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" Reconstructing Rituals in Magomeni Public Open Space, Dar es Salaam "
Nqonqoza, Yolisa
Saidi, Finzi
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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1107892
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TLpq2458984688
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| Main Entry
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Nqonqoza, Yolisa
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Saidi, Finzi
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| Title & Author
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Reconstructing Rituals in Magomeni Public Open Space, Dar es Salaam\ Nqonqoza, YolisaSaidi, Finzi
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| College
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University of Johannesburg (South Africa)
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| Date
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2019
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| student score
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2019
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| Degree
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M.Tech.
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| Page No
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94
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| Abstract
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Dar es Salaam has a rich religious heritage of both Christian and Islamic orientation and of indigenous cultures as is evident in the built infrastructure, the dressing of its inhabitants and the calls to prayer that resonated through its skies as the day progresses. By investigating religion and culture through rituals, I propose an architectural intervention to a public space which reconstructs rituals into the landscape by giving opportunity to the expression of various religious and cultural practices. For the purpose of my project, ritual can be defined as a series of actions or behavioural patterns performed by someone or a group of people regularly or according to a prescribed order. The project explores spiritual/cultural place making in the public space of Magomeni located in the Kinondoni Municipality in Dar es Salaam which is surrounded by various religious institutions, a bus-rapid-station, housing and municipal offices. The site acts as a thoroughfare for most of its users as well as a platform for economic opportunity. How does the space transform for its user? The notion of time and temporality establishes a mutualistic relationship amongst the users of the site. These observations create an opportunity for the site to transcend as a secular space, stimulating an organic evolution for individual identities. The Major Design Project aims to subtly underscore the public space as a space where the boundaries of these various religions and cultures are blurred remaining cognisant of the existing 'religion' or rituals of the site. Designing with this in mind is testament to the fluidity of African culture and way of life. What new practices can the site reveal? Winston Churchill explores the understanding of the relationship between place and how our bodies engage it. His "sense of place" extends beyond a building's architectural form and its functional use to include its spatial ambiance as well as the meaning produced when individuals or groups use the building (Arijit Sen, 2014, p. 1). The Major Design Project suggests ways to encourage the role of religion and culture in the community through the experience of the architectural intervention. It intends to reveal the ritualistic narrative of publicness in Dar es Salaam by responding to landscape and public space through architecture. Public space is about accessibility, inclusivity, and freedom of expression. Considering religion as a practice or ritual instead of a belief, the Major Design Project speculates on religious and cultural rituals as a way to manipulate and reveal new methods of public space design through architecture. The objective is not to create a space for religious and cultural rituals but an architectural response that acknowledges both different religious and non-religious rituals that take place cohesively. Through investigating different religious and cultural rituals, the project procures a lens for design solutions that embody harmonious integration and interaction with Magomeni as a site that creates a public landscape that transcends existing public space design debate in Dar es Salaam. Extracting similarities in behavioural patterns of rituals allows the reconstructing of new rituals in the public space and further opens up discussions about the character of public space in contemporary African cities. The project explores how the landscape can be manipulated to encourage cohesive and inclusive use of public space.
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African studies
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Architecture
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Cultural anthropology
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Design
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