NICOLA VOLLMER UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE
Entitled ‘ The Last Sacrifice ’, Vollmer ’ s project is an investigation of the complexity of the Hindu religion and its beliefs towards death and our existence on earth and beyond . It is a project that explores the themes of time , cycle and ritual embodied within the Hindu religion in order to influence the creation of a contemporary cremation infrastructure . The lack of available burial ground in South Africa emphasises the need for alternative burial methods . Due to Vollner ’ s personal interest in the Hindu religion , she opted to
focus her thesis on Hindu cremation traditions so as to encourage the public to consider cremation as a meaningful and honourable burial method .
Vollmer was inspired when she noticed that architecture has the ability to directly influence the way individuals interpret and respond to their surroundings . “ It made me realise that design has a greater influence on human behaviour than purely aesthetic values . The greater meaning of architecture is what triggered my initial interest in this field .”
Student Awards 81