Information and architecture : the synthesis of information and architecture in KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

The changing nature of society has caused existing methods of knowledge dissemination to become ineffective, and even the types of information and knowledge required by people has changed. Therefore, through the study of the needs of today's society in regard to knowledge and information, and the study of existing systems of its transmission, an appropriate method for dissemination in today's environment will emerge and inform the manifestation of this in the built form. This study aims to discover how architecture needs to respond to society's requirements, in an age dependant on information. Therefore, the research explores the definitions of information and the systems presently employed for collection, storage and dissemination. It is an important element of society that affects individuals and the state. Information's relationship to the built environment and the importance of appropriate architectural expressionis established in response to the study and is applied to the local context of KwaZulu-Natal.