Landmarks of Orientation

Navigating the City

Muhammad Moola

BArch Hons 2022

Supervisors:
Unit Leader: Jiaxin Yan Gong
Unit Assistant: Ruth Manda
Unit Assistant: Thandeka Mnguni

UNIT 14
Rogue Roots: Magic of Port and Passage

Awards
Critical Practice Prize

This body of work questions the significance of horizons and landmarks in navigating a city. Over the course of the year, various horizon patterns of cities around the world were analysed and landmarks from each of these patterns were identified. This process was recorded using a combination of visual mediums ranging from collage, photography, and digital drawings in which different city horizons were captured and with reference to Kevin Lynch’s “Image of the City”. Following this, the focus of shifted to Johannesburg to question the ways in which we navigate the city in a future where landmarks and horizons become indistinguishable such as those in Japan or New York. By referring to “Learning from Las Vegas” a number of conditions were highlighted as navigational tools for a city. This work is sited in Beyers Naude Square which has historically always been central to the growth of Johannesburg, mirroring its peaks and troughs. Despite its owners, its laws and rules changing over the years, the site was never demolished and remains at the heart of the city surrounded by key institutional buildings. By identifying children as key users of site, my proposition aims to explore Johannesburg’s landmarks through the perspective of the child. By doing so, this project reconceptualises Beyers Naude Square as the compass to the city by recreating Johannesburg’s landmarks through the lens of the child.

Keywords:
Landmarks, Horizons, Navigation, Disorder, Visual Perception, Spatial Landmark