Without Origin

A Gallery of Simulacrum

Thembalihle Basi

BArch Hons 2021

Supervisors:
Unit Leader: Naadira Patel
Unit Leader: Sarah de Villiers
Unit Assistant: Nothando Lunga

UNIT 18^︎︎︎
Hyperreal Prototypes: Supersurfaces

This MDP is centred on ideas of identity, imitation and mimicry in architecture and the transition from an original to a copy. I make reference to Jean Bauldrillard’s Simulacra and Simulations and to Rem Koolhaas’s Junkspace in the explorations of the relationship between original and copy and how they operate in society. My work focused on Montecasino as the final site and moving forward, I will look at the bigger picture by drawing links between the various forms of simulation in Johannesburg throughout history and up to today. After revealing the elements of illusion and how much the spaces we occupy draw from each other, I pose a question: is the original still relevant with all the tools we have to replicate and change the meaning of something? My work encourages dual perspective and a shifting of the frame. These methodologies allowed me to superimpose what is read when we look from a superficial level, what is read when we see beneath the surface and the contrasts between the two.

Keywords:
Identity, Mask, Imitation, Mimicry, Simulacra, Exhibition, Illusion

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