Professional Documents
Culture Documents
18
“Architec
CONTENTS
16 > World Architecture Festival honours the
best of the best
3-D
below images directly parallel to your face, but be sure to view it from a distance
an 70cm without zooming in. 2. Be sure to hold your head at a perfect horizontal
ax your eyes and stare at the two black dots below the images. 4.189 > PRECIOSA
Now skew your lighting decorates futuristic
Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi
without changing focus until you see four dots. 5. Keep skewing your eyes until
e dots overlap. 6. Keeping that gaze fixed, raise your eyes to view the 3-D image.
With our database of thousands of professionals and positions from architecture to web design, you’ll discover
just the job to inspire you or the ideal bright spark for your company. Upload your CV or search today and find
all your creative resources in one place. How’s that for an idea? Visit pnet.co.za
11 >
FOREWORD
Frank Lloyd Wright once said that “A great architect which don’t get the publicity that the stadiums
is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he and Gautrain have received. Yet, in this special edi-
is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.” tion of DESIGN>MAGAZINE, we feature several
other recent developments that have just as much
This 18th edition of DESIGN>MAGAZINE is dedicated right for recognition.
to design excellence – specifically in the field of archi-
tecture – and reflects Wright’s belief of designing The wonders and blunders of what you see in this
from the heart rather from the brain. These are also edition is what we have to live with, and we take some
the foundations on which DESIGN>MAGAZINE’s of these under close scrutiny.
media partnerships with the World Architecture
Festival and Architecture.ZA2010 are based . Our challenge is to get the message across to corpo-
rates to take a little more cognisance when planning
It goes without saying that the world has witnessed and commissioning their new headquarters and to
an architectural boom over the past few years. Lead- get the same message across to consumers to ex-
ing up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africans pect more. It’s the consumers that have to look at
particularly experienced this with massive infra- the buildings from the outside all day long, while
structure developments happening in all nine prov- the people working in them don’t get that privilege
inces, and for many it felt like we were living on a and therefore can’t really comment.
massive construction site. Most developments re-
lated to the World Cup were well-publicised and It is pertinent to note that the architects that are
particularly prominent was Boogertman + Partners’ driving ‘good design’ – design that is founded in the
design of Soccer City which was awarded for its archi- heart of society rather than its brain – are also the
tectural brilliance in the Sport Category at the re- architects that are conscious of the brands that
cently held World Architecture Festival (WAF) in they represent, the environment, the users of
Barcelona. structures and the citizens of the spaces where
these are located.
South Africa, like most other countries, is an architec-
tural wonderland of great, good, mediocre, bad and Cameron Bramley, Publisher
‘break that building down’ developments, most of
G re en
THE FUTURE IS MADE OF SAINT-GOBAIN
^
CREDITS
PUBLISHER > CREATIVE DIRECTOR >
Cameron Bramley Jacques Lange
cameron@designmagazine.co.za
DESIGN & LAYOUT >
GROUP EDITOR > Bluprint Design
Jacques Lange
jacquesL@iafrica.com COVER PHOTOGRAPHY >
Leon Krige for BOOGERTMAN + PARTNERS
CONTRIBUTORS >
Lois Aitchison, Craig Atkins, Jennie Fourie, Francois PUBLISHED BY >
Marais, Colleen Petrie, Stacey Rowan, Richard Stone DESIGN>MAGAZINE
T: +27(0) 82 882 8124
SALES TEAM > F: +27 (0) 86 678 8448
Geri Adolphe, François Fassler, Rachel Harper, E: design.arrow.magazine@gmail.com
Chenesai Madzvamuse, Jeff Malan W: www.designmagazine.co.za
Blog: www.designmagazine.co.za/wordpress/
PRODUCTION > Twitter: http://twitter.com/DESIGNarrow
Stacey Rowan, Charl Lamprecht
© 2010 DESIGN>MAGAZINE
ADMINISTRATION & ACCOUNTS > ISSN 1814-7240
Michelle Swart Number 18, November 2010
DISCLAIMER: No material may be reproduced in part or whole without the express permission of the
publisher. No responsibility will be accepted for unsolicited material. The publisher accepts no liability
of whatsoever nature arising out of or in connection with the contents of this publication. The pub-
lisher does not give any warranty as to the completeness or accuracy of its contents. The views and
opinions expressed in DESIGN>MAGAZINE are not necessarily those of the publisher, its endorsers,
sponsors or contributors.
14 >
WORLD
ARCHITECTURE
FESTIVAL
HONOURS
THE BEST
OF THE BEST
By Jacques Lange
17 >
For three days in early November the world’s archi- architects: Peter Rich Architects (Johannesburg) in
tecture aficionados waited in suspense as the 2009 for the Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre
World Architecture Festival (WAF) unhurriedly an- in South Africa; and Irish practice, Grafton Archi-
nounced the 25 category winners of its 2010 awards. tects (Dublin) in 2008 for the Luigi Bocconi Univer-
As in the past two years since the WAF awards’ in- sity, Milan. However, this year they chose MAXXI,
ception, the competition was fierce and the panel National Museum of XXI Century Arts, designed by
of 66 jurors – comprised of architects, allied pro- Zaha Hadid Architects.
fessionals, clients and critics – had the grueling
task of selecting the best of the best from 512 en- The award is well-deserved, since Zaha Hadid
tries and 236 short-listed finalists. (project leader on MAXXI) is one of the most
prominent and innovative living architects in the
Finally, the jury was honed down to a panel of four world. It is not surprising that her surname means
(the super-jury) who had the unadmirable respon- ‘rejoicing’ and ‘sharp’. Testimony to this is that she
sibility of selecting the World Building of the Year became the first female recipient of the Pritzker
award from all the category winners. The 2010 Architecture Prize in 2004 – architecture's equiva-
super-jury comprised of Arata Isozaki, Barry Bergdoll, lent of the Nobel Prize – as well as receiving
Enrique Norten, Hanif Kara and Kathryn Gustafson. around 50 other prestigious awards since 2005.
In the previous two years, the super-juries opted to Hadid has a truly unique way of interpreting space,
award the top accolade to lesser-known international form and light but her true genius comes to the
19 >
fore when she addresses complex and amorphous that an architect had designed for his mother, to a
sites such as that of MAXXI. The WAF jury said that park in Shanghai, to our winner. It strikes us how
MAXXI “is the outcome of a serendipitous mar- quickly good ideas move around the world.”
riage between a complex site, a sympathetic pro-
gramme and the demands of a building type which Other winners of the top five accolades awarded
allows for sculptural interpretive spaces.” by the super-jury were: The Arc (Palestinian Occu-
pied Territory), designed by Suisman Urban Design
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Paul Finch, con- (USA), who won the award for Future Project of
tent director of WAF, said that the judges de- the Year; ANZ Centre, Melbourne, designed by
scribed MAXXI as ‘a volume that takes its place in HASSELL (Australia), who won the award for Inte-
a very happy way in the volume of the city. It is like riors Fit Out of the Year; V&A Medieval & Renais-
an unwound Guggenheim, with ribbons of connec- sance Galleries (London), designed by MUMA
tive space. It is a building that will still be talked (United Kingdom), who won Structural Design of
about in the history of architecture in 50 years the Year; and Robin Bankert, Michael Murphy,
time.” Caroline Shannon and Joseph Wilfong from Uni-
versity of Harvard for the Campus Catalyst Project
Finch continued to also praise the diversity of other (set in Port au Prince, Haiti), who won the AECOM
buildings that were competing for the 2010 World + URBAN SOS Transformations student competition.
Building of the Year award. “We saw a great set of
contrasts in architecture, from an individual house
20 >
2010 CATEGORY WINNERS: The final category winner was City of Justice, located
St Martin-in-the-Fields (Eric Parry Architects), Surry spaces to adapt and absorb the constant transfor-
Hills Library and Community Centre (Francis-Jones mation of the judicial body as well as provide re-
Morehen Thorp), The Supreme Court of New Zealand serve space for future growth.
(Warren and Mahoney), Tripoli Congress Center
(tabanlioglu architects) and Yesil Vadi Mosque (Ad- The site was previously occupied by military bar-
nan Kazmaoglu MAM Architectural Research Center). racks and is located adjacent to both Gran Via, a
major access route into the centre of Barcelona City of Justice, Barcelona, Spain,
from the south, and Carrilet, an artery leading to designed by David Chipperfield Architects.
Photos: Christian Richters.
l’Hospitalet. The position provides optimum acces-
sibility to the city and major metropolitan routes
on both public and private transport. The principal
proposition of the project breaks down the mas-
sive programme into a series of separate but inter- buildings comprise a judicial services building for
related blocks on a public plaza, giving a spatial l’Hospitalet, a forensic sciences building, and two
composition that attempts to break the rigid and commercial buildings with retail facilities at
monolithic image of justice. ground floor.
A group of four large judicial buildings are situated The WAF judges said: “The City of Justice cleverly
around the perimeter of a linking concourse build- uses the urban relationship with the dense con-
ing. They generally contain courtrooms at ground text and urban views from Gran Via axis, combined
floor and a further three floors. All of these floors with the subtlety of the compromise between the
are accessed directly from the concourse building, functional and the formal definition of the com-
which acts as a filter. The concourse building also plex. The volumetric complexity and the composi-
gathers people at the start and completion of their tion of the different buildings in different colours
judicial visit within a central public room, which over- and heights, relate to a unique palette of windows/
looks the exterior plaza. Four other independent voids and façade solutions.”
22 >
a dense texture of interior and exterior spaces The architects explain: “Our proposal offers a quasi-
have been intertwined and superimposed over urban field, a ‘world’ to dive into rather than a build-
one another. It's an intriguing mixture of galleries, ing as a signature object. The campus is organised
irrigating a large urban field with linear display and navigated on the basis of directional drifts
surfaces." and the distribution of densities rather than key
points. This is indicative of the character of the
The entire building has an urban character: prefig- centre as a whole: porous, immersive, a field space.
uring upon a directional route connecting the Riv- An inferred mass is subverted by vectors of circula-
er to Via Guido Reni, MAXXI encompasses both tion. The external as well as internal circulation
movement patterns extant and desired, contained follows the overall drift of the geometry. Vertical
within and outside. This vector defines the primary and oblique circulation elements are located at ar-
entry route into the building. By intertwining the eas of confluence, interference and turbulence.”
circulation with the urban context, the building
shares a public dimension with the city, overlap- The WAF jury found that the Culture Category cre-
ping threadlike paths and open space. In addition ated juxtapositions that were difficult to recon-
to the circulatory relationship, the architectural cile. They concluded: “MAXXI, National Museum of
elements are also geometrically aligned with the XXI Century Arts was found to be a mature work
urban grids that join at the site. In thus, partly de- emerging out of a highly original process.”
riving its orientation and physiognomy from the
context and further assimilates itself to the spe-
cific conditions of the site.
24 >
DISPLAY
woven wicker panels on the exterior façade. The The jury felt the 2010 WAF Display Category was
Pavilion covers 7 624 m2, and is situated on a 6 000 m2 not only about showcasing objects, but more
stand at the Shanghai World Expo Park. about telling stories, and many of the nominees
were more like exquisite small museums. The cat-
The 8 200 differently coloured wicker panels (tinted egory also featured two of the pavilions from the
by boiling) are arranged in a mosaic-like manner to Shanghai World Expo, where architecture itself is
form a series of Chinese characters that makes ref- supposed to tell the story of a country. The judges
erence to natural elements such as ri (sun) and yue said: “The Spanish Pavilion is as much a piece of art
(moon) – two fundamental concepts in oriental as it is architecture. The idea of taking wicker, even
philosophy of how the functioning of the world is not perhaps solely a Spanish material, shows what
reliant upon a duality. Tagliabue incorporated architecture can do when expos like this send ar-
these elements in the poetical reading of the con- chitects off doing the unthinkable. It stands out as
nection between China and Spain, expressing a a building, and a story, that the visitors to the
message of a strong relationship to be had in fu- event will remember. The container of the exhibi-
ture. The symbols are not always visible, but are tion becomes an ephemeral poetic and strongly
conveyed through the brilliance experienced every memorable image of the creativity of Spain. The
moment of the day and the gentle rippling of the connection of the Chinese visitors to the craft of
façade as visitors approach the pavilion. wicker-making encourages a level of simpatico
with Spanish craftspeople of past times.”
26 >
allowing an upper level bridge connection to further to the laboratories throughout the day, resulting
research laboratories in two adjoining buildings. in very low energy consumption.
This configuration fitted neatly with the require-
ment to retain the two-storey heritage façade al- The jury was impressed by the diversity of finalists
lowing the street composition to be expressed by in the Health Category which ranged from small
the placement of the laboratories in a clearly ar- medical centres to full-scale hospital buildings as
ticulated ‘new’ glass box effectively on top of the well as the diversity of location and context – from
old façade, with the more tactile ‘people spaces’ a state of the art private hospital in the UK to an
accommodated within the realm of the older com- equipment-testing laboratory in Iran. “The final
ponent. decision reached by the jury was unanimous. We
found this project by BVN Architecture to be an
The further requirement to step the building to- outstanding piece of architecture in many ways –
wards the north to ensure sun penetration to simplicity of design, response to site and brief, ap-
neighbouring houses enabled the new glass box to proach to external appearance and materials, and
‘slide’ over the older building creating a large scale carefully considered internal spaces.”
composition with smaller scale detailed elements
at the conjunction of the forms. The ‘box’ is clad with
translucent glass planks ensuring diffuse daylight
28 >
The development was designed from the start to and fauna. Through showcasing local skills, materi-
exceed Green Globe 21 requirements. An environ- als and vernacular elements, it confirms the local
mental consultant drafted an environmental plan people’s opinion that they live in a marvelous
from the design stage onwards. The contractor place that should be cherished and maintained.
committed to an environmental quality plan for
the construction phase, and the hotel operator The judges felt that the project sensitively dealt
also committed to environmental practices for the with its environmental context and said: “Alila Vil-
running of the hotel in future. las observed that the architect went the extra mile
to ensure that as little damage was done to the
The development is an appropriate next step in environment as possible. At the same time, no
resorts where luxury does not mean excessive compromise was seen in terms of the design,
consumption, but instead delight and enjoyment which was of the highest quality. The design of the
of the natural beauty and a sense of place. The pavilions made it possible to recycle all the timber
development is gentle and embraces the landscape used in the project to protect the forests. The ref-
which is located in an impoverished, dry, rural area, erences to Scarpa and Mies in the detailing were
and thereby replacing marginal agriculture with also greatly appreciated.”
tourism that generates substantial employment
and income for local people. It maintains local flora
31 >
HOUSE
The Golden Box (K2LD Architects) and Townhouse “Torn apart by the city, she has moved to the for-
Landskrona (Elding Oscarson). est in search for a home. She has found the moon
and the sun and they dazzle her every day. She has
The winner was A Forest for a Moon Dazzler, located found beauty in her own cycle of living and her
in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, designed by London-based presence in this world. She no longer needs others
architect, Benjamin Garcia Saxe. The project tells to compare and measure her happiness. My mom
the tender personal story of the architect’s quest began to construct the place for her dwelling with
to build a dream home for his mother in a forest scrap wood and plastic bags. She placed her bed
where she is able to spiritually connect with him on a corner where she could have a direct view of
across great distances by having a view of the moon. the moon whilst going to sleep. She has told me
that that watching the moon reminds her of me.”
Saxe explains: “My mom and I never had a place
[which] we could call home. We met on the streets, “Perhaps because of her memory of the city, she is
always dreaming of a place [where] we could be afraid that someone will come to disturb her soli-
together. She stayed in the city in order to find tude. She has asked me to complete her dream of
comfort in my closeness. I never stopped dream- living safely in the forest, but I know she believes
ing of a place where she could find happiness.” this is a way for us to always be together.”
33 >
“Inspired by her routine I have given her an inter- said: “The architect addressed the practical and
nal protected forest of bamboo. At night the cone- emotional needs of his mother’s security by creat-
like surface of her new home opens to the moon ing a home for her to occupy alone, while also sat-
and reminds her that it is me who is holding it in isfying his inventive curiosity with a new form of
space as she goes calmly to sleep.” bamboo – Moucharabieh screens that respond to
movement and light. In his narrative there was sin-
The simple layout features a bedroom on one end, cerity in how the character and needs of the client
a kitchen on the other and an internal courtyard/ related to the final architectural outcome.”
garden in between with a bordering wooden deck.
It is constructed with simple materials including
concrete, a steel structure, bamboo and burlap
walls and doors, a tin roof, glass and wooden
floors.
A large forecourt for the towers was created, main- The Pinnacle @ Duxton, Singapore, designed by
taining visual connectivity with the existing Tanjong ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism, Singapore.
Photos: ARC, ArieLCandy, Sam Chong, Jinghui.
Pagar Community Club, which is a major community
node for this neighbourhood.
Within the development, residents enjoy the con- existing urban network while forming a green lung
venience of shops, a food court, an education cen- for the city. Layers of tree screens border the site
tre and a childcare centre, and two residents’ com- and pathways to provide varying degrees of opac-
mittee centres. Beyond the development, residents ity and privacy, softening the massiveness of the
are served by two train stations which will link them towers, creating a human scale. Multiple layers of
to the island-wide mass rapid transit system; bus pathways, connections, and landscape bands are
stops at the development’s doorstep and a bus in- created, providing residents with the options to
terchange depot; amenities like a police complex, either take a fast and convenient way home, or a
hospital, restaurants, pubs, cafes, and shops – all slow and relaxing path for recreation.
within a 10-minute walking-radius. Exploiting the
inherent sustainability of the high-density high- On the 26th and 50th storey, 12 continuous Sky Gar-
rise housing model, The Pinnacle @ Duxton cre- dens weave through the seven tower blocks, form-
ates a walkable and diverse community, and pro- ing a simple yet powerful sculptural skyline that
vides a connected, convenient and compact model creates a strong identity for the project. The Sky
of sustainable urbanism. Gardens function as an extension of the living en-
vironment for residents, forming almost one hec-
The new architectural surface is a lush environ- tare of new land. Children’s playgrounds, an outdoor
mental deck that connects strategically with the fitness gym for the elderly, landscape furniture
36 >
resembling beach deck chairs and outdoor sofa sets The Pinnacle @ Duxton, Singapore, designed by
were designed to provide diverse, creative and ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism, Singapore.
Photos: ARC, ArieLCandy, Sam Chong, Jinghui.
unusual spaces for community interaction.
The winner was Shanghai Houtan Park, China, de- The regenerative design strategy transformed the
signed by Turenscape, China. site into a living system that offers comprehensive
ecological services including food production,
Built on a brownfield of a former industrial site (pre- flood control, water treatment, and habitat crea-
viously owned by a steel factory and a shipyard), tion combined in an educational and aesthetic
Houtan Park is a regenerative living landscape on manner.
38 >
Through the center of the park, a linear construct- recreation, education, and research. The terrace
ed wetland was designed to create a reinvigorated design of the wetland alleviates the elevation dif-
waterfront that acts as a ‘living machine’ that ference between the city and the river, safely re-
treats contaminated water. Cascades and terraces connecting people to the water’s edge. Addition-
are used to oxygenate the nutrient rich water, re- ally, the existing concrete floodwall was replaced
move and retain nutrients and reduce suspended by a more habitat friendly riprap.
sediments while creating pleasant water features.
Different species of wetland plants were selected Inspired by the fields of Chinese agricultural land-
for their properties to absorb different pollutants. scape, terraces were created to break down the
Field-testing indicates that 2 400 cubic meters per 3-5 m elevation change from the water’s edge to
day of water can be treated from Lower Grade V (the the road, and to slow the runoff directed to the
lowest grade on a scale of I-V) quality to Grade III stream in the constructed wetland. Crops and wet-
(for non-potable use). land plants were selected to create an urban farm
allowing people to witness seasonal changes: the
The wetland also acts as a floodable buffer. The golden blossoms in the spring, splendid sunflow-
meandering valley along the wetland creates a se- ers in the summer, fragrance of the ripened rice in
ries of visual interest and refuge within the bust- the fall and green clover in the winter.
ling world exposition site with opportunities for
39 >
with the public and the wider arts community on allowing the public to see the activities and pro-
the one hand, and a secure and safe learning envi- ductions of the school. To enhance the vibrancy of
ronment on the other. The two parts are symboli- the city, commercial spaces are provided along the
cally called the Backdrop and the Blank Canvas. external covered walkway and a large civic amphi-
theatre.
The Backdrop is the podium that contains a con-
cert hall, drama theatre, black box theatre and The Blank Canvas is the secure school area and is
several small informal performing spaces. Against conceived of as a simple, flexible space where the
this backdrop, the school communicates with the school can create their own environment. The met-
public realm in a variety of ways. The formal per- aphor suggests the open possibilities and focuses
formance spaces host professional and student on the educational content rather than the archi-
productions, allowing students to both observe tectural frame. Three long rectangular 6-storey
and participate in both performance and back- blocks span across the Backdrop podium. This level
stage and support activities. The informal spaces is controlled through a single point of access (the
in between the performance spaces are designed lift core and the escalator), yet is visually connected
around an urban short-cut, maintaining a busy in- from all the circulation spaces to the public areas
formal pedestrian route that used to cut across the below. This environment is simple, practical, bright,
empty site leading from the underground train sta- and airy and is designed for maximum flexibility
tion at Dhoby Ghaut. Along this route are display and sustainability.
areas and informal performance and gallery areas,
Classrooms and studios within these blocks are The rooftop is designed as a large recreation park
designed for natural ventilation and are well-pro- in the sky, complete with a running track and
portioned and cross-ventilated, with dynamic vis- shady trees. It allows the students to take full ad-
ual and physical links between blocks. Classrooms vantage of the views afforded by the Arts School’s
are designed in 9x9 m modules with operable end unique positioning within the Civic District, and
walls so that room sizes can be flexible for future provides a substantial play area in the built-up
needs. The green façades provide environmental neighbourhood.
filters which cut out glare and dust, keeps the
rooms cool, and in combination with the acoustic
ceilings – absorbs traffic noise. School of the Arts, Singapore,
designed by WOHA.
Photos: Patrick Bingham-Hall.
43 >
An extensive restoration and revitalisation project A secondary structure in glass and steel was cre-
was undertaken to allow the advertising agency ated without touching the original stone walls and
group Medina Turgul DDB to move into a salt re- respecting the feeling of airy emptiness of the
pository they had rented. This 170 year-old build- original space and all the electromechanical instal-
ing had formerly been owned by TEKEL (Turkish lation was designed to go through the consolidat-
State Liquor and Tobacco Monopoly) and is located ed roof trusses.
in the run-down, once industrial district of
Kasımpaşa, Istanbul. In order to protect the original texture of the
building, all the pointings of the stone walls were
The restoration challenge entailed maximising washed and consolidated with tailor made solu-
functionality while retaining the original character tions that were formulated after initial chemical
of the structure. Containing five separate, but re- analyses and all ruined and damaged parts of the
lated, specialist companies, with shared backroom walls were carefully restored.
operations, the floor plan had to allow for each
unit to exist in its own space, while also being eas- The result is a building that is well-suited to a
ily connected to colleagues in sister units. The so- modern creative business, with various styles of
lution was to build a series of connecting mezza- meeting spaces from casual to formal, easy inter-
nine floors integrating the different spaces and unit connectivity and the sensation of individual
greatly increasing the workable floor space. This ‘thinking space’ all around.
was done without cluttering or in any way struc-
turally harming the powerful nature of the exist- The judges thought that all the projects in this
ing space, with its thick stone walls and 10 m-high WAF category represented a remarkably creative
galleries. The different departments and company range of approaches to the problem of introduc-
units’ workspaces were designed around these ing new work in an existing context. They chose
galleries. the DDB Office as the winner because it did more
45 >
than any other project to initiate change. The judg- OFFICE (INCLUDING MIXED-USE)
es said: “The architects were able to express their
ideas for the re-use of four dilapidated stone Seventeen finalists competed in this fiercely com-
buildings close to the Bosphorus to the client and petitive category, including: Arrau building (Sab-
tempted them from the safety of the business dis- bagh Arquitectos), Artist Colony (China Architec-
trict to this run-down quarter. This is the kind of ture Design Reasearch Group), City Business Centre
regeneration that provides a successful exemplar (Andreescu&Gaivoronschi), Danfoss Head Office
for others to follow. The changing history of the (schmidt hammer lassen architects), GMS Grande
buildings has been preserved and nothing has Palladium (MALIK ARCHITECTURE), Jeonbuk Region
been compromised. The project represents a ge- LH Corporation Headquarters | Walking Man (DA
netic implant which will produce the seeds for Group), Marble Company Headquarters (Michael
change of an entire area.” Photiadis Associate Architects), Middelfart Savings
Bank (3XN), NHN Green Factory (Samoo Architects
& Engineers, NBBJ), NOVIstipic (upi-2m), Research
& Development Building (Erginoglu&Calislar),
Ropemaker Place (Arup Associates), Shop & Trade
– Office Building (Kokkinou Kourkoulas Architects
& Associates), Skellefteå Kraft Head Quarters
(General Architecture), Studio Altieri New Head-
DDB Office, Istanbul, Turkey,
quartes (Studio Altieri Spa), Transoceanica Head-
designed by Erginoğlu & Çalışlar Architects.
quarters (+ arquitectos) and Vali Asr Commercial
Photos: Cemal Emden.
Office Building (KELVAN).
Vali Asr Commercial Office Building is located on The architects intended to reflect the motion and
a rectangular site which has approximately 15 m of dynamism of the location on the façade as well as
frontage along the west side of Vali Asr Avenue to reflect the internal dynamism outwards. They
between the Fatemi and Zartosht junctions, which achieved this by using minimal materials, mainly
is part of the retail, entertainment and cultural longitudinally cut white Brazilian marble with
hub of Tehran. Neighbouring buildings to the site slash-like features surrounding openings which
include an old six-storey building to the north and are meant to symbolise motion.
a single-storey ruin to the south. However, munic-
ipal codes dictated that the new structure could The same applies to the spatial organisation of the
not exceed two floors above ground level. interior where surfaces and different spaces trans-
figure and connect into each other to facilitate the
The two-storey commercial office building, located overall theme of motion.
in a busy retail district in Tehran, was finished with
a contrast of black and white longitudinally cut Interior floors are clad in black Nadjafabad marble
stones of Brazilian marble. which dramatically contrast with the almost grainless
47 >
Four finalists competed in this category, including: Being the first and only seed production unit in
City North Substation (Architects Johannsen + As- the country, the plant found its unique identity
sociates, Kann Finch Group – Project & Design Ar- through the revelation of machinery aesthetics.
chitect), Harlequin 1 BSkyB (Arup Associates), The concept design of the campus is set up to
Marof Winery (Studio Kalamar) and Yevlakh Seed make and break the relationship between the ma-
Industry Campus (TOCA). chinery and the structure itself. The boundary be-
tween the machine and the structure are purpose-
The winner was Yevlakh Seed Industry Campus, fully blurred and the entire plant is designed as
Azerbaijan, designed by TOCA, Turkey. integrated parts of a single machine. Every move
of the product through the plant defines the archi-
Yevlakh Seed Industry Campus is a high-tech seed tectural form of that space and constitutes the
growth plant built on a 70 000 m2 area in Yevlakh layout for the site plan. The factory is divided into
49 >
four sections: seed processing, packaging, storage This innovative and intelligent WAF category-win-
and categorisation areas. ning project was designed by a very young archi-
tectural practice. The judges said: “It is a unique
Units are located on the scheme which is most project that works as a machine and its form em-
suitable for the production process. Incoming raw phasises the machinery, [and] the plan is clear. The
materials are put into production at the point de- use of strong provocative colours has symbolic
signed as a logistics centre and are then moved meaning and provides a unique character related
towards other units to be processed and each to the function of the building. Additionally, the
movement is an expression of architectural form. reinterpretation of the shed form is a very strong
strategy.”
The facility, which could be three factories with
vertical flow scheme in different functions, is de-
signed to constitute a horizontal production band
and each building is thought to be intermediate
stations of the band.
50 >
sheets of gold-leaf laminated glass scattered in a the street. With spaces inside and outside, the
random pattern symbolise brass instruments. building possess visual and spatial relationship to
each other, and the architecture is designed to
The building is a super-complex composed of vari- resonate with the streets of Ginza.
ous sound-related facilities including shops, a hall
and music schools stacked together. With its so- The 2010 WAF adjudicators reviewed a tremen-
phisticated, most advanced vibration and sound dous variety of projects in terms of scale, complex-
insulation structure, each space is interconnected ity and overall challenges, ranging from shop fit
and yet keeps its own, acoustically quite environ- outs to major shopping centres in this category.
ment. The three atrium spaces are each designed They concluded that “The Yamaha Ginza Building
with its own theme and are open to the streets of is a breathtaking presentation, which represents
Ginza through the translucent screen decorated the highest levels of sophistication in terms of re-
with gold dusts. At the first floor, the atmosphere sponse to program, scale of ambition, refinement
of the street is drawn inside. At the upper floor, of detailing and engagement with the surrounding
the activity inside the building is shown outside to physical context.”
52 >
SPORT
overall, led to the bridge being popularly compared capacity of 100 or so people, that extend out on
to the DNA molecule, with its connotations of ‘life- the bay side to create ‘ring side’ viewing for water
giving’ and ‘sustainability’. events. These decks reinforce the design intent of
the bridge to optimise pedestrian experience of
The intrigue of the structure is derived from its abil- the bridge as new urban place as well as of its role
ity to curve in plan and section while maintaining as a vital connector between Singapore’s major ex-
continuity of its dual spiral over the 280 m length. isting and emerging urban precincts.
This achievement was the result of a process of
highly sophisticated 3D computer modelling, The 2010 WAF judges felt that The Helix Bridge was
through which the proportions and connections a strong winner due to the uniqueness of its weav-
were progressively refined. To accentuate the rib- ing of structure and form. The judges said: “The
bons of structure, LED lighting is incorporated structure, which is derived from its ability to curve
along both spirals and in ground lighting embedded in plan and section due to its helical form, will be-
to highlight the combination of glazed and perfo- come an important addition to the pedestrian ex-
rated steel canopy segments. perience in Singapore both in daytime and at night.
The scale for the pedestrian is very important with
The final pieces of the design are a series of ovular- viewing pods integrated in the solution, providing
shaped cantilevered viewing ‘pods’, each with a opportunities for informal gatherings.”
– three focused on music and the other on dance. Offices' 63, Gurgaon, India,
The design weaves a semi-public path through the designed by Sanjay Puri Architects.
The Cultural Category winner was Concert Hall, Torun, will be clad with exposed brick that reflects the
Poland, designed by Menis Arquitectos, Spain. façades of the town’s historic centre, while the ex-
terior will be covered with very pale concrete (al-
Torun is a small Polish town with a well-preserved most white). The façade reinterprets the tradition
historic centre, protected by UNESCO. The site for of handmade brick while establishing a parallel be-
the concert hall sits on the edge of the town, bor- tween the tectonics of the city and the strategic
dering a redevelopment in an area next to the old location of the site. The play of colors, red and
wall which was converted into a park. The park white, emphasises this dichotomy between herit-
now runs along the center like a giant green bow age suggested by the use of brick and modern
and houses a contemporary art center and build- technology and new urban developments.
ings with some architectural value.
The interior structure is designed to be flexible,
The city required further development of the area allowing the 1 000 and 300 seat adjoining audito-
including an auditorium (Concert Hall), hotel and a riums to be opened up for large-scale events and
conference center. Because of the delicate heritage also provides the possibility of opening the con-
environment, and the need to maintain the percep- cert hall to the outside through the stage. This
tion of the park as a large open space, the height of complements the openness and permeability of
the Concert Hall had to be kept as low as possible. the building, which allows users to pass through it
The building’s design will create a fusion of old towards the square, creating a total continuity
and new through the use of materials. The interior with the surrounding public space.
The Education Category winner was Sabah Al-Salem learning spaces that are juxtaposed against a free-
University Kuwait University City, College of form, undulating boardwalk enclosing a variety of
Education, Kuwait City, Kuwait designed by Perkins a posteriori learning support spaces (lounges, group
+ Will, USA. study niches and computer stations) that are carved
through the length and height of the structures,
The goals for the Sabah Al-Salem University City connecting all floors and functions. The interplay of
College of Education project includes the creation solid and void between the mass of the buildings
of a strong, individual identity for the College and the meandering of The Boardwalk define the
within the university’s master plan; a student-cen- architectural identity of the College and the belief
tered learning environment that would foster a that classroom-based learning must, in the 21st Cen-
community of learning; and a highly sustainable tury, be complemented by an equally vital learning
design with daylight to all classrooms, offices and support environment in which learning continues
main circulation spaces. Kuwait’s large swings in beyond the doors of the classroom.
temperature and relative humidity challenged the
design team to find innovative ways to balance Accessed from The Boardwalk, a series of large in-
community and comfort with low energy use and ternal garden courtyards – oases – function as ma-
environmental sensitivity. jor amenity nodes (cafeteria, library, lobby, and
auditorium) for the college, filled with daylight
The design solution creates two five-storey rectangu- and sheathed in greenery, all visible from the
lar buildings containing modular, repetitive a priori learning spaces that surround and overlook them.
The Health Category winner was Kuwait Children's The building is approached through a climate-
Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait, designed by AGi Ar- controlled plaza, which is a continuation of the
chitects SL, Spain. exterior landscape, bringing in pedestrians. The
elevated position of the plaza helps in giving a
The proposed design for the Kuwait Children’s Hos- sense of power to the children over the street
pital (KCH) is conceived as a landmark that responds level as they enter the hospital. This Plaza is
to climate and culture, and re-interprets these val- roofed by a vaulted coloured structure and large
ues in a mid-rise building. Like a fortress, it creates openings bring in natural light and relate visually
an exterior monolithic image that seeks protection to the roof garden.
from the harsh climate, and a softer interior oasis
tailored to the children’s use. The architects pro-
posed a cheerful and colourful building that stands
out from the deteriorated surroundings and is eas-
ily recognisable by children.
62 >
The Infrastructure Category winner was West Kow- WKT will function more like an international airport
loon Terminus, Hong Kong, designed by Aedas, than a rail station as Hong Kong Special Administra-
Hong Kong. tive Region maintains economic and political incen-
tives from P.R.China. Consequently, the facility needs
As a strong indicator in recent years, between Hong to have both custom and immigration controls for
Kong and mainland China, the West Kowloon Termi- departing and arriving passengers.
nus (WKT) is both a symbol and a functional repre-
sentation of how improved relations have become. The site’s prominence immediately adjacent to the
The high-speed rail terminus station will connect future West Kowloon Cultural District and next to
Hong Kong to Beijing with the largest rail network Victoria Harbor required a design which was com-
in the country’s history. Located centrally in Hong pletely motivated by civic demand. Enriching the
Kong within the city’s existing urban realm, the challenge was the reality that there would be
430 000 m facility with 15 tracks will be the largest
2
400 000 m2 of commercial development on top of
below ground terminus station in the world. the station which would be auctioned off to a devel-
oper in a later date.
64 >
The Arc, Palestinian Occupied Territory, with Gaza as the southernmost urbanised area. The
designed by Suisman Urban Design. Arc’s fundamental feature is an interurban rail line
65 >
linking the main cities of Gaza and the West Bank 1 507 architects from 71 countries came to Barce-
– including a stop at the international airport. Each lona to view and learn from the best projects of
rail station, located several miles from existing his- the preceding 18 months and to help shape the
toric urban centers, would create a focal point for future of the industry through best practice ex-
new development and would be connected to these change and collaboration. Put simply, it is architec-
historic centers via a new transit boulevard and an tural excellence, live. <
advanced form of bus rapid transit.
No awards were made in the Experimental projects, Sources: All images and texts are published with
Landscape and Residential categories for Future the consent of the copyright holders as they appear
Projects. on the WAF 2010 website, unless credited otherwise.
DEMOCRATIC PROCESS
ARCHITECTURE.
EVEN
67 >
.ZA2010:
lowed architecture to introduce itself to the South
African public as a leading creative, cultural pro-
ducer. It has also opened a dialogue which now al-
NT+CITY
lows a non-intimidating relationship with the archi-
tectural profession, which SAIA will continue to
build upon in future.
68 >
(Federation of the Poor), Diego Ramirez-Lovering alternative materials and is an example of innova-
(Monash University, Australia), Jackie Dugard (So- tive thinking around social housing. The pavilion
cio-Economic Rights Institute of SA), Fanuel Mot- was relocated to Thinasonke and rebuilt as a com-
sepe (SAIA President Elect) and Heather Dodd (ar- munity centre – the first permanent structure in the
included sustainability, urban public space and how order to expose the complexity of our urban cul-
best to use a city’s infrastructure after hosting a tures, we have taken the broadest possible ap-
global event such as the 2010 World Cup. It also proach to the formation of this conference. Speak-
probed the role of architecture in the formation of ers and participants are being drawn from a wide
a ‘world class African city’, as well as the green range of urban players: from cultural practitioners
agenda. to development economists, both centre-stage and
counter-culture. We aim to intensify awareness of
Programme directors, Sarah Calburn & Rodney the roles that architecture can play in this complex
Place said that: "Joburg manifests and concentrates city towards the many possible re-inventions of our
many current global urban conditions – enormous urban futures.”
disparities of income; rapid transformation under a
socialist-leaning government; wealthy capitalist in- The conference structure comprised of overarching
stitutions operating alongside street traders and daily themes, with two plenary keynotes that set
self-built squatter settlements and entrenched in- the stage for two breakaway sessions consisting of
stitutional four-roomed suburbs – the remnants of five parallel-running panels, which interrogated dif-
a segregated past – within sight of gated communi- ferent aspects of the themes. Due to the confer-
ties reminiscent of Beverly Hills. ence format, delegates had the difficult task of
choosing between the parallel-running breakaway
“Unlike Sao Paulo or Lagos, Joburg operates at a sessions. Therefore, the reportage of the confer-
range of manageable scales that makes the strate- ence reflected in the rest of this article only covers
gic role of architecture particularly interesting, and certain sessions.
opens Joburg to extraordinary possibility for ex-
perimentation and speculation as a global model. In
70 >
need to be sensitive to all contexts and that “Emo- township housing; from the mythology of stadia to
tion needs to cross over with reason.” He concluded the queer city.
that: “As architects, our work is like lasagna. Each
layer represents a layer of knowledge. When you Acclaimed local architect and winner of the 2009
eat the lasagna, you eat all the layers together” – in World Architecture Forum’s World’s Best Building
the South African context he could of course have of the Year, Peter Rich, acted as chairman of one of
used the bunny chow as an analogy. the panels with a presentation themed Self-efficiency
on building community. He said that: “Cities gener-
Menis’ presentation was followed by breakaway ally begin as a conglomeration of villages, often
streams that addressed the sub-theme, Histories: loosing their village quality as they develop. African
The myths and fictions of Joburg over time. cities however maintain their village quality through
their growth largely due to their social and cultural
It has been said that Joburg requires a huge amount aspects that bind people and communities together”
of ‘insider knowledge’ no matter which side of the – those living in Joburg will surely attest to the
fence you sit on”, said the programme directors, truth of this introductory statement.
and the session’s panelists interrogated many per-
tinent questions, including: “What are the implica- Rich continued by stating that architecture cap-
tions of this for all kinds of cultural production? tures “…hidden history, [yet] it is hard to put your
How does history inform the relics of the gold rush finger on it … There have been remarkable things
town – the underground city – the accelerated city that have happened in history.” As an example Rich
– the ‘elusive metropolis’? How does architecture mentioned: “If you look at Johannesburg, there
commemorate a painful past? How has a culture of were yards and yards of land. Indians owned land in
‘display and concealment’ shaped Joburg? What are the city during the era of apartheid and they
the roles of preservation in mapping the future? brought their religions and ‘villages’ into the city.”
Presentations ranged from issues around public “As architects, we look at the enabling typologies
space to Sophiatown; from African literature to of a building or area. How do people use buildings?
72 >
The way people use a building, depicts the success tution. This is where our urban culture was made.
and adaptability of that building. You can see, look- There was [suddenly] a rectangular space for all of
ing back into history, which buildings were enabling us.” Serote then went on to pose the question: “Did
and which ones weren’t.” the architects that built that space, know the peo-
ple that they were building it for?”
Rich concluded his presentation by stating: “We ar-
chitects need to look at the reality and abilities of “As people moved out of the townships, they were
people to cope. Ninety-six percent of the people in throwing away their elders that still lived in the
our country are not served by the architectural pro- townships. Elders, they perish. The houses are cruel
fession. We as a discipline need to form partner- and dark in townships. Sadness happens when you
ships and facilitate things.” pick people out of their homes and put them some-
where else. If you pension someone, you build a
Author and poet, Wally Mongane Serote, in his space for them to go to – they are ‘pensioned’
presentation stated: “There was a time when there there.”
was a primary [indigenous] African institution. It
consisted of babies, children, adults and grandpar- “As architects, you need to find ways to go back to
ents” – traditionally a circular space, a physical and the source. You need to find ways to humanise
metaphorical space. Serote then reflected on the yourself and do it correctly. By giving us this space
creation of urban townships and the effects that it or spaces, architects become people who deal with
had on the communities that occupied them: aesthetics and design and therefore they have a
“Someone, back then, decided that these people great gift.”
need a space where they could act like it’s an insti-
73 >
In response, Rich said: “As architects, we are in- one in the form of Monte Casino. “This Classicalism
volved in human-space making. Spaces are where in architecture has prevailed [in the City]. There is a
people meet and are used as a ‘space of gathering’. persistence of a ‘poet pidgin language’.”
It is the way you ritualise a place. Sometimes archi- “Here, there is a broader historical trend. Every age
tects make buildings that are too alienating. It is or generation has appropriated classicalism to it-
because we are being too abstract.” self. It is a part of a broader classical trend” and
“There is an idea that classical architecture is set in
Historian, Federico Freschi took the audience on an stone in the original class structure.”
alternative thought route by focusing on the per-
sistence of classicism in the architecture of Johan- Freschi asked: “There are classical elements in ritu-
nesburg. He said that: “The questions of style tell us als – a temple is classical. What memory and souls
who we are as people and give us substance to our do these classical buildings hold in the Joburg con-
identity.” text?” He continued: “With ‘classical’ there is a
sense that it has been around forever in a country
“The Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Rand Re- and yet, that it as new as South Africa. The city of
gents Memorial are two examples of classicalism. Johannesburg represents an interesting case study;
Since its inception, the City has an unbroken tradi- it is a reminder to constantly go back to the source.
tion of classical buildings and classical architecture, There is a desire to belong.”
for example, the old Johannesburg banks, St John’s
and Jeppe Boys High School. Johannesburg also Social historian Luli Callinicos continued to explore
shows traces of neo-classicalism in the Wits Univer- Freschi’s statement on belonging: “The myth of the
sity and also has a proliferation of Tuscan buildings, empty Joburg is a question of remembering and
74 >
forgetting. There was struggle for a place in the within this place. This space seems to be a cruel
city. Joburg is the city of choice. Egoli has the per- space. This space needs to be appropriated. We
ception of accessible wealth. Most people chose need to give this space a human quality.”
Joburg as they were also propelled to it.”
The second sub-theme of the day, Historicities:
“There is also a myth of Joburg having two econo- Counter-cities, was introduced by a keynote presen-
mies – the rural and the urban. These are both apart tation delivered by Lindsay Bremner, a former chair
of the same system.” of architecture at both Tyler School of Art at Tem-
ple University, USA, and the School of Architecture
“In the past, there was a negotiation of space and and Planning at the University of the Witwa-
foundations of an informal settlement. The space tersrand, Johannesburg. Her work is concerned
in townships encompassed the middle class squeez- with questions of architecture, culture and geopol-
ing with the unemployed. There was a bonding, a itics in a globalising world and she has made a sig-
cross-class within the townships,” said Callinicos. nificant study of Johannesburg in this regard.
Serbian architect and urban researcher, Ivan Kucina Bremner presents the findings of her current field
acted as commentator in this session and conclud- of research, The Folded Ocean Project, which she
ed that: “It seems to me that the residence of Jo- describes as an investigation of “the nebulous ter-
hannesburg are confused. They are confronted in rain that is the Indian Ocean.” The project entails
such complexities, that they cannot find meaning a critical mapping of trade and the movements of
75 >
people, nations and cities in the Indian Ocean and how claim an increasingly privatised public space? And
these define it as a distinct geographic territory. the constant counter currents of immigration, of
speed and position? How do we read alternative vo-
She started her presentation ‘folding’ a map of the cabularies and does the city breed rebellions be-
region and compared how various cities on its pe- hind closed doors?
riphery are distributed in a recognisable pattern –
Perth collates to Durban, Nairobi to Singapore, and Presentations ranged from informal communities
so on. This lateral mapping process shows how mar- in high-rises to pavement economies; from rebel-
itime connections defined – and continues to de- lion in the suburbs to alien movies; from fashion
fine – culture and how it underpins developmental gangs to cultural archaeologies.
attitudes in the region.
He also stressed the importance of adding an ‘e’ to The first breakaway sessions focused on the broad
"utopia" and highlighted the urgency for alterna- sub-theme Marketing, Imaging and Branding of the
tive futures rooted in green, sustainable city plan- city and panelists addressed questions such as:
ning and architecture that involves all citizens. He What is the role of branding in the production of a
emphasised that the creation of spaces for urban world-class city? What are its codes and barriers?
conviviality included not only the greening of pave- Are we entering a ‘franchised landscape’ of malls,
ments but communal agricultural enterprises "in outlets and gated developments? What can we
open spaces, dead-end streets and even parking learn from architectural and cultural innovations
lots" and showed examples of how this is done in that got their brand strategy right? Are we inter-
parts of New York City such as at Brooklyn Bridge, ested in the formation of a public culture accessible
Harlem, in parking lots and on top of buildings. to all or are we a society of differentiation? Presen-
tations range from public art to private transport;
Sorkin lambasted the over-consumption associated from the regeneration of Braamfontein to the de-
with contemporary ‘franchised landscapes’ such as velopment of the Gautrain; from urban eco-systems
malls. He also drew comparisons between post-so- to the future face of townships.
cialist Moscow and post-apartheid Johannesburg,
where democracy has entwined with capitalism and South African architect Henning Rasmuss looked at
produced suffocating effects on the futures of how architecture reflects Johannesburg’s various
these cities. stories and he quoted various examples: “The Hill-
brow Tower is the city’s architecture. There is an
Sorkin believes that cities need to inspire people architectural story shown within the Apartheid Mu-
and for him, the solution lies in the creation of "eu- seum. This museum is part of Johannesburg’s im-
topias" and not in the “spectacle of fantastical cities age. Architecture tells a story: Johannesburg is a
that make a mockery of democracy and fails to nur- tough city.”
ture hope and possibility."
78 >
Rasmuss continued: “The Nelson Mandela Statue in his personal interpretation to the day’s overarching
Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton is an example of theme, Contemporary urban currencies. He claimed
the way we are messing with the city’s image, it’s that: “Johannesburg’s currency is situated in tradi-
over-proportioned. But, it is brutally honest and is tional capitalism” and argued that “It is important
a part of the city’s image.” to know how these externalities [or transaction sp-
illovers] manifest themselves in cities and how they
Rasmuss believes that “Johannesburg is veld, with are good drivers of the cities.”
a piece of style within it. As it is a gold town, a town
of money, it is ‘bling bling’, with ‘bling’ architecture. He said that: “Reflexive urbanism is about the stra-
Architecture in this city that does not have ‘bling’ is tegic and reflexive shaping of the built environ-
missing something.” ment” because it operates on the principles of
cause and effect. He then looked at how to make
He said that “One of the great traditions in Johan- use of the interaction between two levels: the
nesburg is that we try to do difficult things. We aim building and its surroundings. “The focus should be
very high. Architecture is not scared. We are about on the synergies between the buildings and the ar-
‘big balls’ and doing ambitious things in terms of eas around it and how architecture develops a way
architecture. We try give ourselves big problems to describe how things really are.”
and then work through them and learn from it.”
Van Hasselt believes that “Externalities create ex-
Kia van Hasselt, an urban strategy consultant from tra value to the cities. Social ventures create exter-
The Netherlands, started his presentation by giving nalities, and externalities create ‘sense networks’.”
79 >
He went on to quote local examples where exter- come here. Johannesburg is the gateway to Africa.
nalities contributed positively to the development The existing identity of Johannesburg is the Hill-
of the city “Art spaces and institutions are drivers of brow Tower and the Coat of Arms.”
reflexivity. For example, the Joburg Art Fair, in
March 2010, made spaces more exciting. Another “The Johannesburg area has grown in the 90s. What
example is Arts on Main in Johannesburg.” did you call Johannesburg back then? Jozi? Egoli?
Johannesburg? No one has defined Johannesburg.”
Local branding guru, Jeremy Sampson, spoke about He concluded by giving his interpretation of what
the relationship between buildings and brands and the city’s brand should reflect: “Johannesburg val-
how these impact on people’s perceptions of the ues go back to the people. Johannesburg is crea-
city. He said “Buildings have brands. Everything has tive, personal, African, nurturing and dynamic. We
a brand.” Proving his point, Sampson said: “The An- have a typology.”
glo American building in Johannesburg is the ugli-
est building, it looks constipated, solid and boring. Daniel Van Der Merwe, architectural consultant at
It is important to be conscious of the building you the Cement and Concrete Institute, presented a
work in because it reflects people’s perceptions.” case study on Yeoville, which is one of the areas of
He argued that a brand and a company are symbi- Johannesburg with the most obtrusive identities.
otic and that architecture is part of both. He said: “From an urban point of view, Yeoville in-
vites opportunity. It allows us to look at a city that
Talking about the city, Sampson said “Johannesburg started as a white suburb and metamorphosised into
has to be branded. It’s about getting people to something else. This place allows us to question
80 >
what an African city is and what it is about. Yeoville clues to legality in experimentation? What about
is a process of change.” design as research; activism as research? How can
we test some radical re-imaginings of our urban fu-
“In 1994 there was an influx of people. The spaces tures?
that we intended to be something specific, have
become something else. There is a metamorphosis Renowned Iranian- born, French architect Nasrine
of space.” Seraji presented the second keynote address of the
day, titled Nothing has really happened until is has
“Nowadays in Yeoville, there are open spaces that been documented.
are being beautified with murals. You can see how
Yeoville is going through an interesting change.” He Seraji is founder of the Paris-based firm Atelier Ser-
concluded that the area it is in a third wave and aji Architectes & Associés, which has become a labo-
then posed the question: “Where are we going to ratory for both practice and research. The studio
go next?” regularly collaborates with consultants in the fields
of landscape design, engineering, graphic design,
The afternoon session dealt with the sub-theme programming, economics and management.
Theoretical positions and experimentation under
which presenters explored the potential of Johan- Seraji presented an overview of her professional
nesburg as a ‘continuing experiment’ towards alter- work. She said: “In Paris there is a huge focus on a
native futures and again dealt with a diversity of building’s alignment and the use of stone in the
questions: What are the codes and barriers and construction of buildings. There is no building’s
81 >
without straightness. Buildings are ‘on the line’ – years through ways like competitions, my teachings
there are no nooks or crannies where unprivileged and exhibitions” and explained why she believed
people can hide or live. I was resistant and resilient that architecture exhibitions are important, espe-
to this cultural architecture. I learnt from the cially the showcasing of projects proposals that
French, not to just say ‘yes’ to doing any type of ar- never made it to the final tender or construction
chitecture.” phases: “There is something you can never say if
you are a practicing architect. You cannot be critical
In explaining her explorations of the relationship of those who give us the jobs. We need to be self-
between urbanism and architecture, she posed con- critical. … Exposing our work as a series opens it up
fronting questions such as: “Architecture is domi- to criticism and debate. Criticism is an essential in-
nated by what? Power or money? Can urbanism still terface. … Architecture should once again become
be larger than architecture?” and then responded a platform for criticality.”
that: “Sometimes infrastructure can become a
building” and continued to say that: “Architecture is Following on Seraji’s keynote, the presentations in
not exclusively responsible for [urban] program- the breakaway sessions ranged from a film study of
ming. How can we take into account pre-program- the Newtown flyover; to inner city experiments;
ming of spaces?” from interventions on heritage sites to lessons
from choreography; from public art to earth archi-
Seraji then went on to look at the practice issues tecture.
and the architect’s position in the creative world.
She said: “I have viewed my architecture over the
82 >
Following on Doepel’s keynote, the breakout ses- world to providing housing for the people; from
sions explored critical issues such as: What are the building stadia to mining water, renewing land-
pressures of local and global iconographies? How scapes to city buses.
do design and political imperatives forge a lasting
relationship? What happens now to the stadia and Presenters included architects, artists, econo-
the transport infrastructure, the “third landscape”? mists, sustainability experts, transport experts
Do we need a dose of event resilience? How do di- and politicians.
verse cultures move towards a single-minded sus-
tainable practice? Presentations from Sandton and The final keynote was presented on the afternoon
the challenge of the Gautrain to Alexandra and a of day three, by the Madrid-based Ensamble Studio
sustainable future; from greening the corporate led by Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa.
85 >
Ensamble believes that a building only really re- TOP: Church and Berklee Tower of Music,
Valencia, Spain, designed by Ensamble Studio.
veals itself once it is finished. They encourage a
constant flow of research and experimentation in BOTTOM: Hemeroscopium House, Madrid,
projects in which they are involved with at every Spain, designed by Ensamble Studio.
JOZI NITE
CONCLUSION
DIVE
Boston Night
Club, Pretoria.
89 >
BBA:
ing construction; interior and graphic design, to space
and facility planning, BBa does it all, overseeing the
entire process before construction whilst offering
a complete professional service at its best.
AT ITS
folio, including institutions, commercial firms, in-
dustrialists, developers and private homeowners.
BEST
of Eugene Barnard (EB Associates) and Ben Burger,
the practice has evolved over the decades. With more
than 30 years of experience in various partnerships
and involved for many years in the fields of CAD, both
90 >
BAI
By Lois Aitchison
INCREASES
ITS GLOBAL
FOOTPRINT
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future will form part of a proposed mixed-use de- refurbishment of the shopping centre commenced
velopment in the surrounding precinct. in 2010 and is expected to be completed by 2011.
The structural changes include changing the pre-
The retail GLA will be extended by 20 000 m², existing 20 000 m² external strip shopping facility
which will make the Palms the largest shopping to an internal mall by means of the addition of a
centre of its kind in Nigeria. The proposed exten- two-level 15 000 m² component in the central area
sion of the centre is proposed for 2011, with the between the two anchors. A large food court ex-
proposed mixed-use components including two of- tends into a new external component and piazza.
fice towers, an apartment block, a state-of-the-art The re-design and upgrade of the existing façade
gym and a waterway link planned for construction includes a grand colonnade that runs the full
thereafter. length of the front facade. The colonnade will be-
come the threshold and design feature for the
The original design of the Palms also incorporated whole centre.
the centre’s own water purification plant, a sewer
treatment plant, an efficient central air-condition- The 94 000 m² Levy Business Park project com-
ing system and an energy backup with a 2900 KVA menced construction in September 2010 in the
generating plant. Zambian capital of Lusaka. Designed by BAI in a
joint venture with The Design Workshop, a Lusaka-
Accra Mall, Ghana (2007) is the first retail project based architectural practice, the mixed-use
of its kind and scale in Ghana. BAI designed a state- $200-million (ZAR1.5bn) project will be a major
of-the-art retail environment to cater for the mixed-use development consisting of retail, office
emergent middle class in Ghana, where people and hotel nodes. The project is still under construc-
were not familiar with large-scale shopping malls tion and will be completed in 2011.
and there was a general lack of resources in the
region. The design demanded user-friendly func- BAI continues to be enthusiastic about the chal-
tionality, good orientation and energy efficiency. lenges that working in Africa and elsewhere offers,
Internal features include top quality finishes, open and looks forward to continuing to effectively con-
skylights that introduce natural light into the in- tribute to the realisation of the goals and require-
ternal spaces, a water treatment facility and a ments of international developers, investors and
structural design that meets earthquake zone re- end users. The company, with its impressive port-
quirements. folio of completed, current and proposed projects,
is extending its geographic reach and fortifying its
Manda Hill, Lusaka, Zambia. Predominantly driven strategy and presence in existing and new territories
by an increasing demand from tenants and shop- on the continent.
pers, the $210-million (ZAR1.6bn) expansion and
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developers’ expectations and needs is a major con- The 45 000 m2 GLA Oberoi Mall, which focused on
tributory factor to their success on the Indian sub- the mid to high-end market, attracted its first two
continent. million visitors in a record time of just 100 days
after opening. Located in the mixed-use develop-
Testimony to this is BAI’s recognition as a finalist ment of Oberoi Garden City in the northern sub-
in the 2010 Asia ICSC awards in the ‘Innovative de- urbs of Mumbai, Oberoi Mall features an extensive
sign and development of a new retail project’ cat- lifestyle and retail mix. Structural elements were
egory for its Oberoi Mall in Mumbai, India. The utilised to be both functional and decorative. An
International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC) expansive central atrium encloses four levels of
Asia Awards recognise and honour the shopping retail, increasing shop visibility and bringing natu-
centre industry’s most cutting-edge properties, in- ral light into the space. The height of the build-
novative solutions and creative responses to mar- ing’s architectural elements encourage visitors to
ket trends, as well as outstanding examples of navigate the entire mall – glass elevators with LED
design and development in the Asian region. The lighting draw the eye to upper levels and increase
other nine finalists in the mentioned category are sightlines.
major international firms from China, Japan, South
Korea, Malaysia and Australia
Maponya Mall,
Johannesburg.
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Legacy Corner consists of the six-level luxury Da Within the context of increasing globalisation, the
Vinci Hotel with 168 rooms, four levels comprising last decade has firmly entrenched BAI as an interna-
80 residential apartments, two levels of four luxu- tional design company. The Legacy and Michelange-
ry duplex penthouses, four levels of parking and lo developments have become benchmarks of excel-
the 5 000 m² of high-end retail, dining and enter- lent design for BAI’s international clients.
tainment components. The Mall is situated on
three levels beneath the hotel. An escalator court
provides a vertical circulation node connecting the Pedestrian Bridge over Maude Street (2010)
parking and retail levels of Legacy Corner and the
Nelson Mandela Square. The escalator court The Legacy Group, developers of the Michelangelo
boasts one of the world’s largest video screen complex and Legacy Corner, required a pedestrian
walls with 64 42” TVs making up the wall. bridge over Maude Street to enhance the aesthetics,
connectivity and functionality of the Sandton CBD.
In line with the Legacy developer’s commitment to
the Heritage Environmental Rating Programme in The weatherproof bridge links the Convention Centre
Africa and BAI’s local implementation of the Green and the Michelangelo Towers Mall, which in turn,
Star Code, the architects incorporated several sig- completes the link through to Nelson Mandela
nificant green components into the design of Leg- Square, Legacy Corner, Sandton City and back through
acy Corner, which include alternative sources of to the Intercontinental Hotel and the Convention
power, back-up power, solar energy and a thermal- Centre. The modern bridge is a steel, aluminium
ly efficient façade. and glass structure with finishes that aesthetically
complement and enhance the other elements in
the precinct.
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BAI was commissioned to create the design for the are significant markers in the successful journey of
OR Tambo International Airport, Marlboro and passengers using the transport system.
Rhodesfield stations. It was stipulated by the mas-
ter architects that each station should feature in- The OR Tambo International Airport Station features
dividually tailored design packages under an um- a stratosphere sunset on the ceiling linking it to the
brella brand identity. The train system’s brand navigational character of travel. The sense of travel
identity had to be maintained to achieve continu- and space is further expressed in the elevated plat-
ity between the stations for easy identification form area that is accessed via a transparent glass link.
and usage by passengers. Continuity was achieved
through a comprehensive branding and signage The floating waveform roof over the concourse of
programme developed by BAI’s graphic design de- Marlboro Station gives the architectural structure
partment. a sense of dynamism and is supported by large
steel structural elements that are reminiscent of
The overall design philosophy required the use of acacia trees. The tree structures suggest tranquil-
tree imagery in the architectural elements of the lity and shelter.
stations. The tree is symbolic of protection, life,
community and the path of travel. The indigenous The character of the Rhodesfield Station’s site in-
acacia tree was the specific reference in the archi- fluenced the architectural design, which was re-
tecture of the stations. Its umbrella canopy is re- stricted in terms of the available space for tracks
flected in the wave roof structures. Similarly, the and the geometry of the site. As a result, unusual
acacia tree-trunk and branches are referenced in the elevations were required in the platform and
supporting columns of the station. These references bridges of the station.
BAI moves to new offices in a to create an imposing avenue with vistas from
prestigious development Melville Road through to Fricker Rd and down Illovo
Boulevard.
BAI celebrated its 50th year of design excellence in
2010. As part of this celebration and to accommo- Illovo Edge consists of several phases that are
date the growing space requirements of its Johan- scheduled for completion over the next two to
nesburg offices, the company relocated to Illovo five years. The first three phases include the con-
Edge in Fricker Road where it occupies one of the struction of 16 000 m2 of exclusive triple A-grade
two buildings completed in Phase 1, both designed office space. Phase 1, completed in May 2010, in-
by BAI. The development is strategically situated corporates the grand entrance to the office park
within the exclusive Illovo Boulevard Precinct in and the beginning of the spine boulevard, which
Illovo. will traverse the entire office park. The component
consists of two structures: Building 1 (2 400 m2) and
BAI’s brief was to design a building that would be- Building 2 (1 600 m2). Building 2 has been bought
come a landmark for the surrounding Illovo area in its entirety by BAI.
and a benchmark for office developments on Fricker
Road. The architects split the design of the devel- The use of the diagonal of the boulevard across
opment into a number of different buildings, each the rectangular site gave BAI two triangular edg-
with its own identity and entrance. Central to the es, which helped inform the buildings aesthetic in
brief was the idea of the site as a pedestrianised that the forms of the buildings become state-
precinct. Extending the Illovo Boulevard into the ments in themselves. In addition, the site slopes
site and flanking it with two separate buildings from its furthest end of the diagonal towards the
achieved both objectives. The spine boulevard corner at Fricker and Harries Roads. This gave BAI
gives structure to the office park and is intended the opportunity to create buildings that appear to
107 >
EXCELLENCE BY DESIGN
www.boogertmanandpartners.com
109 >
www.boogertmanandpartners.com
110 >
EXCELLENCE
BY DESIGN:
BOOGERTMAN +
PARTNERS
TOP: Houghton Club
House, Johannesburg.
CENTRE: Spa.
BOTTOM: Bigen Africa
Head Office, Pretoria.
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RECENT AWARDS
The past two years have been particularly rewarding for Boogert-
man + Partners when several of their projects won top honours
at prominent local and international award festivals, of which
Soccer City was the most notable and most awarded building in
Africa in may years.
KEY PROJECTS
The new head office park for MTN (Mobile Telephone Network)
features two buildings physically connected via a bridge struc-
ture that is a transient space to house a small selection of the
TOP: Orange Farm
Pedestrian Bridge,
Johannesburg.
BOTTOM: MTN Innovation
Centre, Johannesburg.
118 >
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story parkade that was treated in the same mesh screening and
its proximity to the main entrance is celebrated and connected
to the main building with a low covered walkway.
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FUTURE PROJECTS
IN CONVERSATIO
WITH ELMO SWAR
IT’S ALL ABOUT T
ESSENCE By Jennie Fourie
ON
RT:
THE
This 1 000 seat theatre for Dar es Salaam is intended as an enigmatic signifier – establishing a strong
subliminal image. Internally the bridging moment is celebrated and roleplays reversed in a spatial drama.
126 >
This study explored the intermediate realm of been published in several national and interna-
conscious/subconscious spatial experience and tional books and magazines – both academic and
the phenomenology of place. This is a lingering popular. Swart has also dabbled in teaching and
theme that manifests in an exploration of the has been invited to lecture at architectural schools
‘space between’ in different genres governed by and conventions both locally and abroad.
the boundaries of each unique brief.
Swart finds himself constantly struggling against
To date Swart has produced diverse architectural being labelled and has chosen not to participate in
projects in South Africa and abroad (on his own the general architectural design awards. To this
and in partnership with other architectural firms). end he quotes Charles Ives who said, “awards are
These include a commission for a private house in merely badges of mediocrity”. Swart believes that
the Netherlands, a tender-winning scheme in an one can easily become driven to please your peers
international bid for a new state theatre and soc- and, in doing so lose focus of your own personal
cer stadium in Tanzania, an airport in Botswana journey.
and two signature bridge designs in Libya.
Certain themes and concepts recur in the dialogue
Two of his projects were selected to represent with Swart. The first of these is ‘boundaries’. Swart
South Africa at the international Biennale for Archi- relishes the challenge of abstract boundaries or
tecture and Art in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The exhibition restrictions that each new job or client impose on him.
travelled Europe and South Africa. His work has “Any design has parameters – necessary guides
New Kasane Airport, Botswana, with the Chobe River running nearby. The building type as a transitional
space is symbolically and contextually investigated. Designed in conjunction with Groborg Architects.
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within which ideas evolve. The design process is According to Swart there are two ways to tackle a
influenced by the subject, the site and the client’s design problem. The first is beginning with an as-
brief. Ultimately these boundaries are bent and sociation and working from that point towards the
shaped according to the innate sub-conscious per- boundaries of the brief. Once these boundaries
sona, the forces of past filtered experiences and are reached the creative process stops. “I like to
subliminal or cognitive quests.” do things differently. I start with the boundaries
set up by the client, the brief or the terrain and
Swart says he does not believe in the idea of an then work towards the essence of the project. My
ideal brief or an ideal client. “My ideal brief would ultimate aim is to break through people’s associa-
be not to repeat what I have done previously. I tions. It’s all about asking questions.” He concedes
crave change and I don’t have a distinctive style. I that there might be a shock tactic involved, but
love working with the non-ideal. Colleagues and that this helps people to break free from their as-
students often say that they wish they could be sociations. “What I do is to firstly establish a
their own client. My reaction is totally the oppo- boundary and then work back towards my associa-
site. I would hate to be my own client – there is no tion. I never reach the limits of this association –
one that I see to be the ideal client. Ideally I want the association remains fleeting.”
to sit down with someone and adapt to his or her
genre – although it may be warped. It’s my job to ‘Essence’ is another recurring theme. Swart delights
lead them to see with new eyes.” in working with clients who know what they want.
“Sometimes this knowledge is more of a sense – a
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Two signature bridge designs for Benghazi, Libya. The cosmic landscape with its cyclic changes reflects
on a strong primordial experience where life and death fluctuates. The allegedly static piers become
animated when driving through at speed and the structure transforms to a green symbolic abstraction
at night. Designed in conjunction with Groborg Architects.
129 >
sense not bound by associations. I’m like a chame- that recur in my work. My work is bold, a bit ex-
leon. I like to adapt to what people are thinking and treme, pushing the limits, but remain true to the
feeling and then to act as an amplifier – to warp people who are going to use it. Clients are usually
their perceptions to a certain extent and then to amazed by the solution I offer them because it res-
distil the essence of who they really are. It’s like onates with them. I never impose my ego on them
holding up a mirror and showing people what they – and that’s what I find ultimately satisfying.”
are thinking. Although they might be seeing the
world through filters, it’s my job to distil the es- A case in point is two private homes he designed
sence. I love to see the paradigm in people and in the upmarket residential estate, Mooikloof, in
then changing them to get to their core.” Pretoria. The first house was designed in a cubist
aesthetic with a minimalist ‘mask’. An owner of a
Just as Swart does not have an ideal client or brief, nearby stand approached Swart and explained
he is also not picky when it comes to the scale of his that he had visited the building site but could not
projects – from a DJ stand, to a state theatre. “It’s associate with the aesthetic at all. He said that al-
not about the size of a project. Scale is arbitrary. though the mask did not fit, there was a spatial
Every project is different, but there are factors dynamic ‘between the lines’ that kept intriguing
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The interior design of Gravida, a maternity ware boutique, explores the concept of
‘reproduction’ and interplays the sense of weightlessness – confronting gravity. The dressing
ritual is explored within a womb-like space, which is textured with 35 000 cable ties.
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Swart says that he is really a graphic artist at heart. manifested in what Derrida would call the ‘ghost
He always starts by creating a work of art on a of the artist’ and I find myself constantly astounded
plan. His plans have an icon value and could ulti- by the way this vitality demands total surrender.”
mately be printed on T-shirts or stand alone as art
works on a wall. “There is always an abstract two- So, be it architecture or photography, the same
dimensional distilling to anything I do. Ultimately themes come up again and again. Swart maintains:
it is not the medium that matters – a spatial im- “I don’t believe there is a hierarchy in art – archi-
pression can be achieved with a two-dimensional tecture is not superior to fine art or to photogra-
image, and a three-dimensional object can be per- phy. When that which the senses perceive is de-
ceived as a flat surface.” constructed, one always finds an underlying
essence that has the power to inspire. This reso-
Swart approaches his photographic subjects in the nating force usually leaves a lasting impression
same way he does his architecture. “The subcon- and has the ability to shift paradigms.” <
scious hidden image usually has a way of revealing
itself to me in an underlying order. This order is
BORN INTO
ARCHITECTURE:
FRANCOIS MARAIS
ARCHITECTS
Whilst designing his family home “When designing our home, our Elements from the exterior are
Francois Marais aimed to suggest prime focus was to create a home echoed inside, where a stone mosaic
that this was an architects’s home that could open up completely to creates a feature wall that encircles
from the exterior, through the use the outside areas”, explains the staircase, the flush jointed face
of asymmetrical curves and angles Francois. The use of glass stacking brick makes an understated appear-
from the. The Marais home noticeably doors fold right back, turning ance in all the upstairs rooms, and
stands out as one of the more eye previously indoor rooms into stainless steel railings and banisters
catching structures whilst driving outdoor entertainment areas. from the outdoors are repeated
through the estate, passing one inside. Successfully achieving a
Tuscan mansion after another. sculpture on the landscape, Francois
aimed at breaking away from the
monotony in the interior, while
designing feature walls that make a
play on the eye.
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Francois Marais Architects has grown from small the flavour of their designs. While concentrating
beginnings, established in 1996, into a highly re- on fulfilling their client’s needs, they constantly
spected architectural firm based in Gauteng, South push the boundaries of design to create unique
Africa. Francois Marais, the principal of the firm, and interesting architecture, that no matter what
was literally born into architecture, having the op- the style, has a modern sophisticated planning
portunity of growing up in a family of architects, concept and design that is engaging for all.
where the impact and value of the surrounding ar-
chitecture was constantly evaluated. Today, Fran- Conscious of social, cultural and material context,
cois and his brothers are all qualified architects. the firm’s designs are born out of the dynamics of
the site and are fused with functional needs, struc-
The motto of this firm is to produce signature tural integrity, orientation, light, water and land-
buildings (mostly residential but not exclusively), scaping. These abilities have earned the company
each unique in their own right. Francois Marais Ar- winning contracts as principle architect on many
chitects now boasts beautiful offices that reflect large developments, including luxury residences,
cluster developments, game lodges, hotels, shop- designed by the firm employing free-flowing ele-
ping centres and offices, both locally and interna- ments that push engineering limits. Complex de-
tionally. signs are viewed as an opportunity to showcase the
physics of architecture rather than as obstacles.
Every project is approached with the excitement
at showcasing the firm’s full extent of both pas- The firm’s signature design language attempts to
sion and a comprehensive understanding of the blur the division between the interior and exterior,
client’s brief. Individual attention to each client’s encouraging owners to embrace the African cli-
lifestyle and needs is fundamental to ensuring mate and open up their buildings to life outdoors,
that their residence is designed around them- whilst interacting with the surroundings when the
selves and to suite their environment. The diverse climate permits.
South African climate also plays a vital role, and
with individual attention to detail, a unique design Increasing the firm’s scope within the architectur-
is always born. al environment, Francois Marais Architects has re-
cently introduced an interior design division. Un-
A desire to seek new architectural expressions derstanding that architecture and interior design
continues to push the design abilities of the firm each have their own separate roles in designing a
to its limits. Not afraid to experiment with designs project, both are equally important. Although one
beyond the norm, it is not unusual to see houses field focuses mainly on the structural elements
Residence at Ebotse Golf and Open plan living optimises all Working closely with interior
Country Estate, Rynfield, East Rand. views onto the golf coarse. designers, the contemporary
Showcasing the excellence in which architecture was continued into
aesthetics meets conformability, the interior of the home where
the geometrical masterpiece the home owner was able to
embraces the picturesque emphasise the importance of
landscapes while lending itself to quality rather than quantity.
the modern lifestyle of the
homeowner.
139 >
and the exterior aesthetics of the building and the design team, since they are be able to work to-
other focuses on the interior elements and finish- gether from the introduction of the project, estab-
es, they need to be integrated, while compliment- lishing a thorough interpretation of the brief and
ing each another. Like many of the leading archi- ensuring common collective goals. As a result, this
tects, this firm understands the importance of ensures that the client’s needs are fully under-
bringing in the exterior design and surroundings stood and effortlessly executed not only in the
into the interior of a dwelling. designing phase but also in the implementation of
the design.
The firm also believes that communication with
clients are vital to ensure that harmony is achieved Being chosen as the preferred estate architect for
while evaluating all elements within the overall Ebotse Golf and Country Estate, Clearwater Estate
design of a building and that an interior designer and Dunblane Estate, Francois Marais Architects has
should be able to implement his /her own aspects grown from strength to strength. This firm boasts
into the architect’s work, and so the architect a diverse portfolio, which showcases many projects
needs to consider the interior designer when de- that have been nurtured in excellence. With this
signing a structure. portfolio, it is easy to distinguish a home designed
by this firm, from a development designed by an-
This approach has to be advantageous for the client other firm.
to employ an architect with an in-house interior
A perfect example is one of the earliest showcase Successfully creating seamlessness to the outdoor
residences Francois Marais Architects located at and indoor living spaces was achieved through the
Ebotse Golf and Country Estate in Rynfield on the extensive use of glass. To ensure that the architec-
East Rand. This geometrical masterpiece, where ture was well-suited to its surrounding, the residence
aesthetics meet comfort, embraces the picturesque was designed whilst optimising the landscape and
landscapes while lending itself to the modern life- embracing the breathtaking view of the nearby lake.
style of the homeowner. When walking through any home, one finds that very
often it is only glass that differentiates between
Francois explains the idea behind the design: “The interior and exterior. Once opened completely,
client wanted a design with clean modern lines that the surrounding landscape is invited internally
was a lock–up-and-go type of residence. The design through seamless openings.
encompasses two rectangular blocks set at differ-
ent angles, which follows the shape of the stand. The complex lines of the site were effortlessly
The view onto the golf course and the way the overcome with the geometrical use of rectangular
house opens up to these areas were very impor- blocks, which would prove beneficial in ensuring
tant factors that needed to be considered.” Using unobstructed views. The contemporary architecture
geometrical shapes is a characteristic, which will was continued into the interior elements, where the
later be used in all projects undertaken by the firm home owner highlighted the importance of quality
as its signature design style. rather than quantity. Creating spaces that exude
sophistication and elegance were successfully
KPMG opened its new Bold architectural features Unusual lighting helps
environmentally friendly building in emphasise the double volume emphasise double volume
Platinum Park in August 2010, and entrance. staircase enhancing the curved
as far as it can be ascertained, it is wall with cladding.
the first green building of its kind in
the city of Polokwane.
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achieved in this minimalist interior and the move The building boasts the latest eco-friendly tech-
to be ecologically friendly is evident in the kitchen, nologies. It is equipped with an HVAC system,
through the incorporation of gas appliances. The which assists in regulating the internal climate and
simple design of the bathrooms and kitchen also air quality of commercial buildings, providing a
accentuates the understated elegance evident in healthy working environment for its inhabitants.
this home. The building is completely airtight when sealed to
further enhance this feature.
The new KPMG building in Polokwane was another
major step forward for this fast growing company. The sophisticated lighting system found in the KPMG
KPMG opened its new environmentally friendly build- building, has electronic sensors that detect the
ing in Platinum Park, in August of 2010 and as far volume of people working in the building at all times
as it can be ascertained, it is the first green build- and makes adjustments to not only provide suita-
ing of its kind in the city of Polokwane. ble lighting to all its staff, but also provides an op-
portunity for the owners to save on lighting costs
KPMG is a global firm providing a network of profes- when certain areas are not in use. The building also
sional audit, tax and advisory services. According to incorporates greywater recycling technology,
Marc Dufourq of Francois Marais Architects, the which recycles wastewater derived from washing
KPMG building (estimated worth R20 million) con- processes within the building as well as captured
sists of three floors and provides 3 500 m2 office and rainwater.
conference facilities as well as basement parking.
As Polokwane is known for its high daytime tem- lifestyle, whilst being infused with trends and
peratures, large pane energy-saving glass surfaces timeless elegance.
form an integral part of the design. The glass pre-
vents the sun’s ultraviolet rays from affecting the In our ever-changing environment where time is
temperature in the building, and angled louvers money; detail is sacrificed for speed; where less
assist in shielding the building from excessive heat has become more and for the client who stretches
caused by the sun. every budget to the maximum, Francois Marais Ar-
chitects has changed its focus to more sustainable
Dufourq says that his firm has registered the build- building and designs. Sustainable building and
ing with the Green Star Council and is aiming for a ‘green architecture’ is a specialised field, where
4 star, Green Star SA rating. Green Star SA is widely knowledge of the location, climate, orientation of
recognised across South Africa as an indication of buildings, combined with the correct use of build-
buildings that have been certified by the GBCSA to ing techniques such as cavity walls, insulation in
satisfy certain environmental criteria, as outlined the walls, roofs and floors, sun protection, glass,
in the GBCSA Technical Manual [Green Star SA – shading devices and many more effect the internal
Office Design v1]. living and working environment. Therefore Fran-
cois Marais Architects believes that the future
Francois Marais Architects’ design skills stretch far challenge for architects will be designing function-
beyond the borders of South Africa, and the firm al, whilst aesthetically pleasing, buildings without
is presently lead architects on several developments getting trapped by designing away sustainable
in Lusaka, Zambia, including residential and com- structures with exterior ornamentation. <
mercial projects which are tailored to the local
Johannesburg
Unit 3, Ground floor
3 Melrose Boulevard,
Melrose Arch
P O Box 1621 Saxonwold 2132
East London
1st Floor, Pilot Mill House,
The Quarry, Selborne,
East London
Private Bag X3, Tecoma, 5214
Durban
Block A, 1 on Langford,
Langford Rd, Westville,
Durban
P O Box 1450, Kloof, 3640
OSMOND LANGE:
80 YEARS
IN THE MAKING
147 >
Osmond Lange’s diversified portfolio includes 380 m, is secured on large concrete foundations,
projects ranging from airports, like King Shaka Inter- which extend down to the cretaceous bedrock.
national Airport at La Mercy in Durban and OR Tambo From a distance, the stadium’s arch is a defining
International Airport in Johannesburg; community/ silhouette, a familiar marker against the land-
heritage projects like Nelson Mandela Museum; scape. From within, the arch forks on both sides,
education facilities like University of Transkei; Health creating a timeless long arch, which represents
care developments including Natalspruit Hospital; the past and the walk into the future.
hotels like Polana Hotel in Maputo; industrial projects
like Sedibeng Brewery; office developments like The façade of the stadium bowl is a layered inte-
Melrose Arch; residential projects like Grosnevor grated series of components. Over one hundred
Corner; Stadiums like Moses Mabhida; transport leaning pre-cast concrete columns sweep around
facilities including the Bus Rapid Transmit System the circumference of the stadium bowl forming
and urban developments like Melrose Arch, amongst the skeleton of the façade, creating the impres-
others. sion of a sculptural element in the landscape. Adding
to the sculptural quality of the building, aluminium
Through blending architecture and urban planning fins sit vertically between each of the concrete
skills, Osmond Lange delivers sustainable property columns and, finally, a woven mesh ties the façade
investments for its clients, whilst creating recog- together. The expanded metal mesh covering the
nised building designs and complimenting to brightly coloured façade and the filling to the rail-
South Africa’s built environment as a whole. ings in the stadium take their inspiration from the
structure of basketweave.
KEY PROJECTS Symbolic of the African climate and spirit, the bare
grey coolness of the off-shutter concrete used in
Moses Mabida Stadium Moses Mabhida Stadium is contrasted by the pal-
ette of warm colours used on infill walls and interi-
The Moses Mabhida Stadium, an iconic beacon of ors. Tones of the beaches, the colours of clothing
Durban, imbues symbolic associations and reflects and handcrafted jewellery were used to express
unique cultural, social and environmental contexts the vibrancy of the local surroundings in the build-
yet, it succeeds best in the way it reflects the aspi- ing. Brightly coloured seating, drawing its inspira-
rations of the current and future. From the urban tion from beach sand merging into the ocean, gives
design approach to the iconography, the stadium the stadium bowl a sense that it is a landscape.
has a strong local representation.
The Moses Mabhida Stadium has placed South Africa
The main concrete structure of the stadium com- and Osmond Lange on the global map, having ob-
prises an oval bowl of tiered seating with six ac- tained a ‘world first’ in the design of roof arch founda-
cess levels, sheer cores and stairwells and a podi- tions, which involve diaphragm walling to bedrock,
um. The lightweight translucent roof is supported massive cappings and springer plinths. In addition,
by a steel-cable structure suspended from the the stadium also achieved a ‘South-African first’
arch. The remarkable 104 m-high arch, spanning for pre-cast design and installation in stadiums and
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BOTTOM LEFT: Moses Mabhida Stadium’s spectacular arch. BOTTOM RIGHT: Interior signage. CENTRE LEFT: Façade view. Photo: Rodger Bosch ,
MediaClubSouthAfrica.com. CENTRE RIGHT: View from the beach. Photo: Rodger Bosch, MediaClubSouthAfrica.com. TOP: Stadium interior.
150 >
also achieved the specified strict requirements for The second phase will be triggered by demand,
concrete quality, durability and aesthetics. and will allow Durban to double its passenger
throughput. “The long-term potential will allow
for passenger handling capacity to reach 45 million
King Shaka International Airport at La Mercy passengers by 2060,” explains the Ilembe Architec-
tural Joint Venture (IAJV) leader architect, Victor
Driving north along the N2 one gets a glimpse of Utria, of Osmond Lange.
the emergence of a new structure and gateway
into Durban – the King Shaka International Airport The new glass and steel behemoth with its slick
at La Mercy. The re-located airport, surrounded by curving roof harking back to the gentle curvature
lush green and sugar cane, was designed to cater of the spine, is an expression of Durban seas and
to increased passenger volumes. the aerodynamics of an aircraft wing. It sits amongst
a cluster of some 60 integrated support structures
The master-planning of the new airport allowed and facilities, including the control tower, runway,
for implementation in five phases. The first phase cargo terminal, multi-storey parkade, Crash Fire &
was commissioned in May this year, in time for the Rescue Station, maintenance buildings, staff fa-
2010 FIFA World Cup, and was designed to handle cilities and numerous technical outbuildings and
7.5 million passengers per year. small structures.
The terminal is a ‘looking-glass’, with 360-degree Built over six levels, two of which house most of
views of the KwaZulu-Natal landscape. The build- the passenger areas, the airport has been designed
ing affords views of planes landing and taking off, to be efficient, flexible, durable and user-friendly.
of the airport airside – a bustling hive of activity – To ease the stress on travellers caused by long
and, of course, the cane fields beyond. waiting times, passengers are able to utilise a flexible
number of the check-in counters to facilitate their
Its innards are a dynamic network of vertical and air transport arrangements, unlike the old facilities,
horizontal movement. In addition to the areas that which required passengers to report to specific
support the aviation functions, the airport offers check-in desks. One of the key design components
extensive retail facilities on both landside and airside. of the airport design was to incorporate ideas of
energy efficiency.
The airport is an intricate machine, facilitating many
operations in order to achieve the final goal of The facility has been constructed with a double-
putting people comfortably and effortlessly on a glazed curtain wall to allow for as much natural
plane that is destined for anywhere. “The airport is light as possible to penetrate into the terminal
a facility designed to move people from ground to building. The large open departure lounge, with
air transport, and, as such, the objective is to facilitate its exposed curved roof trusses, is a receptor for
the process and sequence of events that make this natural light ingress as well as a flow of natural
possible in the most efficient way,” says Utria. ventilation. These factors not only reduce carbon
emissions of the building but also assist in provid- The commercial viability of the project, positioned
ing a comforting environment for often stressed to the north of Durban, has been called into ques-
travellers. tion; however Utria explains that the provision of
critical infrastructure cannot be evaluated from a
The airport interiors make use of a palette of light- short-term perspective. This site was chosen 30
unimposing, neutral colours, while the bright and years ago, when it was already clear that the exist-
vibrant signage assists the traveller in navigating ing facility had limited growth options. It remains
the airport with ease. feasible especially because of its expansion poten-
tial, in line with the need of satisfying growing de-
The airport, being a highly trafficked entity, affect- mand.
ed by constant foot, trolley and vehicular traffic,
requires high-impact materials. The use of durable, The site is well positioned with respect to existing
resilient and low maintenance materials, such as and planned road transport systems and will sup-
granite, concrete sealed with epoxy and porcelain port and encourage development of the areas
tiles is predominant in the choice of finishes ap- north of the city. The new airport promotes invest-
plied to the terminal. ment and economic growth and leads to significant
employment creation in the foreseeable future.
A multi-storey parkade, consisting of three floors,
has been designed for expansion to double the Utria explains that the new airport is a very large,
current capacity of 1 500 vehicles. The parkade, with complex project, built within a very demanding
some 50 000 m² of floor space, is the second largest fast-track time schedule. It represents an average
building on-site, with the passenger terminal monthly turnover in the region of R250 million
building being the largest, at nearly 100 000 m². An sustained over a period of two and a half years.
additional 4 500 bays are provided to cater for long-
term parking, staff and car rentals. Having begun construction in August 2007, the de-
sign and construction teams were required to
The airport is at the cutting-edge of modern airport complete the project within 30 months. In order to
design, incorporating state of the art technology, achieve this, at the peak of the construction proc-
not only at the passenger terminal, but also through- ess, some 8 000 people were busy on site, commit-
out the site, including the cargo terminal, which ted to meeting the quality and time requirements
has been provided with a very sophisticated cargo of the project.
handling system. The 16 000 m² cargo facility has
been designed to handle 100 000 t of cargo per year. It is the first large-scale ‘greenfield’ international
This is a leading contributor in supporting KZN- airport to be built in South Africa in decades, and
based agro-industrial concerns, which previously demonstrates, once again, the capabilities of the
relied on road transport to deliver goods to the air local construction industry to design and construct
cargo facilities located in Gauteng. As a result, the world-class facilities.
cargo facility stimulates related opportunities in
the area and leads to the creation of numerous
supporting industries, therefore uplifting the
province, Utria explains.
154 >
SEDIBENG
BREWERY –
TRANSITIONS
IN AN
AFRICAN
LANDSCAPE
The green tint of the bottle is synonymous with cool
refreshing international beer. It would be Osmond
Lange Architects and Planners and others that
would be at the forefront of making the develop-
ment of a brewery a reality.
A further challenge was to take the large volumet- Vehicular access to the brewery is via an approach
ric forms as determined by the processing equip- road which winds itself through the industrial park
ment, and transform them or integrate them so as so taking cognisance of its connectivity to future
to be in harmony with the immediate and sur- surrounding developments. From this road one is
rounding landscape. guided to the precinct along an entrance boule-
vard which opens up the visitor’s views to the ex-
tent of the precinct, it’s array of differing types of
Location and context buildings and finally a glimpse of the focal build-
ing: the brew house.
Sedibeng Brewery is sited just south of Johannes-
burg near Alberton, its backdrop a natural ‘koppie’
with the Kliprivier a notable natural feature – the Site and precinct
springboard for the designs sensitivity to the en-
vironment. Being bounded by the R59 freeway, it The nature of the precinct demands large scale
was a gleaning opportunity to open up the devel- shed-type buildings which can pose a rather de-
opment for visibility to passing traffic. The campus humanising industrialised experience. This magna-
of the brewery buildings, sits low slung, but for nimity is brought to a human scale by introducing
the grain silos peering over the relatively flat-lined smaller scale/people-related buildings experi-
southern landscape, sprawled across the vast red- enced on arrival arranged along the entrance
earth site. boulevard/axis. Furthering the human scale, the
161 >
Collection of buildings
Conclusion
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168 >
169 >
DRIVEN BY
DIVERSITY:
PGA
ARCHITECTS
IN FOCUS
PGA Architects is a young, dynamic and innovative
firm founded in Durban in 1996 by Prakasen Govender.
Through various strategic ventures over the last 14
years of operation, the company has grown steadily
to a staff of 24, comprising architects, architectural
technologists and interior designers.
170 >
The firms’ focus is in line with the rapid urbanisation lifestyle. Coastlands Gatemax, a new contempo-
of the country, and they help to create intelligent rary four star hotel, adds a fresh dimension to the
growth through engagement with the principles flourishing Umhlanga Ridge skyline, whilst imple-
of new urbanism through a combination of tradi- menting new urban design and thermal efficiency
tional planning and modern technology, breaking principles. The innovative design incorporates
the conventional mould of commercial and estate many green features to ensure that the building is
buildings, and striving for environmental balance, sustainable: indigenous landscaping, the 90%
social integration and a true sense of community. green Resocrete cladding system, and the triple
The implementation of these principles is evident glazed façade and ventilated double skin of solar
in the Edgeview and Kindlewood Estates for Tongaat- shield glass which increases the natural daylight
Hulett Developments, and the consistently high and ventilation entering the internal spaces.
calibre of several high-intensity mixed-use and
residential buildings in the URNTC with The Gate- The new corporate head office for PGA Architects,
way Theatre of Shopping as the catalyst. Such di- PGA Park, is a sleek tectonic design that makes ample
verse quality buildings were only possible through use of steel and glass with sun shading devices for
a symbiotic interaction with the review committee, a more energy efficient design. The concept was
headed by Gapp Architects and Urban Designers to create a contemporary building with a distinct
who are also collaborators on the new ICC Hotel visual identity that is also functionally flexible for
for the Coastlands chain. Some of these buildings the needs of a changing market. Enhancing its
include The Yamada Building, The Quartz, Crystal iconic status in the practices’ portfolio is the use
Rock, Grand Central, Platinum Towers, Aldrovande of local materials, craftsmanship and design to
Palace, Millennium Towers, The Meridian and Il create a proudly South African building.
Palazzo.
One on Herrwood is a new apartment development
PGA’s architectural philosophy focuses on sustain- perched on the edge of the URNTC that continues the
able and eco-friendly architecture where cutting ethos of a secure, family friendly urban oasis embodied
edge technology and energy efficient systems are in the precinct. The mid-rise building has magnificent
combined with traditional, passive principles that 180 degree sea views and is infused with a serenity
have a continued relevance to the South African that emulates that of a five star luxury resort hotel.
172 >
An imaginative new project called Seasons Court through the transfer of knowledge. With its part-
is located in the extensions to the URNTC. It intro- ners on the project, PGA Architects was able to
duces a new typology of residential living to the ensure a high degree of quality whilst creating an
area with numerous variations in massing and L-shaped building orientated to track the sun as it
façade design to simulate the aggradations of moves and that provides ample space for the us-
buildings that have grown over time. The archi- ers to interact in an open and friendly environ-
tects’ intention was to embrace ecological ideas ment. The sheltered arrivals court of the building
and evoke the feeling of an urban eco-village within inventively incorporates essential design elements
in a larger region. The development explores alter- of public buildings for increased legibility, such as
native methods of creating modern passive secu- a tower, a colonnade, and a defined portal.
rity perimeters to the street edge that adopt the
principles of ‘defensible space’ (a concept of influ- Having created a niche in the luxury housing sector,
encing negative social behaviour through positive, PGA’s work includes some of the most impressive
reactive architecture and urban design) in an at- houses along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline and have
tempt to improve a growing trend in South Africa acted as the estate architects for Camelot Golf and
for fortified security estates in favour of a perme- Residential Estate, Edgeview Estate and Kindle-
able urban interface using the principles of New wood Estates, developing the urban character
Urbanism. through the design of communal facilities and the
formulation of the architectural guidelines.
In 2006, PGA Architects opened its Johannesburg
office and shortly afterwards were awarded the Kindlewood is a residential estate aimed at attracting
tender to design, construct and fit-out the interior a younger family-orientated market who require ele-
of the NHBRC Training and Conference Centre in gant, modern and sophisticated living that is in uni-
Shoshanguivwe near Pretoria. The tender required son with the estates’ natural surroundings. The aes-
the building to be environmentally sustainable, thetic is a contemporary interpretation of design
thermally efficient and and an innovative hub built principles derived from vernacular Natal Victorian
by local unskilled labour to aide in poverty relief architecture, synthesised with Japanese influences
173 >
BOTTOM: House
Harichand, Zimbali Estate,
Ballito.
cavity wall construction to increase insulation, and timeless appeal due to sensitive design and con-
sun louvers to control light and heat gain. A re- struction.
gional logic influences the buildings’ massing, ori-
entation and placement of windows to track the PGA Architects is entirely committed to serving
sun and encourage the use of natural light and the needs of their diverse group of clients and en-
passive ventilation. gages inventively with design possibilities within
the constraints of site, brief and budget. Offering
The style of Zimbali Estate is inspired by the open a personalised service, the firm’s senior staff, Pra-
tropical houses of Bali but are rooted in Africa kasen Govender, Sarah Fleming, Nirdosh Ramjia-
through the abundant use of earthy tones and nat- wan, Peggy Ngide, Yougen Elliah, Craig Atkins, and
ural materials. When one visits this beautiful estate Jeron Dhanookdhari, deliver a pragmatic yet deep-
on the north coast, the integration of the homes ly thoughtful approach to ensure full client satis-
with their surroundings is remarkable. The Zimbali faction, and their total commitment to quality is
homes that PGA has designed have a classical and evident on all projects. <
176 >
177 >
STUDIO 3
ARCHITECTS
INTERNATIONAL
lished in 1987. At that time it was clear that a definite
evolution was taking place in architectural practices re-
garding client service, generation of work, as well as
execution of documentation. Therefore, it was impera-
tive for the practice’s founders to select expertise and
personnel that, firstly, understood this evolutionary direc-
tion and secondly, were able to assist in the dynamic
environment required by property developers as well as
cost conscious clients.
dti Campus Building systems are place rooted & robust, fit for
civic architecture. Facade articulations & materials
Located in Trevenna, Pretoria, the Department of respond to the cultural context, as well as to cli-
Trade and Industry (dti) Campus forms part of the matic conditions. Mosaic work inlays; brickwork
greater Mandela Development Corridor. This is an patterns; raked vibrant coloured plaster & natural
urban design vision and framework that was initi- stonework refer to our cultural heritage of crafts-
ated by the City Council of Tshwane in conjunction manship. Mass brick-work facades & metal sun
with the private sector. shading devices reduce heat gain. Metal devices
furthermore afford a high-tech light-weight feel,
The campus consists of seven, four storey office juxtaposed with the solid and grounded expres-
buildings. The buildings are arranged to create an sion of the brick-work and natural stone walls. The
accessible civic precinct. The design of the Campus progression from earth bound to high tech, sym-
followed an integrated process. Consideration was bolically reflects our rootedness in the past, but
given to commercial norms required for robust of- simultaneously reflecting a vision of the future, in
fice building design; but also took into account the other words, the industrial notions of progress
urban context; urban design principles; public and wealth creation.
open space; cultural matters; climatic conditions;
as well as timelessness. The Department of Trade & Industry Office Campus
manifests the required social responsibility of being
Universal urban design principles were utilised to a truly accessible, culturally appropriate building
ensure integration with the existing urban fabric, as within its urban context
well as urban activities. Existing patterns of use were
incorporated & strengthened. Focal points act as
beacons of definition & orientation. Perimeter blocks
allow clearly defined urban edges & different levels
180 >
Trevenna Office Campus & Trevenna Urban The buildings reflect simple rational forms, con-
Square trasted with forms derived from regulating lines of
the urban context – organic shapes as well as pedes-
Located in Trevenna, Pretoria, and neighboring trian circulation requirements.
the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) cam-
pus, the Trevenna Office Campus forms part of the Corner elements, building entrances and feature
greater Mandela Development Corridor. This is an walls are articulated as focal points, creating a leg-
urban design vision and framework that was initi- ible whole. Colonnaded setbacks allow for a pedes-
ated by the City Council of Tshwane in conjunction trian friendly environment at the major entrance
with the private sector. courtyards. The Schoeman/Greef Street corner is
an iconic landmark: the ‘drum’ tower is played off
The design follows an integrated design process. against the recessed glass façade of Building C
Consideration was given to commercial norms re- and the campus circulation cores, concrete and
quired for successful office building design, but also steel pavilion structures are the focal points of the
took into account the urban context, cultural con- main courtyards, creating visual and access anchor
text as well as the climatic conditions of the site. points.
The campus consist of eight, four- to eight-storey Façade articulations A grade materials respond to
office buildings. The buildings are arranged to cre- the urban and cultural context, as well as to climatic
ate a pedestrian friendly precinct, serviced by a conditions: mass brick-work façades, metal sun
super basement for parking. Campus circulation shading devices, high-performance glazing, reflec-
cores provide public access to the courtyards, tive walls, set-backs, as well as screen walls and
from where building entrances are approached. reflective metal roofs reduce heat gain. Metal devices
The building layouts allow for a robust, multi-ten- afford a high-tech light-weight feel, set off against
ant A grade office scenario. the solid and grounded expression of the brick-
work and landscape natural stone walls.
The Trevenna Campus Square forms the heart of the
campus, affording a pleasant landscaped public Pretoria has a long tradition of face-brick work
breathing space, furthermore spatially linking the and the new Trevenna campus falls into this tradi-
campus with the dti development’s ceremonial en- tion. The local cultural influence is reflected in
trance. The square is defined by the adjacent Phase various ways: the drum form and other organic
1 building, reflecting the historic grid layout of Pre- shapes, colour pallet, dry-pack stone features af-
toria. Urban spaces are defined by arranging build- ford an earth-bound natural feel to the landscape,
ings around courtyards, thus affording legibility, which is typical of traditional African homesteads.
definition and security, with clearly defined spaces
and entrances. The buildings are furthermore ar- The campus creates an accessible, human-friendly
ranged as open perimeter blocks, which includes urban environment, therefore introducing much
visual as well as entrance openings. The importance needed revenue into an area that was destined to
of the historic Voor Street axis, juxtaposed with the decay without any such intervention.
urban grid layout and organic landscape lines, is em-
phasised, anchoring the precinct and creating vistas.
Trevenna Office Campus & Trevenna Urban Square, Pretoria South Africa.
181 >
182 >
LEFT COLUMN: Lynnwood Bridge, Pretoria, South Africa. RIGHT COLUMN: Design Square, Pretoria, South Africa.
183 >
space has also been redesigned and the landscap- formal boulevard connects the buildings to each
ing is radically reconfigured. other and organically shaped landscaping with the
accent on terraces, completes the picture.
The newly created piazza now operates on one
level, allowing each restaurant to extend its out- The office buildings are designed each with its own
door seating. This has greatly improved the pedes- clearly defined Porte coheres, affording weather
trian movement through the new mall. New esca- protection and articulation. The work yard shapes
lators now provide access from the lower level allow for a multi-tenant option utilising the tradi-
parking directly into the open-air piazza, which is tional veranda space for articulation definition and
further linked vertically by a central glass observa- protection of the different entrances.
tion lift and stair element.
Architectural elements incorporated are multivalent,
An improved visual link, as well as pedestrian ac- they are derived from Mauritian building tradition,
cess, into the piazza from Veale and Bronkhorst Street often climatically responsive as well as function-
has been created. The material, use of steel, and ally appropriate.
colour palette used in the Design Square revamp
was chosen to give the centre a more contempo-
rary feel. The amount of soft landscaping has been The Fields
concentrated into two areas, which include planters
and water elements. The landscaping within the The Fields is a residential development geared pri-
new piazza is minimalist, enhancing the design marily for the university student demographic pro-
features of the new centre. file in Pretoria. The development takes up an entire
city block in the heart of the Hatfield precinct.
The design of the project, throughout, is meant to The ‘drum’ element, central to the home, presents
address the sensibilities of the young-at-heart, by itself at a human scale with entry on the middle
employing bright accent colours, a variety of tex- level. A trout pond forms the base of the ‘drum’
tures and finishes; all within a modern context. with a shaped timber landing floating over.
The finishes used, were chosen for their low-main-
tenance, hard-wearing characteristics while add- All public and private spaces extend onto a vast
ing to the “funky”/ semi-industrial vibe. In support timber deck that wraps around the house pushing
of the vast residential component is a smaller (by out, on pillars, into one of the trout dams at the
comparison) rental component on the ground main bedroom suite. On the main axis, the flush
floor, designed to address the needs of the inde- edge of the deck meets the grating of the pool
pendent flat-dweller. edge, which becomes organic on its vanishing
edge into the dam. The guest rooms on the side,
Two levels of basement provide secure parking for with separate private decks enjoy different views.
tenants and visitors, as well as space for storage,
utilities and safe vertical transportation to the Materials, textures and colours were kept natural
residential and retail components. A central axis for exterior and interior with subtle accents of rich
runs through the site, form South (Burnett Street) colour. On the exterior, shades of grey move from
to North, connecting the current project with fu- the slate roofs and adjacent slabs into the natural
ture phases, which will be designed to augment stone built elements. Earthy flush jointed brick-
and compliment the precinct even further. work panels help to articulate the natural plaster
and painted walls. A solid timber deck and steel
pergola/roof combination is continuous along the
House Boogertman main façade.
A country restaurant, nestled in the Magaliesburg The interior features include finger plastered
hills, was converted into an expansive modern pri- walls and richly coloured art glass wall lights,
vate home, which is set amongst the farm’s breed- which form part of the original building. Rustic
ing trout dams. The existing large kitchen and din- flush jointed brick walls and concrete beams de-
ing room were maintained and used as the base fine the structure of large spans and spaces. Butt-
from which the house was developed. jointed light coloured tiled floors are taken
throughout. In the dining and lounge areas de-
The new roof scape was simplified into separate fined squares of timber inserts give the effect of
roof elements, which define the spaces within. larger tiles being used.
The existing slate roof was marginally revised to
become a defined design element. A three-storey Luxury spaces such as a large restaurant-type kitch-
stone-clad ‘drum’ structure was introduced to re- en, walk in cold rooms, gymnasium, projector room,
spond to the scale of the house and the topogra- wine cellar and large aquarium add features to this
phy of the site. This towers above the slate roofs, South African life-styled home. <
which are linked by flat concrete slabs.
189 >
Seafood restaurant – Programmed to change colors, optical fibers enable variable lighting.
Italian restaurant – Glass cylinders in shades of green are suspended from the ceiling on thin metal cables.
Lobby pâtisserie – Light emitted by various sources penetrates a combination of chromium-plated glass as well
as metal components, thus creating attractive reflections.
Noodle restaurant – A regular configuration of matte glass rods with LED light sources.
191 >
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Noodle restaurant – Nature-inspired glass components encircling the column evoke the image of a magically
illuminated tree.
All-day dining – This imaginatively shaped object is formed from glass tubes with optical fibers inserted in every
fourth tube. In addition, the entire composition is illuminated by extra spotlights placed in the ceiling.
Arabic restaurant – Glass spheres in an Arab style with metal decorations cut out by a laser are finished with a
matte bronze patina.
193 >
196 >
3-D is here. Better believe it. And if Leonardo da Vinci was the first to lament the limita-
tions of painting in simulating the appearance of
you’re a designer, now would be a really
three-dimensional space. Over the centuries we
good time to start developing an under- have developed many 2-D visual design mecha-
standing of the new opportunities made nisms in order to create the illusion of depth: linear
1. See in 3-D
1. Place the below images directly parallel to your face, but be sure to view it from a distance
of no less than 70cm without zooming in. 2. Be sure to hold your head at a perfect horizontal
angle. 3. Relax your eyes and stare at the two black dots below the images. 4. Now skew your
eyes slightly without changing focus until you see four dots. 5. Keep skewing your eyes until
the two middle dots overlap. 6. Keeping that gaze fixed, raise your eyes to view the 3-D image.
198 >
depth is concerned, even when several of these But I’m not referring only to the realistic/natural-
mechanisms are used in combination. There is only istic representation of space or volume. As we
so much information that can be communicated in have had to learn to manipulate the mechanisms
2-D, because you have to rely on the viewer’s abil- of visual depth in 2-D, we must now learn to ma-
ity to understand spatial definition. The illusion of nipulate the mechanisms of visual depth in all
depth has to be correctly interpreted. three dimensions. Our clients and the public at
large will soon become used to 3-D TV and com-
Also, the illusion of depth in a 2-D illustration/pho- puting (the real McCoy) and soon would not be
tograph can be manipulated or inaccurate. The il- satisfied by illusional 3-D designs.
lusion of depth can also be exaggerated or under-
stated as many of the famous graphic works by The visual representation of three-dimensional
M.C. Escher clearly illustrate. space relies on what is called stereoscopic vision.
But things are changing fast. The latest screen Let me explain. Like most animals, we humans
technology doesn’t even require those unflatter- have two eyes. Human visual perception makes
ing 3-D glasses to deliver real 3-D visual depth. Be- use of the slight difference between the individu-
fore long any CI Manual will have to contain a al vantage points of each eye, to estimate dis-
chapter on how the brand lives in 3-D space. Soon, tance. Interestingly, a physiological attribute we
we will have a much deeper canvas to work on. share with most predators in the animal kingdom,
i.e. both eyes looking forward.
The time has come for designers of all disciplines to
develop a detailed understanding of the mecha- A simple demonstration of the above would be to
nisms by which three-dimensional sight is achieved. try to catch a ball with one eye closed. The view
from any single vantage point is quite flat, making
Now this sounds like hard work, and to be sure, it it very difficult to judge distance. Having two eyes
can sometimes be a bit tricky, but the good news is focused simultaneously on a distant object enable
that it is also a whole lot of fun. Better yet, a basic us to better understand the space in which we find
understanding of the principles can enable you to ourselves.
bring great realism, screaming clarity and blistering
immediacy to most designs, while at the same time So the purpose of this article is then to demon-
adding enormous value to your process. strate the visual effect of stereoscopic vision (in
case you didn’t get around to seeing Avatar in a
200 >
3-D movie theatre), and then to show you how to thousand kilometers from where the client is, and
make rudimentary 3-D images using a camera or you have a tight deadline.
3-D rendering software.
Not only is this visualisation technique very time
Pronounced visual depth can even be artificially and cost effective, it also enables you to accentu-
applied to an existing flat design by carefully iso- ate specific design attributes that you want the
lating and arranging different visual planes on client to notice and understand. It is sometimes
separated layers to create a view for each eye the only way to gain a truly realistic sense of what
an image looks like when it’s applied to a form.
You can even ‘distill’ static 3-D images from certain Typically in packaging design.
types of video files and movies by combining
screen-captured images from different vantage It’s also a very realistic technique for visualising re-
points – tracking shots and dolly shots work really tail interiors or architectural elevations, compared
well. to the traditional ‘fly-through’, flat 3-D rendering or
scale model. There’s just no end to the fun you can
Our design studio has recently started facilitating have with a stereoscopic experimentation. <
stereoscopic presentations of three-dimensional
design concepts to some of our FMCG clients with
great success. Richard Stone is creative director at Yellowwood
Architects.
Instead of building and couriering mock-ups, we
often visualise the packaging design concept by
rendering or photographing it (twice – one for
each eye) in three dimensions, in our Johannes-
burg studio. We (can) then email the combined
stereoscopic image to our Cape Town branch,
where it may be viewed by the client, in perfect
3-D, on the very same day it was designed. Very
handy when your industrial design happens a
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3.1 Small & medium size objects 3.2 Large objects & landscapes
Smaller objects’ shapes are better defined by rotational Larger views are better defined by parallel camera setup
camera setup re-positioning. Limited depth-of-field can be re-positioning. Landscapes are better defined when the
effectively used to accentuate specific aspects of the object two photographs are taken several meters apart, or even
at greater distances.
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By Stacey Rowan
BRIAN STEINHOBEL:
SMART INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Industrial design can be defined as “…a blend of applied art,
business and technology, which attempts to develop
physical solutions to meet particular needs.”
Smart industrial design can be defined as Brian Steinhobel.
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Brian Steinhobel is one of Africa’s most pre-eminent block of foam. He then cut a chair on the side of it
industrial designers of our time. The element of smart with a knife and used this chair until he completed
design is crucial to what Steinhobel delivers as it his schooling.
improves both functional and aesthetic appeal of
products. Not only did Brian complete Matric with a distinc-
tion in Art, but he also won the top Art Award in
Brian started on his creative path as a young boy, his school for three years in a row. At school, Brian
when he was drawn to art and started creating in developed a deep affinity to art encouraged by
a multitude of ways. Cutting the legs off the dining one of his teachers, Mr Edwin Harrison, who pro-
chairs at home and using it as a seat in a wooden foundly influenced his appreciation of art and his-
box kart was on the first incidences of him being tory of art and architecture. The teachings of Harrison
in trouble for thinking ‘differently’ and ‘out of the helped Brian to channel the inspiration that art
box’. At age eight, Brian unintentionally created had to offer into his own development. Also, during
his first piece of appropriate industrial design by his youth, Brian seriously considered architecture
drawing the shape of a chair on the side of a large as a career, a subject he still loves to this day, but
eventually discovered that industrial design was range from aerospace to consumer goods, amongst
actually his calling. This was like discovering the others.
true answer to life for Brian and he immersed him-
self into Industrial Design studies, which is still a The industrial design carried out at the company
hallmark of his dedication to design. spans both the design and engineering of new prod-
uct development with Brian’s personal creativity
Steinhobel Design Pty, founded and still headed and direction based on more than 30 years of in-
up Brian, is a prolific consultancy serving both cor- tense passionate work and experience. Steinhobel
porate and individual clients as well as inventors Design uses leading edge technology to execute
across diverse industries – electronics, packaging, the design process significantly compressing prod-
white goods, mining, medical, furniture, pharma- uct development cycles and reducing unit manu-
ceutical, automotive, sports equipment and many facturing costs.
others, across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Through Steinhobel Design, Brian continues to A large selection of products and projects are being
work in a multitude of industries, applying a wide rolled out globally and three decades of intense
range of materials and technologies to hundreds work is culminating in the Brian Steinhobel brand
of designs which have been carried out. These being more prominent with products based on an
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The subtle nuances of high design, driven by cut- competition and award juries in South Africa and
ting edge technology, sub-conscious and con- around the world including the Australian Design
scious psychologies, ergonomics, anthropomet- Awards, the British D&AD Awards, the German
rics, computer aided design (CAD), manufacturing Braun Design Prize and the South African Bureau
technologies, marketing strategies, intellectual of Standards Design Excellence Awards.
property and contractual issues, business and en-
trepreneurial skills and a plethora of dynamic sym- Brian has also started planning and is in pursuit of
biotic influences must all be orchestrated and cul- establishing a Museum of Contemporary Design
minate in products that will impact for the and Art in Cape Town. This is a multi-billion Rand
betterment of society. project with the intent of boosting Africa into the
future in these fields and raising awareness of de-
Brain’s mission is to design products that enhance sign and its potential to dramatically boost the
life’s journey and vastly increase profitability and economy in the region.
market share.
Inspiring and teaching the youth as well as up-and-
Apart from Steinhobel Design Pty, Brian continues coming industrial designers, art-lovers and designers,
to contribute to arts and design – locally and inter- is another priority for Brian. At his recent exhibition
nationally. Brian has served on a number of design titled Brian Steinhobel Alumni Exhibition, held at
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Leatherlikes - Leather is synonymous with Nature - Each and every colour surface is a
nobility, style and quality. The world of Leather gift of Nature. Nature is a regular source of
offers a rich variety of surfaces and textures. inspiration and creative energy that draws us
Our product range offers a wide selection of to authentic materials. Our range combines a
solutions to meet the needs of those looking selection of natural features in harmonious
for a material both classic and contemporary. colours inspired by nature.
www.graphica.co.za
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THE 32ND
ANNUAL
LOERIE
AWARDS
GRAND PRIX
CRAFT GOLD
AGENCY: King James
PROJECT: Allan Gray’s
TV commercial, Legend.
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GRAND PRIX
AGENCY: Boogertman + Partners Architects
PROJECT: Soccer City Stadium, The Melting Pot.
GRAND PRIX
AGENCY: VWV Group
PROJECT: 2010 FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremony.
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GRAND PRIX
AGENCY: Grid Worldwide Branding and Tonic Design
PROJECT: Mixed-media Campaign for
Comair/British Airways, SLOW Lounge.
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GOLD
AGENCY: King James
PROJECT: Print
advertising for Allan
Gray, Legend.
GOLD
AGENCY: King James
PROJECT: Print
advertising for Allan
Gray, Sea Monkeys,
Soccer, Karate.
GOLD
AGENCY: DDB
Cape Town
PROJECT: Advertising
poster for Nikon
Coolpix S8000, Power
zoom.
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GOLD
AGENCY: disturbance;
Noel Pretorius
PROJECT: Publication
design for them-and-us.
GOLD
AGENCY: TBWA\Hunt\
Lascaris Johannesburg
PROJECT: Advertising
poster for Endangered
Wildlife Trust, Trash
seabirds..
GOLD
AGENCY: FOXP2
PROJECT: Print advertising
for Masterlock, Puzzles.
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GOLD
AGENCY: TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris
Johannesburg
PROJECT: Advertising poster
for International Organisation
for Migration, Counter human
trafficking.
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LEFT: GOLD
AGENCY: King James; Atmosphere
Communications; +one; Mnemonic
PROJECT: mixed media campaign
for kulula.com, The you know what.
GOLD GOLD
AGENCY: Switch AGENCY: Trigger
PROJECT: Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Poster. PROJECT: Strategic CRM programme for Nike, Write
the future.
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CENTRE: GOLD
AGENCY: Matchboxology.
PROJECT: Levi’s® Red 4
Life HIV prevention
campaign.
RIGHT: GOLD
AGENCY: The Jupiter
Drawing Room.
PROJECT: TV infomercial for
Scotland from home TV
Series.
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PG BISON 1.618
AWARDS
Exposing young creative minds
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