DEAN SMUTS TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Se ( cure ) ing boys to men : The design of a contemporary rites of passage tailoring facility for at-risk ‘ boys in the Pretoria CBD ’
This project focuses on at-risk boys and emphasises the importance of a guided and tailored transition from boyhood to manhood . The project addresses the lack of institutional structures for at-risk boys and recommends a tailoring facility in the Pretoria CBD as a solution . Theories defining rites of passage and liminality were developed to present an appropriate architectural typology tailored for at-risk boys transitioning from boyhood to manhood .
The architectural intervention includes tailoring the architecture to tailor the at-risk boy which , in turn , will result in the tailored man . The objective of the proposed design is to provide a structural and functional facility that facilitates the rites of passage or transitioning process from boyhood to manhood by implementing the artisanal methods of teaching the art of tailoring .
The personal experience of observing a family member becoming a mentor to an eight-year-old at-risk boy during the 2020 Covid-19 hard lockdown informed the project ’ s context and brought about an awareness of the existence of at-risk boys in society . “ I became a first-hand witness of a neglected but legitimate societal problem ,” says Dean . In addition , she became interest in the exploration of tailoring
72 Student Awards