HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION AT UNIVERSITIES OF TECHNOLOGY IN SOUTH
6.1. The transformation of technical institutions of higher education in South Africa
6.1.1. The emergence of universities of technology in South Africa
The changes in legislation, since 2000 offered new opportunities, which led to technikons gradually changing to institutes of technology and then to universities of technology as they presently exist (Du Pre’ from CHE 2010). Universities of technology nowadays aspire to become centres of academic excellence and provide knowledge that is useful to industries. The academic programmes at universities of technology continue to be characterised by having strong partnerships with industry and work-integrated learning continues to form an integral part of most academic programmes. Furthermore, according to Du Pre’ (cited in CHE 2010: 16) universities of technology are research-driven institutions; research is therefore centred on the needs of industry, requiring a strong ethos of technology transfer and innovation. This has very definite implications on the type of research output which, in turn, impacts on the academic and pedagogic character of universities of technology.
In an interview with Professor Ahmed Bawa (ANNEXURE M), member of Higher Education South Africa (HESA), the distinguishing characteristics of universities of technology were determined as:
The strong engagement with context, which is defined as the physical context, infrastructural context, industry, communities, local government and national government.
The situation of ‘knowledge projects’ in context, which refers to community-based projects, defined by empirical research based on the ‘cultural knowledge’ of societies, through active engagement, which integrates the formal with existential knowledge. The result of this being high-level research output for the benefit of the local and global society.
Universities of technology, therefore, form a dynamic interface with industry and society through engaged pedagogies. In this regard, the role of design has an important purpose in spatial transformation of the built environment (Bawa 2014).
Geoff Scott (cited in CHE 2005:52) outlines the unique and distinctive characteristics of universities of technology based on the Australian experience. Scott clarifies the meaning of the word “technology” as the systematic treatment of an art or craft, which should have practical value or industrial use and that includes the skills and techniques of a particular civilisation, group or
156 | P a g e period (Scott in CHE 2005:54). This reference to technology having both utilitarian value as well as cultural value is particularly important to this research. This relation of technology to art, craft and culture could be paralleled with the pre-17th century mode of architectural training and practice, which was in the hands of master-builders and master-craftsmen; a significant departure from the general “modernist” understanding of technology, which focuses predominantly on product and mass production, largely devoid of cultural value.
Based on the understanding of technology as both a utilitarian and cultural asset, Scott (cited in CHE 2005:54) highlights the distinctive features of a university of technology as:
Focus on applied research through industry partnerships towards social good and societal development agendas such as solutions to HIV and Aids, water shortage and sustainability.
Research into the differential social impact and consequences of new technologies.
The creation, dissemination and commercialisation of technologies relevant to national imperatives.
The productive use of a range of technologies to the benefit of all.
The emphasis on social good, societal development and the differential impact of new technologies is particularly relevant to the developing world. The application of research and knowledge to the benefit of society emerges as a strong principle defining the objectives of universities of technology. Furthermore, research at universities of technology has a similar inclination towards application to the benefit of society. Knowledge production is hence also contextualised to respond to the realities and challenges facing society. The reference to national imperatives places a certain ethical responsibility on universities of technology to respond to the complex socio-economic challenges facing many societies, especially in the developing world.
It is argued that the impact and consequences of technology, implicitly, influences the extent of ethical and socially responsive practise. While the traditional universities also aspire to similar outcomes, Scott stresses practice-oriented research as a distinctive feature of universities of technology which is defined by strong links between academia and practice/industry or a theory- practice link. As a result of the historically strong links with industry, universities of technology inevitably developed strong partnerships with communities; community engagement thereby became another strong defining feature of these institutions.
157 | P a g e Given the above discussions, the distinction between forms of university, traditional versus university of technology, is not as important as the interrogation of the broader criticism of architectural education and its disconnection from society. Reference to Chapter 4 is apt, which highlighted the distinctions in architectural education between technical universities in Europe and the USA. However, the British system in which polytechnics transformed into universities, is a valuable precedent as these institutions continued to maintain and develop their identities based on strong connection to the societal context and industry.
The above background leads to the position of this dissertation that universities of technology are better placed to offer professional education in architecture, due to their historically strong connection with society and industry. These institutions have also been identified as offering wider access to communities that could not access the traditional universities, which has characterised them as more reflective of the diversities and complexities of the social context. Universities of technology in South Africa have to forefront the theory-practice-society link as a very strong defining and distinguishing feature of value, while acknowledging their inherent cultural and social diversity which they have built over time as the features that differentiates them from the traditional universities
The following section outlines the evolution of architectural technology programmes that are all offered at either universities of technology or comprehensive universities. Universities of technology evolved from technikons and comprehensive universities emerged from the merger of technikons and universities. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the historic status of the various programmes as well as to determine the particular inclinations or foci of the different architectural progammes, as case studies.
158 | P a g e