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Alex Opper

Mr. Alexander Opper

Senior Lecturer
Name: Alexander Opper
Location: LG025 FADA Building Bunting Road Campus
FADA Architecture Staff  Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: 011 559 1099

Email: alexo@uj.ac.za

About Mr. Alexander Opper

BAS (UCT), March, (UdK, Berlin)

 Alexander Opper (1972, Pretoria) is an artist, educator, writer, architect, designer and curator. After living in Berlin from 1995-2005, he settled in Johannesburg in 2006. In 2001 Opper gained a Master of Architecture with distinction at University of the Arts (UdK), Berlin, Germany. Since 2007 he has taught in the University Johannesburg’s Department of Architecture in the position of Senior Lecturer. Here he designed and in 2011 launched the department’s first ever master’s programme. He served as its director from 2011-14. In his capacity as an academic he has been awarded NRF Rated Researcher status (C2) for two consecutive cycles (2017-22 & 2023-28). He is currently registered Affiliated Junior Fellow in the PhD programme of the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies, University of Bayreuth, Germany.

His artistic practice and primary research interest are based on a radical disciplinary shift from making architecture towards its unmaking. From an earlier practice base of ‘doing’ architecture, a new critical practice of a kind of architecture-in-reverse has emerged: an approach Opper refers to as ‘Undoing Architecture’. His projects – which decode and re-present architecture, space and power – are situated in the productive field of tension between art and architecture. Much of his work is catalysed by observations and experiences gathered in Johannesburg. His projects confront and wrestle with expressions of line, boundary and territory within and between this city’s countless liminal conditions. These ideas are translated in his artistic, writing and teaching practices. In the context of the entanglement of these mutually interdependent modes of thinking and making, his work manifests through a wide range of media, including language, installation, drawing, photography, collage and video.

Key solo exhibitions have been ‘Separ(n)ation’ (2013, Goethe on Main) and ‘Uitval Unfolded’ (2015, Gordon Institute of Business Science). Several group exhibitions have further cemented his critical spatial practice. Some of these are: ‘The Double Body: Being in Space’ (2009, FADA Gallery), ‘Time’s Arrow’ (2010, Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG)), ‘TWENTY: Contemporary Art from South Africa’ (2014-15, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, USA), ‘Past Imperfect // Future Present’ (2015, FADA Gallery), ‘Booknesses’ (2017, FADA Gallery) and ‘Interventions in Practice (2021, FADA Gallery

For Opper’s most recent artistic work, visit:

https://grahamsgallery.co.za/alexander-opper/

For a selection of his writings, visit:

https://johannesburg.academia.edu/AlexOpper

 Exhibitions

2023             Green Fuse: Group exhibition. Graham Contemporary. Johannesburg. 23 Nov-31 Dec.

2023             2020. Modern Art Projects. Richmond. March onwards (showing the full set of my 9-photograph work, 20 seconds, as well as Image #16 from my 16-photograph work, Figure/Ground).

2023             Sunny Side Up: Summer Group exhibition. Graham Contemporary. Johannesburg. 26 Jan-26 Mar.

2022-23         New Day: Spring Group exhibition. Graham Contemporary. Johannesburg. 3 Nov 2022-22 Jan 2023.

2022             Romancing the Stone. KZNSA Gallery. Durban. 21 Sept-21 Oct.

2022             Jan-Ken Paa/Paper. Studio Gallery SPG no. 3. Muizenberg, Cape Town. 22 Jul-31 Dec.

2021             Interventions in Practice. UJ. FADA Gallery. FADA. Bunting Road Campus. Johannesburg. 10 Aug-15 Oct. See Catalogue here: https://www.academia.edu/71809566/20_seconds_and_Figure_Ground_2021_chapter_in_exhibition_catalogue_.

2017             Booknesses: South African Artists’ Books. FADA Gallery. FADA. University of Johannesburg (UJ). Johannesburg. 24 Mar-5 May.

2017             Booknesses: Artist’s Books from the Jack Ginsberg Collection. UJ Art Gallery. UJ. Johannesburg. 25 Mar-5 May.

2015             Past Imperfect // Future Present. FADA Gallery. FADA. Johannesburg. 24 Mar-1 May.

2015             GROUP. The Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). Johannesburg. 8-22 Apr.

2015 (solo)      Uitval: Unfolded. Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). Johannesburg. 4-26 March.

2014-15         TWENTY: Contemporary Art from South Africa. Turchin Center for the Visual Arts. Appalachian State University.  North Carolina. USA. 11 Jul 2014-7 Feb 2015.

2014             TWENTY: Contemporary Art from South Africa. Pretoria Art Museum. Pretoria.

2013 (solo)      Separ(n)ation. Goethe on Main. Johannesburg. 24 Oct-17 Nov.

2011             The South African Informal City Exhibition (Informal Studio: Ruimsig, a collaborative studio between the Department of Architecture, UJ, FADA and 26’10 south Architects). Bus Factory. Johannesburg. 11 Nov-11 Dec.

2010             Cloak & Dagger: The Curtain Raiser. Security Building. Johannesburg. 25 Nov-31 Dec.

2010             Draw links: An exhibition of contemporary drawings. Gallery Art on Paper. Johannesburg. 9-30 Oct.

2010             The Spirit is not an Idea, Says the Penguin. CO-OP. Johannesburg. 18 Mar-17 Apr.

2010             Time’s Arrow. Johannesburg Art Gallery. Johannesburg. 21 Feb-18 Apr.

2009             2nd Floor, Security Building. Security Building. Johannesburg. 28 Nov.

2009             FADA Staff Show. UJ. FADA Gallery. Johannesburg. 22 Sept-16 Oct.

2009             The Double Body: being in space. UJ. FADA Gallery. Johannesburg. 20 May-21 Jun.

2010             Cloak & Dagger: The Curtain Raiser. Security Building. Johannesburg. 25 Nov-31 Dec.

2010             Draw links: An exhibition of contemporary drawings. Gallery Art on Paper. Johannesburg. 9-30 Oct.

2010             The Spirit is not an Idea, Says the Penguin. CO-OP. Johannesburg. 18 Mar-17 Apr.

2010             Time’s Arrow. Johannesburg Art Gallery. Johannesburg. 21 Feb-18 Apr.

2009             2nd Floor, Security Building. Security Building. Johannesburg. 28 Nov.

2009             FADA Staff Show. UJ. FADA Gallery. Johannesburg. 22 Sept-16 Oct.

2009             The Double Body: being in space. UJ. FADA Gallery. Johannesburg. 20 May-21 Jun.

 

Collections

Opper’s work is held in the collections of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), the Smithsonian Institution, The Jack Ginsberg Centre for the Book Arts (Wits Art Museum), Modern Art Projects South Africa (info@map-southafrica.org) and in private collections.

 

Publications

Edited books

Opper, A, Fink, K, Siegert, N (Eds). 2022. Das Bauhaus Verfehlen / Missing the Bauhaus. Johannesburg/Bayreuth/Lagos: iwalewabooks. (491 pages).

 

Artist’s books

Opper, A. 2013. Separ(n)ation. Artist’s book. Edition of 100 (supported with funding from Goethe-Institut, Johannesburg). Johannesburg: self-published.

 

Book chapters

Opper, A. 2023. Tyd om weer te kyk: Personal reflections on Willem Boshoff’s KykAfrikaans. (Chapter for a new book on the work of Willem Boshoff, forthcoming).

Opper, A, Fink, K, Siegert, N (Eds). 2022. Introduction. In Das Bauhaus Verfehlen / Missing the Bauhaus: 7-11; 26-31; 66-69; 96-101; 186-191; 340-345 & 479-479. Johannesburg/ Bayreuth/ Lagos: iwalewabooks.

Opper, A & Ferreira Â. 2022. A Double-sided Conversation. In Das Bauhaus Verfehlen / Missing the Bauhaus: 192-207. Johannesburg/Bayreuth/Lagos: iwalewabooks.

Opper, A. 2021. Open House. In Charlton, J, Cohen, L, Leyde, L, Mokgojwa, K, Nettleton, A and Rankin-Smith, F (Eds). In Seen, Heard and Valued: WAM celebrates 40 Years of the Standard Bank African Art Collection: 248-253. Wits Art Museum (WAM): Johannesburg.

Opper, A. 2021. If Roads Could Talk. In Meuser, P and Dalbai, A (Eds). In Architectural Guide: Sub-Saharan Africa: 384-387. Berlin: Dom publishers.

Opper, A. 2019. Breaking Johannesburg’s architectural fourth wall: An interrogation of three façade-conditions as interstitial sites of appearance, reality and possibility. In Silva, MT (Ed). Dramaturgias Do Real: 58-89. Belo Horizonte, Brazil: Impressoes de Minas.

Opper, A. 2017. Introduction: University of Johannesburg. In Joubert, O’ (Ed). 10+ years 100 projects – Architecture in a democratic South Africa: 135-191. Cape Town: Bell-Roberts.

A. 2015. About Time, (Or: Typological Transfers and the Case of Johannesburg’s Gas Works as an Evolution from Exploitative Industrial Machine, to No-man’s Land, to a Singular Chance to Realise an Inclusive Urban Future). In M. Lauferts, J. Mavunganidze (Eds). The Gas Works: 79-90. Johannesburg: Fourthwall Books.

Opper, A, with Kurgan, T & Bristow, T. 2015. Public Art/Private Lives: The Making of ‘Hotel Yeoville’. In A.E. Coombes & R.B. Phillips (Eds). Museum Transformations (Volume 4 (of a 4-volume publication), Part 3 (Museum Experiments), Chapter 19): 439-470. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.

Opper, A, with Kurgan, T. 2015. Hotel Yeoville: Reflections on the Advantages of Working Together. In K. Pinther, U.S. Nzewi and B. Fischer (Eds). New Spaces for Negotiating Art (And) History in Africa: 128-153. Berlin: LIT Verlag.

Opper, A. 2014. Spaces of Archival Slippage and […] Things […] not necessarily Meant to be Viewed as Art. In A. Pauls. The Fabric of Matter. The Matter of Fabric. 1-16 (in booklet X). Stuttgart. Akademie Schloss Solitude.

Opper, A. 2014. Recognising and Revealing the Public in the Photographic Constructions of Lard Buurman. In L. Buurman. Africa Junctions. Capturing the City: 206-212. Hatje Cantz. Ostfildern.

Opper, A. 2013. Ways of belonging. In B. Law-Viljoen (Ed.). Hotel Yeoville: 65-80. Johannesburg: Fourthwall Books.

Opper, A. 2012. 2010 reasons for living. In J. Gaylard (Ed.) 2010 reasons to live in a small town: 13-19. (in the ‘TEXTS’ component of the two-part publication). Johannesburg: VANSA.

Opper, A. 2011. The Seduction of Collapse: Unfolding the Work of Maja Marx. In Maja Marx. Fold: 6-12. Cape Town. Whatiftheworld Gallery.

 

Papers

Opper, A. 2016. Derrière les panneaux publicitaires/Behind the Billboards. In L. Farber and C. Jorgensen (Eds). Critical Addresses. The Archive-in-Practice: 111-122. Johannesburg: Jacana Media. (Paper published as chapter in conference proceedings, as book).

Opper. 2011. (Not) Everything counts in large amounts: Dusty Realism and the productive ‘archive’ of the in between. (Paper presented at the ‘Synthetic Dirt’ colloquium. Rhodes University, South Africa. 16-17 April 2011. Published on the conference proceedings website: http://frontiercountry.blogspot.com/search/label/Synthetic%20Dirt).

Opper, A. 2010. Undoing Architecture. In On Making: Integrating Approaches to Practice-Led Research in Art and Design. (Ed. L. Farber). FADA, UJ. International colloquium held at FADA, UJ. 15-16 Oct 2009: 183-208. (Paper published as chapter in conference proceedings, as book).

Opper, A. 2010. Creating meaning in architecture and furniture design in a South African context: searching for interdisciplinary lessons between two disciplines. In Imaging

Ourselves: Visual Identities in Representation. (Ed. L. Farber). FADA, UJ. International conference held at FADA, UJ. 15 Jun 2009: 48-71. (Paper published as chapter in conference proceedings, as book).

 

Journal articles

Opper, A. 2014. Separ(n)ation: A solo exhibition by Alexander Opper. In RESEARCH AS PRACTICE – Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, University of Johannesburg. Vol. 1: 22-25

Opper, A. 2014. Separ(n)ation. In FADA Research Newsletter. Issue 17.

Opper, A. 2014. Productive Leakage and the Folding of the Studio into the Field. A. Brillembourg, H. Klumpner (Eds). In SLUM Lab. Sustainable Living Urban Model. Made in Africa. Issue 9. 2014: 140-143.

Opper, A. 2014. The ‘Lifeworlds’ of Marlboro South. In A. Graupner & L. Lynen (Eds). WELTSTADT: (In)formal Cities Johannesburg. 1st Edition.

Opper, A. 2014. Strategies for Marlboro South’s Possible Future. In A. Graupner & L. Lynen (Eds). WELTSTADT: (In)formal Cities Johannesburg. 1st Edition.

Opper, A. 2012. Productive ‘Leakage’ and the ‘Folding’ of the Studio into the Field. In FADA Research Newsletter. Issue 16: 4-8.

  1. Opper & 26’10 south Architects (Eds). 2012. Informal Studio: Marlboro South. Between and within processes of engagement. Feb 2012. Johannesburg, South Africa. Unique Issue:6-7.

Opper, A. 2012. The ‘Lifeworlds’ of Marlboro South. In 26’10 south Architects & A. Opper (Eds). Informal Studio: Marlboro South. Between and within processes of engagement. Feb 2012.

Johannesburg, South Africa. Unique Issue: 18.

Opper, A. 2012. Stategies for Marlboro South’s Possible Future. In 26’10 south Architects & A.

Opper (Eds). Informal Studio: Marlboro South. Between and within processes of engagement. Feb 2012. Johannesburg, South Africa. Unique Issue: 68-71.

Opper, A. 2012. Letter from Johannesburg. In Some Magazine. Music. Issue #4. Autumn 2012: 21.

Opper, A. 2011. Tables of Uncomfortable Contents: Reading between the Lines. In Art South Africa. Vol. 09. Issue 03. Autumn: 34-38.

Opper, A. 2011. To design or not to design? (Emerging Architects: UrbanWorks Architecture and Urbanism). In Architecture South Africa. Jul-Aug: 26-28.

Opper, A. 2010. The Art of being Public. In Art South Africa. 2010. Vol. 09. Issue 02. Summer: 44-49.

Opper, A. 2008. Drawing by Kilometres. In Art South Africa. Vol. 06. Issue 04. Winter: 58-63.

Opper, A. 2008. The Second International Conference on the Arts in Society. In FADA Research Newsletter. Dec 2007 & Jan 2008. Issue 9: 5.

Opper, A. 2008. You are What You Wear: Alternative façade designs for an evolving Johannesburg landmark. In FADA Research Newsletter. Issue 11: 7-8.

 

Exhibition reviews

Opper, A. 2015. Recovering a productive discourse on ‘public art’, memory and memorialisation in South Africa, via an un-covering of the societal currency inherent in Wim Botha’s studio practice. In ArtThrob (online journal: https://artthrob.co.za/2015/09/21/recovering-and-uncovering-wim-botha/).

Opper, A. 2012. The Limitations of the ‘Half’ and the ‘Whole’. In Art South Africa. Vol. 11. Issue 02. Summer: 14-15.

Opper, A. 2011. Alexandra Ross. David Krut Projects, Johannesburg. In Art South Africa. Vol. 10. Issue 01. Spring: 75-76.

Opper, A. 2009. Tegan Bristow – Substation Gallery, Johannesburg. In Art South Africa. Vol. 07. Issue 03. Summer: 100.

Opper, A. 2008. MTN New Contemporaries. In Art South Africa. Vol. 07. Issue 01. Spring: 90-91.

Opper, A. 2008. Pancho Guedes. In Art South Africa. Vol. 07. Issue 01. Spring: 94.

Opper, A. 2008. Cities in Crisis. In Art South Africa. Vol. 06. Issue 04. Winter: 95.

 

Artist features

Opper, A. 2014. Quinten Williams: Painterly Accumulations off the Wall. In Art south AFRICA. Vol. 13, Iss. 02, Dec.:  71-72.

Opper, A. 2009. Maja Marx: Patiently calculated, conceptually applied. In Art South Africa. Vol. 08. Issue 02. Summer: 32-33.

Opper, A. 2008. Mary Wafer. In A Look Away. Vol. 06. Issue 7: 110-11.

 

Book & journal reviews

Opper, A. 2014. Orlando West, Soweto: An Illustrated History (Book review of book by Noor Nieftagodien & Sally Gaule, 2012). In Safundi. The Journal of South African and American Studies. 15 2/3 (special issue on SA photography).

Opper, A. 2012. Cityscapes. (Journal review of journal by The African Centre for Cities (ACC)). In Art South Africa. Vol. 11. Issue 01. Spring: 90-91.

Opper, A. 2009. The Truth is there, Underground. (Book review of book by Clive Chipkin, 2009). In Art South Africa. Vol. 08. Issue 01. Spring: 50-53.

 

Building reviews

Opper, A. 2012. The Art of Subtraction. In Art South Africa. Vol. 10. Issue 04. Winter: 14-15.

Opper, A. 2012. Learning from Diepsloot: Taxi Rank No 2. In Architecture South Africa. Jul-Aug: 14-17.

Opper, A. 2010. Willem Boshoff and Karel Nel – CIRCA on Jellicoe, Johannesburg. In Art South Africa. 2010. Vol. 08. Issue 03. Winter: 84-85.

Opper, A. 2009. The Optical Centre. Two Recent Incarnations in Johannesburg (Collaboration between Stanley Saitowitz / Natoma Architects & 26’10 south Architects). In Architecture South Africa. May-Jun: 16-17.

 

Encyclopedia entries

Opper, A. 2023. Uitvalgrond (In: Industrial vernacular: Mining). In Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World – EVAW – Sub-Saharan Africa: (page nos. forthcoming). Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing. (forthcoming).

 

Newspaper articles

Opper, A. 2009. Fall Wall confronts fear and paranoia of city users. In Mail & Guardian. November 6-12: 6.

 

Magazine articles

Opper, A. 2022. Undesigning the World. In The Business Day’s supplement: Wanted Magazine (The ‘Design’ Issue (July)): 18-19. Johannesburg: Arena Holdings.

 

Newsletters

Opper, A. 2023. Alex Opper. In SAIA Newsletter (Osman, A. (Ed)). Issue 07, June/July 2023. (See: https://saia.org.za/assets/docs/news/SAIA%20Newsletter_Issue07_Jun23_Linked.pdf).

 

Conference presentations

Alexander Opper. Photo/graphing Stone: The lasting concretisation of politics and the politicisation of concrete in David Southwood’s photographs of Johannesburg water towers; The 36th Annual SAVAH Conference (‘Romancing the Stone’). Faculty of Arts & Design, Durban University of Technology, Durban. 19-23 Sept 2022.

Alexander Opper. Breaking Johannesburg’s Fourth Wall: An interrogation of three façade-conditions as interstitial sites of appearance, reality and possibility; ‘Inclusion and

Accessibility’ Conference. Kardinal-Wendel-Haus-Katholische Akademie, Münich. 27-29 May 2019.

Alexander Opper. Undoing the Artist’s Book. Booknesses Book Arts Colloquium: Taking Stock of the Book Arts in South Africa (International colloquium at FADA, UJ). Johannesburg. 23-26 March 2017.

Alexander Opper. Derrière les panneaux publicitaires (Behind the Billboards). Viaduct 2015 – Archival Addresses: Photographies, Practices, Positionalities (International platform at FADA (FADA Gallery), UJ). Johannesburg. 18-20 March 2015.

Alexander Opper, Eric Wright and Philip Astley. Studio Aformal Terrain (AT), Denver. UIA (XXV Union of International Architects World Congress). Durban. 3-7 Aug 2014.

Alexander Opper. Separ(n)ation. 16th ACASA Triennial Symposium on African Art. Brooklyn Museum. New York. 19-22 Mar 2014.

Alexander Opper. Separ(n)ation. Practice-Led Writing Workshop. UJ, FADA. Johannesburg. 30-31 Jan 2014.

Alexander Opper. Assessing pedagogical outcomes: Some reflections on Productive ‘Leakage’ and the ‘Folding’ of the Studio into the Field. URBAN LAB+. The Laboratory approach to Built-Environment Education. Johannesburg Colloquium. Wits (School of Architecture and Planning), Johannesburg. 21-22 Nov 2013.

Alexander Opper, Eric Wright. Informal Studios: Ruimsig & Marlboro South. National Department of Human Settlements & World Bank Institut: Workshop on Urban e-Learning. Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre, Johannesburg. 3 & 4 Sept 2013.

Alexander Opper. ‘Folding’ the Studio into the Field: Some Lessons learned and shared, between Johannesburg & São Paulo. IBSA Working Group on Human Settlements (IBSA WGHS). Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Pretoria (live simulcast between Pretoria / Cape Town / Durban). 23 May 2013.

Alexander Opper, with Anne Graupner (26’10 south Architects). Informal Studio: Marlboro South, Johannesburg, South Africa. Baukulturwerkstat. Weltstadt-Stadtwelten. Deutschen Architektur Zentrum (DAZ). Berlin, Germany. 29 Apr 2013.

Alexander Opper, Thiresh Govender & Monika Laeuferts. Change Room (‘Art and the Creative Industries’): presentation on the possible future(s) of Johannesburg’s Gas Works. Sustain our Africa Summit. Cape Town. 24-26 Oct 2012.

Alexander Opper with Thorsten Deckler. Informal Studio: Ruimsig – Unsettling the Status Quo. AZA 2012 Conference. Cape Town. 13-17 Sept 2012.
Alexander Opper with Thorsten Deckler. Informal Studio: Ruimsig. One-day Sub-Saharan Regional Conference, Goethe-Institut. Johannesburg. 3 May 2012.

Alexander Opper with Thorsten Deckler. Informal Studio Ruimsig. African Perspectives, Casablanca. Morocco. 3-5 Nov 2011.

Alexander Opper. New Iwalewa (presentation of design concept for the domicile of the New Iwalewa Haus). Contact Zone – New Iwalewa. Bayreuth, Germany. 28-29 Oct 2011.

Alexander Opper. (Not) Everything counts in large amounts: Dusty Realism and the productive ‘archive’ of the in between. Synthetic Dirt. Rhodes University. Grahamstown. 16-17 Apr 2011.

Alexander Opper. Landscapes and Trajectories of Displacement: Finding Place in Hotel Yeoville; SAVAH Conference (Other Views: Art histories in (South) Africa and the Global South). Wits, Johannesburg. 11-15 Jan 2011.

Alexander Opper. Playing Ball: A Friendly Between Two Private Publics. AZA Biennale 2010: Event + City (Reimagining Johannesburg). Johannesburg. 22-24 Sept 2010.

Alexander Opper. Undoing Architecture. On Making: Integrating Approaches to Practice-Led Research in Art and Design. FADA, UJ. International colloquium. Johannesburg. 15-16 Oct 2009.

Alexander Opper. The Physical Relocation of Cultural Memory and the Political Dislocation of History through Architecture; Johannesburg and Megacities Phenomena Conference. Johannesburg. 9-11 Apr 2008.

Alexander Opper. The Physical Relocation of Cultural Memory and the Political Dislocation of History through Architecture. Second International Conference of the Arts in Society. Kassel, Germany. 22-24 Aug 2007.

Community engagement

2021 onwards           

Design and realisation of a series of murals for the community of Westbury, a neighbouring marginalised community of the University of Johannesburg. Starting 2021, in collaboration with Shawn Constant (our community liaison partner) my 3rd year degree students have designed murals for carefully chosen sites in Westbury. This project, in the context of the subject Interdisciplinary Design & Presentation, is run on a competition basis, with the incentive of a winning mural design being realised. The project is supported with funding from UJ’s Teaching & Innovation Fund. It also has the support and blessing of the MMC Community Engagement of the City of Johannesburg (CoJ).

 2018                      

Design/Build project in Kanana Park (a remote settlement not far from Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg). In 2018 I facilitated the possibility for a group of 30 3rd-year architecture students from UJ’s Department of Architecture (DoA) being tasked with designing, documenting and ultimately building a soup kitchen in Kanana Park. Run voluntarily by Sibongile Msenge, a local community leader, the completed soup kitchen serves 150 meals a day to children and needy members of the community. Via UJ sessional staff member, Vedhant Maharaj (director of Rebel Base Collective), a link was established between the DoA and Sibongile. The final student design was then – in close discussion with Sibongile – refined and developed into a set of detailed working drawings. These served as the basis for the realisation of the project on site. The students were involved in the construction process, under the guidance of their construction lecturers and Vedhant Maharaj (see: https://rebelbase.camp/portfolio/projects/kos-kitchen/).

 2016                      

Design and realisation of a playground in the village of Chimpamba, Malawi, with four 3rd year UJ architecture students.

 2014-15                  

Studio Aformal Terrain: Denver. Johannesburg. A collaborative and participative community-driven informal-settlement-upgrading project.

 2013-14                  

Revolution Room. Cosmo City. Johannesburg. I was involved in the initial stage of this project, involving the intensive mapping of Cosmo City (leading the process together with artist Vaughn Sadie and working with young architecture students from UJ and local youth). We developed a conceptual and experiential map of the area and produced a cartographic record of local networks, structures and individuals. This was used to develop sites for future public art projects. For more detailed information, see here: http://vaughnsadie.net/?page_id=30. (In 2014 I was invited to sit on a selection panel to select of several artist’s proposals for public spaces in Cosmo City. See project results here: https://issuu.com/vaughnsadie/docs/revolution_room_2017).

 2012-14                  

Informal Studio: Marlboro South. Johannesburg. The success of the Informal Studio Ruimsig paved the way for this collaborative and participative community-driven informal-settlement-upgrading project. The project was designed to ensure a reasonable chance of positive changes in standards of living within the precarious and marginalised community of Marlboro South.

 2011

Informal Studio: Ruimsig. Johannesburg. A pilot-project I initiated and collaboratively ran with 26’10 south Architects and 16 UJ architecture master’s students. It comprised a collaborative and participative community-driven informal-settlement-upgrading effort which resulted in the positive buy-in of the City of Johannesburg and its declaration of Ruimsig as an ‘experimental zone’.

2011 & 2012            

In both years, Re-educating the City served as an opportunity for architecture masters students to learn from the intelligences and dynamics of Johannesburg’s low-fee inner city private schools. This research led to the imagining of possibilities for new schooling models in dense urban centres. Both iterations of the project resulted a large-scale public exhibition each, held in Braamfontein, one of the inner-city contexts that informed the design proposals put forward by students.

2011

For the project Johannesburg SNWE: Back Doors to the City conceptualised for the marginalised suburb of Westbury, Johannesburg, my students worked with leaders and youth from the community, via the TAG (Together Action Group) and the architectural practice, Local Studio. The project focussed on the careful mapping of the suburb’s history, built fabric and narrative layers, towards a better understanding around improving the quality of its public spaces and its restricted connections to the rest of the city.

2009-2010               

In collaboration with UJ’s Division of Institutional Advancement several my 3rd year architecture students travelled to Manica, Mozambique during the midyear break. For the Grupo deSportivo de Manica football club they assisted in the design and construction of a clubhouse. This initiative developed off the back of an earlier 3rd year studio project for the design of a school and football-related infrastructure for the town.

Achievements & Awards

 2023

Achievement of a C-2 rating by the SA National Research Foundation (NRF), valid for the period 2023-2028.

2022

Ampersand Fellowship residency, New York City, July 2022.

2022

Securing of a Teaching Innovation Grant for a Community Engagement project. (Two public art murals for the community of Westbury, Johannesburg).

2019  

Recognition for Creative Research Output: The large-scale installation of my artist’s book, Burning Issues (part of the 2017 Booknesses exhibition in the UJ FADA Gallery) gained recognition as creative research and was awarded one full research unit.

2016  

Achievement of a C-2 rating by the SA National Research Foundation (NRF), valid for the period 2017-2022.

2015  

Recognition for Creative Research Output: The project Separ(n)ation (my 2013 solo exhibition at Goethe on Main) gained recognition as creative research and was awarded four creative research units.

2014

Securing of a Teaching Innovation Grant for planned 2014 Community Engagement project (Studio Aformal Terrain (AT), Denver).

2011-12

Invited for a two-month guest professorship at Iwalewa Haus, Bayreuth, Germany, Dec 2011-Jan 2012.

2010  

Recognition for Creative Research Outputs:

The cumulative submission was awarded with a total of 5 creative research units. The projects submitted were as follows: Accumulation #1 and #2 (artwork/exhibition); The Nature of a Corner (artwork/exhibition); (In)security (artwork/exhibition); Auseinandersetzung (artwork/exhibition); Negotiation (artwork/exhibition); Hotel Yeoville (exhibition design); 2009 Johannesburg Art Fair’s Books Space (furniture & exhibition design); Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, Cracking Walls (Redesign of the landscape around the institute as accessible public space).