TD: 2015 Volume 11 No 2
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/15848
2024-03-28T19:26:33ZMultiple, connective intellection: the condition for invention
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/16433
Multiple, connective intellection: the condition for invention
De Beer, C S
Since this article involves invention, the conditions for inventiveness become the issue:
assuming multiple reality; thinking in a special way; transgressing boundaries;
acknowledging networks (in the terms of Michel Serres: communication, transduction,
interference, distribution, passages between the sciences. There are, however, misplaced
expectations: technology should work wonders in this regard while forgetting that
humans, redefined though, remain the key to establish connections and networks
between people, paradigms, disciplines, sciences and technologies.
Against this background, Michel Serres’s emphasis on invention and “thinking as
invention” and his a-critical anti-method – ‘connective, multiple intellection’ which is a
special kind of thought – are desperately needed.
Guattari’s articulation of the three ecologies and the ecosophic views he developed in
this regard provides a significant amplification of the approach of ‘multiple connective
intellection’. These insights can be enlightened and strongly driven home through the
views of Latour with an anthropological and socio-dynamic perspective on the scientific
endeavour with the articulation of the actor-network theory inherited from Serres. The
thoughtful beyond-methodology of Edgar Morin with his strong noological position as
the ultimate condition for inventiveness, and Gregory Ulmer with his special emphasis
on invention and inventiveness, especially with the help and assistance of electronic
means (video and internet), and with his work with the architect Bernard Tschumi on
invention and inventiveness, are of special significance in the sphere of inventiveness, the
real and final guarantee for a spirited re-enchantment of the world as well as the final
demonstration that the battle for intelligence as opposed to ignorance, stupidity and
barbarism can be fought with great hope to succeed.
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZThe ‘long now’ of southern African water: exploring aspects of enchantment and disenchantment in Brandfort
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/16432
The ‘long now’ of southern African water: exploring aspects of enchantment and disenchantment in Brandfort
Tempelhoff, Johann
Strategies aimed at understanding contemporary South African water supply and sanitation problems require a broad view of factors such as migration, urbanisation and climate change. Working from a case study of the water supply of the town of Brandfort in the Free State Province of South Africa, attention is given to its contemporary water crisis; the origins of the town in the nineteenth century; a view of the deep time of the region; and suggestions for gaining understanding of the town's contemporary social ecological history in terms of the dynamics of its local water supplies.
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZAn exploration of place: Towards an understanding of spatial character
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/16431
An exploration of place: Towards an understanding of spatial character
De Klerk, Sunica
Architecture and its influences on our daily life form the premise of the study. Every
space has a character which is defined by the type of human engagement it solicits.
Spaces have varying characters and the suitability of their use depends on whether they
are experienced as enchanting or disenchanting. Hermeneutic phenomenology, which
emphasise the importance of context when the experience of a phenomenon is
considered, guides the investigation. Since the 1970’s various architects have absorbed
the hermeneutic phenomenology into their writings and work. Those referred to during
the course of this paper include Christian Norberg-Schultz, Steven Holl, Peter Zumthor,
Ziona Strelitz, Nabeel Hamdi and Juhani Pallasmaa.
Christian Norberg-Schultz translated hermeneutic phenomenology into architecture in
his theory defining the Sense of Place. This theory delineates that there are two spatial
qualities influencing the experience of an environment, namely, ‘space’ and ‘character’.
These qualities are interdependent and are therefore explored independently prior to
their exploration as a singular whole.
An interdependent eco-system defining the relationship between the Context, User and
Built Fabric is proposed within this paper. Observation and in-depth knowledge in all
three areas is required for the creation of enchanted environments. If this system falls out
of equilibrium, disenchanted environments develop. Enchanting environments engage
their users and benefit the community and individuals alike. Disenchanted environments
do not support their users, rendering their experience of architecture sombre and austere.
The necessity of experiencing the world as a place, and not as a space, is a central theme
throughout the paper.
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZThe House of the LORD ... the house of man
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/16430
The House of the LORD ... the house of man
Pauw, J C
The idea of cult centralisation in ancient Israel is investigated as a form of
disenchantment. The Temple in Jerusalem can now be styled The House of the LORD
and the countryside ought to be bereft of holy places and holy objects. However, the
LORD did not stay in his “House”. Was this the start of a global process of
disenchantment reaching its culmination in modernity? The question is posed whether
the world could still be the enchanted house of man now that the LORD is absent. The
article suggests that science associated with the Torah of nature can still discover an
enchanted world.
2015-01-01T00:00:00Z