing systems used by the builders, and ecological resource management. The methodology used in this study emanates from the perspective of social anthropology. It includes informal interviews with local informants, participatory observation and reading, and interpreting written documentation of the Batammariba people and their indigenous knowledge systems. Information regarding prevailing technical know-how is obtained through investigations into readily observable facts and a comparative analysis of structure, context and style. It emphasises the importance of process rituals, building processes and technology, and an analysis of architecture in the context of both everyday use and special events. Findings of this study revealed that the works of Batammariba builders demonstrated structural stability, consistency in form, quantities and measurements, site layouts and resource choices in their traditional buildings and settlements. Furthermore the study substantiated the coding and sharing of such know-how in the absence of a written knowledge system. It therefore demonstrated that there is an unlimited reservoir of aesthetic, technical and conceptual wisdom locked up in the minds of traditional builders in Africa. The synthetic process so characteristic of the work of the great master builders of yesterday should be the answer to present day architectural problems. The present day generation of master builders all over Batammaribaland consists of a group of intelligent and active craftsmen, who are capable of adopting indigenous technology to modern needs if given an opportunity. The future generation of architects has much to learn from both past and present day traditional builders. The study also suggests a wide range of possible strategies to mainstream technical know-how of indigenous knowledge systems, as well as improve the way in which traditional indigenous architecture is synthesized in contemporary.
A study in the sociology of building with special reference to the architect.
(1960) Dakin, Arthur John.
It is apparent from this research that we need to develop a sociology of building in the same way that we are assembling a sociology of medicine, education, religion and of knowledge itself and that in the task of creating a sociology of building we should pay particular attention to the relevance of sociological theory. This dissertation does not claim to set out a sociology of building, but it can be regarded as a preliminary study perhaps useful to that end. An aim in this research has been to concentrate on method, the collection of data, classification and categorisation, thereby attempting to shape an outline which later work may be able to fill in. Value judgments have therefore been used sparingly and only when they can serve some clear and specific purpose.
The sacredness of space and its values in the Maronite church in Lebanon : a fusion between liturgy and place.
(2004) Kiprianos, Joseph.
There exists only one manuscript about ecclesiastical Maronite ecclesiastical architecture (written in the 17th century by the patriarch Stephen el Dweihi) and there is no revised or subsequent work of reference, which this thesis aims to address. To this end, these were the critical questions investigated: This thesis begins by taking stock of the extant vestiges which, with a few exceptions, are confined to Mount Lebanon and north-east Lebanon namely in Byblos, Batroun, Bcharri, Koura, Keserwan, Matn. This area is characterized by a series of spurs and mountain tops, wild deep valleys and remoteness, and the architecture is rooted in this landscape. Its resources for construction are the materials at hand, and the buildings are usually located in villages on the spurs, and one finds that the Maronite ecclesiastical architecture is indistinguishable from the general secular and residential architecture. As such it is "grows" out of the land, is modest in size and scale, and is historically without belfry, i.e. a hidden architecture. While the general disposition of Christian churches is similar, Maronite vernacular houses and churches are block-like with flat roofs, stone walls, and very often with vaulted interiors and minimal of openings. The church is thus another house, rectangular and aligned east-west and is devoid of decoration; the sanctuary is usually apsidal with a minor aperture above the apex of the dome and below the vault of the nave. The particular characteristics of the Maronite church are its east-west orientation - parallel to the spurs which characterize the littoral Lebanon - the presence of a sustainable source of water, and an evergreen tree. The church was conceived for a standing form of worship and without physical barrier between the nave and the sanctuary; and the main and possibly sole source of daylight (but the open door) is the eastern aperture. The bima platform is located in the nave to reflect the monotheistic ideology adopted by the Maronites. Over the centuries, and despite the influences from the Roman Catholic Church, with which it is in full communion, the Maronite church has preserved its identity which is austere and, in particular, free of the 'dramatic mysteries' associated especially with the Baroque churches. Having studied Dweihi's manuscript and his 11 chapters on Maronite ecclesiastical architecture, this thesis asks whether these are still relevant? How can the manuscript be updated for contemporary interpretation towards a rooted modem Maronite ecclesiastical architecture? The architecture of Lebanon has fascinated at least three authors (Ragette, Liger Belair, and Abou Sawan) whose works date from the late 20th century and have become standard references. Others have documented various works on the Maronite people and their religion, but, not since Dweihi' s manuscript of the 17th century has an attempt been made at documenting and extending Maronite concepts for ecclesiastical architecture. Interestingly, Dweihi in his time was reacting to what he saw as a contamination of the Maronite church by Roman Catholic influences; this thesis was prompted by insensitive and ignorance in contemporary Maronite ecclesiastical architecture. The thesis is thus dedicated to proper custodianship of the heritage and the informed and sensitive design of new 'houses ' for Maronite worship.
Regularizing informal settlements for sustainable housing development for the urban poor : the case of Nairobi, Kenya.
(2011) Diang'a, Stephen Onyango.; Adebayo, Ambrose Adeyemi.
In Kenya, as in most developing countries, the provision of adequate housing for the urban poor has been an elusive exercise for the past five decades. Since the early 1960s when serious concerns were raised over housing provision for low income groups and the proliferation of slums and informal settlements, various intervention strategies have been applied without much success. The failure of these interventions has been attributed to high costs of implementation hindering their replication, and displacement of targeted beneficiaries by better endowed income groups upon their completion. As a result, the realised moderate density housing has been transforming into multi-storey housing with intense densification. Housing and the built environment in general are realised within the prevailing systems of social, physical, and economic, settings and are influenced by development and urbanization trends. The purpose of this study therefore was to identify, account and document the prevailing systems of settings and the embedded systems of activities in the informal settlements that determine and sustain them in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. The study analysed these systems at the city, the neighbourhood, and the dwelling levels with the objective of establishing relevant systems of settings and their embedded systems of activities appropriate for adaption in the regularization of informal settlements for sustainable housing development for the urban poor in Nairobi. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology was utilised in this explorative study. The research methodology applied entailed questionnaires, interviews, observations and discussions. Three case study areas were selected representing three different settings for informal settlements namely; informal settlement on government land with minimal level of interventions; community based informal settlement upgraded for rental housing; and site-and-service settlement informally transforming into multi-storey tenements. Theories and concepts that informed this study include Environment-Behaviour Relations, Environment-Attitude Relations, Sustainable Livelihoods, Social, and Market Theories. The study was conducted in Mathare Valley informal settlement of Nairobi which is located approximately six kilometres from the city centre. The settlement was selected because of the varied informalities it hosts in addition to being the oldest informal settlement in the city. The findings of the study show that the social, economic and physical systems of settings are crucial determinants of housing outcomes and determine the location, nature and characteristics of these settlements including the activities they embody at the city, the neighbourhood and the dwelling levels. Similarly, the study shows that the dwellers adapt to the prevailing systems of settings in response to their livelihood constraints, opportunities and capabilities. As a consequence, limitations arising from economic constraints have led to the predominance of rental housing over owner-occupied housing. Limited access to land has led to crowding and densification. Poverty and unemployment has led to uncontrolled commercial activities within residential neighbourhoods. The study recommends that intervention approaches spearheading regularization of informal settlements commence by considering the problem of informal settlements at city level where their recognition and acceptance is important. This should then be related to job opportunities, ease of access to work, and other social amenities. At the neighbourhood and dwelling levels where the two are intertwined, emphasis should be given to maximum utilization of land and development of housing typologies that evolve with economic improvement of the nation. The government and local authorities should still be responsible for infrastructure development whereas private investors encouraged to develop rental housing targeting the low-income groups and on land designated for such purpose by the government. Market forces should be allowed to determine rent levels.
Preconditions for housing consolidation : towards a suitable package of support for incremental housing in South Africa : a case study of eThekweni municipality.
(2008) Adebayo, Pauline Wambui.; Kahn, Michael.; Awuor-Hayangah, Rosemary.
This thesis set out to examine the application of the supporter paradigm in the incremental housing process in South Africa, and the way support for housing consolidation has been orchestrated in practice. It aimed to determine the forms of housing support that constitute preconditions of housing consolidation in the South African low income housing context. The supporter paradigm upon which post-apartheid housing policy is based takes its cue from the proponents of self-help housing, and the institutions that have entrenched it internationally. It outlines the housing support actions that would enable poor households to achieve housing adequacy incrementally . In South Africa, such households would constitute housing subsidy beneficiaries, seeking to achieve housing 'depth' through the process of housing consolidation, where the national subsidy programme would primarily only have delivered housing 'width' , or housing starts. Contrary to the expectations of the policy, the pace of housing consolidation has been slow, and the standard of the resultant housing poor. The thesis ' point of departure is that households which have not improved their dwellings, or whose improvement efforts have only yielded temporary housing, continue to experience housing inadequacy, despite subsidy support. This outcome contradicts the policy 's goal of enabling households to reach housing adequacy. That subsidy support is but one of a number of supports needed to enable housing consolidation is acknowledged by current policy. This study critiques the way support has been lent to households in consolidating situations conceptually and empirically. Conceptually, the study analyses the international and South African policy discourse around the support approach to housing delivery, as well as looks at some precedents in housing support practice internationally for useful lessons. Empirically, the study makes use of qualitative and quantitative research instruments to examine and analyse the housing support experience in three different types of incremental housing projects, located in eThekwini municipality, in the KwaZulu Natal Province of South Africa . The housing support findings are analysed within the context of what both the housing policy and the study 's key informants consider to be a holistic packaging of housing support, that should be attendant to any incremental housing project. On the basis of the study's findings, housing support practice is critiqued on two levels. At policy level, the study reveals that the foundation of South African housing policy in a neoliberal context, in the absence of support targeted at improving the incomes of the mainly very poor beneficiaries, sets them up for failure in their housing improvement efforts. At the implementation level, the study identifies three key areas of weakness. Firstly, there is absence of strategic direction at the National level, resulting in the treatment of housing support as an optional function by the housing implementation levels. Secondly, most housing authorities experience difficulty in understanding what housing support entails, because of its multifaceted nature and lack of specificity . Consequently, the support attendant to incremental housing projects is ad hoc and intermittent in nature, and is delivered on the basis of how the particular authorities or project staff understand housing support. As a result, in any given project, housing support is rarely comprehensively packaged. It is also largely an unfunded mandate. Thirdly, at project level, the thesis establishes that many of the problems that confront consolidating households can be attributed to projects that are poorly planned from the outset, and that support in this regard lies in the development of capacity at municipal level, to plan projects that have the potential to be consolidated in the first instance. As its main contribution, the thesis develops a multidimensional, comprehensive framework for packaging housing support. One dimension specifies upfront, the support elements considered important in the pre- and post-subsidy phases of the project, as well as in the project implementation phase. The exact form these would take in any project would be informed by the project and beneficiary characteristics. The second dimension packages the institutional roles for housing support, thereby removing the institutional ambivalence towards the housing support function, and specifying the institutional and role changes needed to enable housing support to occur. The third dimension packages support according to project type, indicating which forms of support apply to all types of projects, and which to specific modes of delivery in the South African context. The study concludes that while current housing policy is clear on the need to support households to meet consolidation goals, specificity of both process and actions needs to be lent to housing support practice. The multidimensional support package developed by the study is deemed a useful tool in providing such specificity, and clarifying how support for housing consolidation in South Africa should be set up in both policy and practice.
A contemporary assessment of the genesis of the modern aesthetic : the impact of modern art on modern architecture.
(1999) Joubert, Ora.; Peters, Walter Hermann.; Radford, Dennis John Charles.
This dissertation assesses the impact of modem art on the so-called heroic period of modem architecture, dated for the purposes ofthis thesis from 1917 to 1933. The study is premised on two principal arguments: firstly, modem art - Cubism, in particular - was the seminal influence on the codification of a modem architectural vocabulary. Secondly, the increasing preoccupation with utilitarian tenets obscured and ultimately undermined the semantic significance ofmodem architecture that was derived from the visual arts. A general introduction to the tumultuous history of 20th century architecture substantiates these presuppositions and contextualizes the current interest in the aesthetic intent of the pioneering Modernists. For the sake of reviewing the genesis of the modem aesthetic, the classical ideal of beauty is briefly reflected upon. This is followed by a review of the alternating depiction of pictorial depth and its extraordinary symbiotic relationship with the expression ofplastic space. The cubist-induced perception and experience of space is preceded by the catalytic role of the mechanization ofvision on the rejection ofthe classical canons of beauty. An in-depth analysis of Cubism, coupled with its derivatives that spawned architectural equivalents, reinforces the volumetric incarnation of modem art, exemplified by Purism, Constructivism and Neo-Plasticism. This study is concluded with an assessment of the adopted prerruses and a reflection on the longer-term objectives of this study.
Changing roles of women in housing processes and construction : the case of Lobatse Township, Botswana.
(2005) Kalabamu, Faustin Tirwirukwa.; Adebayo, Ambrose Adeyemi.
This thesis explores variations and shifts in gender roles in housing delivery and the construction. Although presently excluded from construction activities, women have in the past constituted substantial proportions of builders in many countries worldwide. In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, for example, women have traditionally been responsible for building house. However, recent studies and reports indicate that women in Botswana and other countries in the region are grossly underrepresented in construction activities. The few women currently employed in the construction industry work mostly as labourers. Boserup and other scholars have attributed the gendered division of labour to economic development, technological changes, patriarchy, capitalism colonialism or modernisation Based on qualitative and quantitative studies undertaken in the township of Lobatse, Botswana, and adopting a pluralistic and holistic approach, I however posit that gender roles and relations are outcomes of negotiation and normalisation processes through which men and women (as individuals or in groups) use their power and positions in society to access and control resources and services. The outcomes and negotiation processes are themselves conditioned by a web of interacting and intersecting historical, social, economic, political and environmental factors. I further argue that in the context of Botswana, traditional gender roles were shaped by prevailing patriarchal ideologies and institutions, the country's fragile environment, subsistence modes of production, and frequent intertribal wars that characterised the region. However, men's takeover of housing and construction activities that emerged during the colonial period was due to the intersection of Western influences, men's temporary migrations to South Africa, commoditisation of labour and the introduction of the market economy. Women's exclusion from the construction industry has since been entrenched through the atrophication of women's traditional building skills caused by widespread preferences for exogenous building materials and Western style houses. Due to lack of non-traditional building skills, women have been forced to work as labourers in the waged construction industry or as unpaid managers, supervisors and caterers in self-help housing. Robbed of their ability to build houses, women have been obliged to negotiate new gender relationships and strategies for accessing and owning houses.

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