Thafalofefe

Lastweek thursday, I went to a hospital called Thafalofefe which is in the rurals past Butterworth. Me and the architect I work with on this project were appalled at what we saw. The condition of the hospital was in such a bad state. We went there to do some measured drawings of the TB ward in order to be able to draw up the as built for renovation purposes. After the two hour drive over beautiful hills and valleys we arrived and upon our arrival recieved masks for protection.

Me and my colleague measured the whole ward and had to keep on reassuring the staff that the condition of the hospital would be improved as they could not believe how fortunate they were. This experience made me so aware of the environment. There are so many hospitals in the outskirts of a town which have absolutely nobody who checks for constant maintenance. These type of facilities need to be constantly cared for in terms of maintenance since the health of people is dealt with. They need to encourage the recuperation of patients and not for their deterioration. The toilets had no doors, the frames were decaying and rotting, the kitchen counters looked like they came from and were installed in the 1900's and the windows had no curtains but sheets covering them as if to block a bit of sunlight. My heart went out to those patients who had to spend nights sleeping and waking up to such circumstances. My job was to measure and capture each and every fault in order for it to be recognised and fixed and I must say, I have never been so passionate and eager to take pictures in my whole life!

I drew up the as built and now I am drawing up a renovation schedule which will go to the Quantity surveyors as of wednesday of this week. After I am done with this hospital, I am going to go to the next hospital which will need renovation of its own too. Till then, its goodbye for now!

Till next time
//Yoli//

Some pictures witnessing the hospital's state

St Michaels Project

I cannot believe how fast the design-build project went! If I was given two words to describe the experience, they would be FUN and ENRICHING! By the time the project ended,it had already sunk in thesytem and order of things in my daily life. The impact the whole exprience has had on me has been immense in such a way that, my mates grew on me,seeing their smiling faces everyday and the willingness to help towards giving the children a way towards the opportunity of adding a better learning environment became the norm of everyday and by the time the whole project ended,a feeling of sadness grew on all of us since we had nothing to look forward to anymore. Nevertheless, the joy we felt at seeing the happy faces carried by the school chiklren and the staff members was an emotionally moving moment when they also sang a song they had prepared for us.

To be continued...

Till next time
//Yoli//

Being home!

Ok so I have arrived in Cape town. So far I an not impressed with the my arrival, getting delayed in Bellville's taxi services. Getting into an argument with the taxi driver...not cool...and then I meet an old friend which atleast made everything better. Now I have to get ready and prepped up for Monday's test and submissions.

Till next time
//Yoli//

sponsorship

Sponsors
I am currently going crazy with finding as many sponsors as I can for the design-build project we are to embark in during November. After sending out countless emails to what would be potential sponsors, today a rep from Floorworx was  in the office and after demonstrating and presenting some flooring to us, I approached her and let her know about the project. She showed so much interest and reffered me to the Floorworx Western Cape regional manager. I tried to get hold of him and hopefully, something positive will come out of it. The rep also offered me a personal invitation to the Floorworx factory to see how laminate timber and engineered timber flooring is made (thanx to her, I now know the difference between the two, including advantages and price range per square metre of the two). I cannot wait!

Its kind of sad that I'm reaching the last couple of months of internship, but I could not be more excited for the St Peters project. We are going to learn sooo much. In reference to the beginning of  my MIP essay, the benefits are immeasurable. It would have been great to sleep at the site thouGH and have even more time to bond. Anyways, the project is the main focus and with the way that we are involved in, it will all prove to be the biggest success
Tilol next time

//Yoli//

BLOCK 2

BLOCK 2 was so refreshing and proved as enriching as I intended it to be. The presentations were quite interesting and it was great to see how the other students encapsulated their idea of how they'd like their hub design to be. The guest speakers were brilliant and never ceased to encourage us towards sustainable living...from Karin Strom telling us about how this new way of building is being incorporated into the SANS 204 Regulations to Andrew sharing such a refreshing insight into the more personal side of his life(What a philosopher!) I really enjoyed his talk to us as he connected so much with the audience. Karin Strom mentioneed SA's electricity crisis in 2005 sparked further interest to sustainable living, which made me think back to what my lecturer, Mrs Morkel had said about this current way of living phasing out and green architecture taking the new place...little by little circumstances are causing people to see Green as the new alternative way of sustaining the future. Society is still stuck on Modernism though, and doesn't want to let go, but sadly, they're fighting a losing battle. As much as it will take immeasurable sacrifices and convert the state of mind of many, I strongly believe green and good design will dominate the world by the time me and my class mates are qualified.

As if that was not enough, we were fed with more brainfood and an interesting practical was carried out by Peter Mckintosh on building with adobe...It was like an interesting CTD lecture. All in all, great thanx goes towards my two lecturers for organising this enriching programme for us. Although the last day didnt go quit as planned because of the weather, seeing each other and sharing our work experiences was priceless.

Peter Mckintosh's prac

 

 

and voila...ADOBE WALL

*the brick and mortar are made using the same things i.e: sand and water..to add a bit of tensile strength to the brick, hay is added

TILL NEXT TIME,

//YOLI//

August block!

I cannot wait to see my mates its been too long! Although it has only been two days since i last saw my colleagues, it feels like I've been gone too long, my everyday routine of waking up so early every morning  and catching two taxis, trying to avoid traffic kind of seems far fetched now that I'm back in the Cape.I miss work already. I have been so busy at work these last couple of weeks nearing the block, but I tried patching up some schoolwork and squeezing in some reading too. As much as I am excited, I am anxious to see how the programme will turn out and I could only hope and pray that it will be enriching and refresh our minds just like the 1st block we had.