High on a hill in the Cape, overlooking Africa ' s most famous mountain, is a rather unusual house...
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The site was quite a challenge because of the steep slope.
House Jouissance – an exercise in sustainable elegance
High on a hill in the Cape, overlooking Africa ' s most famous mountain, is a rather unusual house...
By Kelly-Ann Prinsloo
The French word‘ jouissance’ means physical or intellectual pleasure, delight or ecstasy. It is a specific type of pleasure though – the pleasure lies in the obstacles to fulfilment – but only if that fulfilment is eventually attained, and only if there are obstacles.
Together with‘ thrival’, jouissance takes a different angle on sustainability; the idea that rather than merely sustaining, we need to work towards thriving with nature, to restore not only balance, but abundance.
The concept of jouissance also has links to feminism which maintains that jouissance is the source of a woman ' s creative power, which was a tongue-in-cheek bonus for the owner. Another view is that jouissance is a transcendent state that represents freedom from oppressive linearities, a point of view that this house certainly embodies.
One obstacle of sustainable living in an urban environment is what to do with one’ s sanitary waste. The densities in cities means you can’ t simply bury it. The choice of site for bioprocess engineer Bernelle Verster’ s new house was guided by the position and function of the toilet.
This serendipitously led her to a location on the steep slopes of the Muizenberg mountains, overlooking the Zandvlei estuary in Cape Town’ s Lakeside area.
24 APRIL / MAY 2017 //