In the context of global warming, poverty and inequality, informal settlements in the Global Sout... more In the context of global warming, poverty and inequality, informal settlements in the Global South present a unique challenge. Transforming informal settlements into just and sustainable neighbourhoods involves working with many dynamic parts in and interactive consequences in multi-stakeholder processes. Water interlinks formal and informal areas, cities and their hinterlands. The omnipresence of water highlights the bidirectional coupling of the humans and nature. This paper presents a Water Sensitive Design approach for informal settlement upgrading through which diverse actors can get to see beyond their differences so as to plan and work for people-centred neighbourhoods in which livelihoods are enhanced and nature protected. An ecodistricts framework is used to illustrate a set of evidence-based upgrading priorities and objectives. And, drawing from the right-based approach of South, a set of five steps for transitioning from aspirational objectives to on-the-ground implementation is highlighted.
This is an online guide to the UCT Ethics in Research application. It includes the relevant forms... more This is an online guide to the UCT Ethics in Research application. It includes the relevant forms and documents, a step-by-step guide and some examples of successful applications and their consent approaches. It is based on the Engineering and Built Environment (EBE) Faculty process. Initially designed for staff and students, primarily in the UCT School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, this resource can also be useful for others in Engineering and Architectural studies who are looking to develop their awareness of ethics
An interactive educational product exploring Fagan's understanding of combining design and te... more An interactive educational product exploring Fagan's understanding of combining design and technology into a single, non-linear, diverse and interesting problem-solving methodology
Winter, which lasts from the beginning of June to the end of August, may see large cold fronts en... more Winter, which lasts from the beginning of June to the end of August, may see large cold fronts entering for limited periods from the Atlantic Ocean with significant precipitation and strong north-westerly winds. Winter months in the city average a maximum of18.0 °C and minimum of 8.5 °C. The total annual rainfall in the city averages 515 millimeters. Summer, which lasts from early November to March, is warm and dry with an average maximum of 26.0 °C and minimum of 16.0 °C. The region can get uncomfortably hot when the Berg Wind blows from the Karoo interior for a couple of weeks in February or early March. Late spring and early summer may sometimes feature a strong wind from the southeast. The psychometric chart shows the comfort zones in relation to temperature (x-axis) and humidity(yaxis).The psychometric chart shows the comfortable relationship between temperature and humidity.
The underpinning pedagogical idea is that architectural technology is part of this hierarchical f... more The underpinning pedagogical idea is that architectural technology is part of this hierarchical framework: conceptualising (architectural concept)-structuring (structural system)-placement and layering (components)-detailing (connections). The projects presented here demonstrate that in this framework, students can acquire competencies that enable them to inextricably interlink architectural technology to the entire building and its spatial-aesthetics
This is a study by a 2nd year architectural student in applied passive design with a focus on lig... more This is a study by a 2nd year architectural student in applied passive design with a focus on lighting and shade, containing a large number of site illustrations and photographs. This resource is useful for focusing on light and shade in an urban design context. It is part of the Passive building design series
SoftArch is a developed for evaluating building sustainability on social, economic and environmen... more SoftArch is a developed for evaluating building sustainability on social, economic and environmental aspects in developing country contexts. This tool is an interactive simulation that evaluates the environmental, economic and social impact of different building models
International Journal of Environmental Science & Sustainable Development
Water begets intricate and profound linkages between multiple systems. Quantitative limits to fre... more Water begets intricate and profound linkages between multiple systems. Quantitative limits to freshwater availability for human needs, variabilities in the water cycle and environmental water requirements interact with water source pollution. The arising tensions are a great challenge of immense contemporary significance that can best be described as a wicked problem – a problem with multiple dimensions that presents unexpected consequences when engaged. Water challenges make vivid the compromises that must be made between the environment and development. These compromises surface in the conflict between ecocentric and technocentric discourse. Globally, there is evidence of numerous disciplinary and interdisciplinary water-related studies both in the past and ongoing. But there is no meta-mapping of various dimensions of such research to give a clear overview of what has been and what needs to be done. Consequences of this oversight may include unnecessary duplication of research, d...
International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR
The focus of this paper is participatory design (PD); a field that has been in existence since th... more The focus of this paper is participatory design (PD); a field that has been in existence since the 1960s. Reflections on a PD project in which the author played a central role revealed that existing literature does not engage adequately with intersubjective decision-making in PD processes. In this paper, appropriation and re-imagination of the Nordic framework for performance-based standards results in a novel multidimensional schema with five mutually related steps. Analysis indicates that the schema has a capacity for enhancing intersubjectivity in PD decision-making while also rendering the process more malleable to multiple viewpoints and their fusion into progressively definitive shared outcomes. In the conclusions, prospects for projective and reflective application of the schema explore its transformative capacity for professional and lay participants and its potential role in engendering critical design pedagogy.
Non-technical summary There are significant challenges to retaining indigenous biodiversity and e... more Non-technical summary There are significant challenges to retaining indigenous biodiversity and ecological infrastructure in African cities. These include a lack of formal protection and status for remnant ecologically functional patches rendering them open to ad hoc human settlement, which is in part linked to weak governance and management emerging from complex histories, and competing crisis-ridden demands. Persistent gaps in knowledge and practice mean that the social, economic, development and well-being benefits of ecological infrastructure are not understood or demonstrated. Addressing these challenges requires the adoption of multiple top-down government interventions and bottom-up community and neighbourhood actions. The development of detailed case studies that engage with knowledge generation and sharing at multiple scales through co-learning practices will also help create a much-needed deeper understanding of development options within this context.
In the context of global warming, poverty and inequality, informal settlements in the Global Sout... more In the context of global warming, poverty and inequality, informal settlements in the Global South present a unique challenge. Transforming informal settlements into just and sustainable neighbourhoods involves working with many dynamic parts in and interactive consequences in multi-stakeholder processes. Water interlinks formal and informal areas, cities and their hinterlands. The omnipresence of water highlights the bidirectional coupling of the humans and nature. This paper presents a Water Sensitive Design approach for informal settlement upgrading through which diverse actors can get to see beyond their differences so as to plan and work for people-centred neighbourhoods in which livelihoods are enhanced and nature protected. An ecodistricts framework is used to illustrate a set of evidence-based upgrading priorities and objectives. And, drawing from the right-based approach of South, a set of five steps for transitioning from aspirational objectives to on-the-ground implementation is highlighted.
This is an online guide to the UCT Ethics in Research application. It includes the relevant forms... more This is an online guide to the UCT Ethics in Research application. It includes the relevant forms and documents, a step-by-step guide and some examples of successful applications and their consent approaches. It is based on the Engineering and Built Environment (EBE) Faculty process. Initially designed for staff and students, primarily in the UCT School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, this resource can also be useful for others in Engineering and Architectural studies who are looking to develop their awareness of ethics
An interactive educational product exploring Fagan's understanding of combining design and te... more An interactive educational product exploring Fagan's understanding of combining design and technology into a single, non-linear, diverse and interesting problem-solving methodology
Winter, which lasts from the beginning of June to the end of August, may see large cold fronts en... more Winter, which lasts from the beginning of June to the end of August, may see large cold fronts entering for limited periods from the Atlantic Ocean with significant precipitation and strong north-westerly winds. Winter months in the city average a maximum of18.0 °C and minimum of 8.5 °C. The total annual rainfall in the city averages 515 millimeters. Summer, which lasts from early November to March, is warm and dry with an average maximum of 26.0 °C and minimum of 16.0 °C. The region can get uncomfortably hot when the Berg Wind blows from the Karoo interior for a couple of weeks in February or early March. Late spring and early summer may sometimes feature a strong wind from the southeast. The psychometric chart shows the comfort zones in relation to temperature (x-axis) and humidity(yaxis).The psychometric chart shows the comfortable relationship between temperature and humidity.
The underpinning pedagogical idea is that architectural technology is part of this hierarchical f... more The underpinning pedagogical idea is that architectural technology is part of this hierarchical framework: conceptualising (architectural concept)-structuring (structural system)-placement and layering (components)-detailing (connections). The projects presented here demonstrate that in this framework, students can acquire competencies that enable them to inextricably interlink architectural technology to the entire building and its spatial-aesthetics
This is a study by a 2nd year architectural student in applied passive design with a focus on lig... more This is a study by a 2nd year architectural student in applied passive design with a focus on lighting and shade, containing a large number of site illustrations and photographs. This resource is useful for focusing on light and shade in an urban design context. It is part of the Passive building design series
SoftArch is a developed for evaluating building sustainability on social, economic and environmen... more SoftArch is a developed for evaluating building sustainability on social, economic and environmental aspects in developing country contexts. This tool is an interactive simulation that evaluates the environmental, economic and social impact of different building models
International Journal of Environmental Science & Sustainable Development
Water begets intricate and profound linkages between multiple systems. Quantitative limits to fre... more Water begets intricate and profound linkages between multiple systems. Quantitative limits to freshwater availability for human needs, variabilities in the water cycle and environmental water requirements interact with water source pollution. The arising tensions are a great challenge of immense contemporary significance that can best be described as a wicked problem – a problem with multiple dimensions that presents unexpected consequences when engaged. Water challenges make vivid the compromises that must be made between the environment and development. These compromises surface in the conflict between ecocentric and technocentric discourse. Globally, there is evidence of numerous disciplinary and interdisciplinary water-related studies both in the past and ongoing. But there is no meta-mapping of various dimensions of such research to give a clear overview of what has been and what needs to be done. Consequences of this oversight may include unnecessary duplication of research, d...
International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR
The focus of this paper is participatory design (PD); a field that has been in existence since th... more The focus of this paper is participatory design (PD); a field that has been in existence since the 1960s. Reflections on a PD project in which the author played a central role revealed that existing literature does not engage adequately with intersubjective decision-making in PD processes. In this paper, appropriation and re-imagination of the Nordic framework for performance-based standards results in a novel multidimensional schema with five mutually related steps. Analysis indicates that the schema has a capacity for enhancing intersubjectivity in PD decision-making while also rendering the process more malleable to multiple viewpoints and their fusion into progressively definitive shared outcomes. In the conclusions, prospects for projective and reflective application of the schema explore its transformative capacity for professional and lay participants and its potential role in engendering critical design pedagogy.
Non-technical summary There are significant challenges to retaining indigenous biodiversity and e... more Non-technical summary There are significant challenges to retaining indigenous biodiversity and ecological infrastructure in African cities. These include a lack of formal protection and status for remnant ecologically functional patches rendering them open to ad hoc human settlement, which is in part linked to weak governance and management emerging from complex histories, and competing crisis-ridden demands. Persistent gaps in knowledge and practice mean that the social, economic, development and well-being benefits of ecological infrastructure are not understood or demonstrated. Addressing these challenges requires the adoption of multiple top-down government interventions and bottom-up community and neighbourhood actions. The development of detailed case studies that engage with knowledge generation and sharing at multiple scales through co-learning practices will also help create a much-needed deeper understanding of development options within this context.
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