We are proud to announce that Durban-based Dean Jay Architects’ successful design has won the CWGC architecture competition for the proposed new Cape Town Memorial. The memorial will honour black South African logistics troops who gave their lives during World War One. These men made a huge contribution to the war effort by supplying frontline …
– REGISTER – The brief: In this project the students will have an opportunity to help realise some of the city’s concerns with the upsurge in homelessness. The students will be required to come up with design solutions which aim to translate identified areas/spaces affected by homelessness (refer to list below). The solution should not …
Addressing Homelessness Through Design Competition 2022 Read More »
“Simple dignity and fitness is what I have learnt from our vernacular architecture and what has subconsciously been an inspiration in my own work.” GAWIE FAGAN Dear CIfA Member We hope you and your loved ones are healthy and safe during these uncertain and trying times.We have entered the final stretch of a really strange …
On 4 April 2019, the first ‘Ignite!’ event was hosted at CIfA. It was held as part of the monthly First Thursdays evening, and we welcomed hundreds of people into CIfA to view an exhibition of excellent work by some of last year’s Masters students from UCT. The programme showcased various exciting initiatives working towards …
Dear Members, We are well into the second quarter of the year and members of our various committees are being kept extremely busy with the many programmes and initiatives planned for the year, as well as the very important ongoing work the Institute performs on behalf of our membership. Your support is invaluable and we …
Remember that there is a National Heritage Resources Act. It is not a Municipal by-law, but a National law…so please don’t get caught on the wrong side of it. The Act deals with how heritage resources are to be managed, from setting up National, Provincial and Municipal heritage authorities through to requirements for approvals of …
Dear Members, We extend a hearty welcome to our new President, Henk Lourens, Vice Presidents, Carin Smuts and Nicola Irving and new Management committee members as well as the members of our various sub-committees, they are looking forward to a busy and eventful 2019. WUPPERTHAL ASSISTANCE January saw the Institute …
As we begin another year in South Africa, still embroiled in tales of corruption and inequality, we as spatial practitioners must inquire carefully into our role in ensuring that good quality public space is accessible to all of us. It is the public realm of the street and the city that is our common ground, …
I would like you as a reader of this blog post to imagine. Imagine a city designed by the most marginalised members of our society. What would this city look like? Imagine how this city could change the way people moved – the transport system. Imagine the impact on accessibility – from education to home …
In his 2010 book Ill Fares the Land, the late Tony Judt discusses how we know what things cost but we have no idea about what they are worth. Growing privatisation and commodification of our city’s public places is a worrying trend. As architects and spatial practitioners, we must play a pivotal role in ensuring …
By Henk Lourens, Vice President of CIfA The demise of the City of Cape Town’s Foreshore Freeway Project understandably left a sour taste in the mouths of those who elected to participate in the process. However, it provides an opportunity to reconsider the process followed by the political powers of the City and its administration …
Foreshore Project debate: The road ahead is not a highway Read More »
By Kevin Gadd, President of the Cape Institute for Architecture (CIfA) “The urban spatial patterns that we inherited from apartheid, and which persist to this day, contribute to the reproduction of poverty and inequality – and must be fundamentally changed.” – President Cyril Ramaphosa, 22 August 2018 Our global urban population has grown hugely, with close …
Accelerating spatial transformation for equality and accessibility Read More »
Article based on a speech presented by Kevin Gadd at the CIfA Stakeholders meeting, 22/2/2017 The Cape Institute for Architecture is the largest regional architecture body in South Africa, with the potential to influence development in the city of Cape Town and the wider region. President of the institute Kevin Gadd calls for architects to …
Architects need to address our transformation challenges Read More »
Has a client ever lodged a complaint about you to the South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP)? If not, this might just be because your client knows even less about the codes of ethics for architects than you do. BY EUGENE BARNARD Your clients might not be as knowledgeable or bold as Prince …