Innovation is the standout quality that differentiates design resolutions and helps define architecture as special and appreciated by one’s peers.
At the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Najeeba Hassim won the first prize of R8 000 for the 2015 Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year regional finals.Innovation in sync with context provides the ‘delight factor’, permitting architectural design to compete comfortably on the world stage. Technical skill, the ability to create memorable form that draws one in while treading softly on our planet is what puts the finishing touches to sustainable architecture.
This is according to Dirk Meyer, managing director of Corobrik, ahead of the 29th Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Awards, who says South African architecture continues to take positive strides also demonstrating an extra creative dimension unique in a country where the shaping of the urban landscape requires an appreciation of the complexities of creating an inclusive built environment.
The Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Awards are held annually to acknowledge and reward outstanding talent in South Africa.
Meyer says the competition involves the country’s eight major universities, where the best architectural students are identified based on their final theses and presented with awards at regional events. The winners of each of the regional competitions then go on to compete for the national title in Johannesburg in May 2016.
At the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Najeeba Hassim won the first prize of R8 000, while the second prize of R6 500 went to Jean-Pierre Audibert and third prize of R4 500 was presented to Julie Eneman. An additional prize of R5 000 for the best use of clay masonry was awarded to Jean-Pierre Audibert.
Najeeba Hassim’s winning thesis is titled ‘Defining an architectural typology: Inner City Green Centres within South Africa.’
Hassim proposes an environmental research facility in KwaZulu-Natal to address threatened natural resources.
She says this does not seem to be high in priority in most city projects within South Africa. “As such, a refreshed mindset towards the built form to restore, preserve and promote key green assets is necessary.
“The Green Centre is located within a dynamic context of light industrial, commercial and environmental nodes, sits along the edge of the Umgeni River, in Briardene. The design promotes ‘Green as an experience’ - experiencing a journey that aims to educate and expose new attitudes towards key green assets such as the Umgeni River.”
Jean Pierre Audibert’s thesis ‘The Cemet' highlights an unrealised potential that exists for cemeteries. The intention is to project a new discussion about the future of these incredible cultural and historic landscapes, to explore deeper meanings and alternate uses.
The dissertation was founded upon the presence and activities of the Stellawood Cemetery in Durban. It is the understanding of Audibert’s dissertation that, given the rights and opportunities the users, the youth can highlight untapped potentials and add new life to these sometimes 'lost' city spaces, which are so intimately connected to the community around them.
He incorporated clay masonry as a strong element of the design, alongside other natural raw materials. The reasoning for this was to keep a subtle raw finish that blended with the natural setting of the cemetery. In third place, Julie Eneman thesis addressed the trauma of rape, sexual assault and abuse in an inner city support centre for Durban women.
Allin Dangers, Corobrik director of sales coastal, who presented prizes to the winners from University of KwaZulu-Natal, says that all of the winners had shown a close affinity with their subjects, and that their designs both enhanced and integrated with the communities in which they were sited.
Dangers says the regional winners in the Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Awards had shown outstanding maturity, innovation and technical skill in their designs which, were a credit to the profession in both local and global terms.
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