Towards a relevant architecture : an international rowing and canoeing regatta centre for KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
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Date
2010
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Abstract
2008 was a year which highlighted how far South
Africa has fallen behind the rest of the world in the
international Olympic sporting arena. High hopes for
the Olympic Games in Beijing ended in a lower-than expected
medal tally that sparked great debate in South
African society. The reasons for this phenomenon are
numerous and complex and it is not the intention of this
dissertation to investigate all these concerns. However,
what is of an architectural concern is the inadequate
and often sub-standard sporting facilities which athletes
in South Africa, in non-mainstream sporting codes, have
to contend with.
The challenge for architects in this regard is to design
buildings for these sports, that are both adequate and
of a suitable standard, while remaining relevant to their
context. This to promote professionalism and inspire
athletes to succeed through the creation of high quality,
world-class facilities for competition, training and
preparation.
Rowing, canoeing and kayaking are highly competitive
and technologically advanced Olympic sports. Many
South African athletes compete in these disciplines and
have enjoyed limited international success. Unfortunately,
as there are currently no international regatta centres
in Southern Africa, these same athletes have to travel
abroad to compete and train at such facilities. South
African athletes and the sports of rowing, canoeing and
kayaking would thus benefit greatly from having access
to locally based regatta facilities.
KwaZulu-Natal has a proud sporting heritage and
is synonymous with water sports as a result of its
favourable climate and geographic location. This coupled
with various other established sporting infrastructure,
makes it the ideal Province for hosting major sporting
events. Both Durban as a city and KwaZulu-Natal
as a Province, have an impressive track record for
hosting large sporting events. The Province has future
aspirations of hosting major sporting events including
the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics Games,
with Durban soon hoping to be bidding to host the 2020
Summer Olympics. To host such events will require the
design of many specialised sporting facilities for the city
and will include the need for an international regatta
centre. In my opinion, the best site for such a centre in
KwaZulu-Natal is at Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg.
The requirements for an international regatta centre
are both highly technical and very specific as set out by
the respective world sporting governing bodies. These
requirements need to be strictly adhered to in order for
the Centre to be considered to be of an internationalstandard.
The challenge will be to design architecture
that is functional in achieving these set criteria
while, remaining relevant to the social, economic and
environmental context of its design.
Thus the purpose of this research document is to
determine a relevant architecture for the design of an
International Regatta Centre for KwaZulu-Natal.
Description
Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.
Keywords
Aquatic sports facilities--Designs and plans., Aquatic sports facilities--KwaZulu-Natal--Designs and plans., Theses--Architecture.