2012 Innovative ETD Award
Master of Architecture
University of Pretoria, South Africa
In his Master’s thesis, Clifford Gouws focuses on architecture’s potential to adapt according to the passage of time, through the process of aging and weathering. The project questions current approach to heritage design, in particular the conventional museum and memorial typologies are investigated. The unexplained explosion in 1945 (and subsequent preservation) of the Central Magazine Building on Magazine Hill (in the military precinct of Pretoria) forms the basis of the investigation. The candidate investigates a site that is trapped in time. The proposed a new brass foundry will recycle spent ammunition shells. In the words of Gouws; [w]here ammunition was once produced, ammunition is now reduced to brass artworks and utilitarian products. This multimedia thesis portfolio contains separate PDF chapters with specialized architectural-sized renderings as well as unique and stunning visual presentations.
The thesis culminates in the production of a short film (posted on YouTube) where concept is explored three-dimensionally:
Thesis: Magazine Hill: a Weathered Continuum
