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KwaZulu-Natal Institute for Architecture
160 Bulwer Road
Glenwood
Durban. 4001
Tel: 031 2017590
Fax: 031 2017586
Email: info@kznia.org.za
Website: http://www.kznia.org.za
In case one is left to wonder about the weight of the occasion, the Presidential Chain is
certainly a reminder. I would like to start by thanking Miles Pennington – the immediate
past president who carried this role with such aplomb that he made it look attractive.
Miles, during your term both Nicci and Georgie were appointed and our membership has
grown in strength during your tenure. Establishing the website and strongly driving the
marketing of our promotions has really benefited the Institute. On behalf of the members,
thank you for your contribution.
I would like to welcome everyone here tonight. This event is a celebration for architecture
and tonight I would like to speak about Architecture and its impact on us as practitioners,
on us as users, on us as people - and celebrate an approach exemplified in the exhibition
mounted on the Arts Café Wall: the Crofton and Benjamin exhibition.
IN PRAISE OF SLOWNESS
Architecture is a vast and myriad thing
For each architect here tonight architecture is not a profession, it is a passion. The study
of architecture and the engagement with it principally seeks to understand is how people
do things.
This enquiry intrinsically connects us to people, to the land; to life. The enquiry informs a
way of being as outlined in Le Corbusier’s letter to the Transvaal Group addressed to
Martienssen in 1936.
Slide 3
of architects
le corbusier, 1936
“architecture is an
attitude of mind and
not a profession”
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Kwa Dinayabande
Architecture leaves an indelible imprint on the texture of one’s life. Formative experiences
for me in my engagement with the profession of architecture have often gone beyond the
buildings being delivered.
They include memorable site visits:
I think of trips through Maputaland to Kwa Dinayabande where Portnet had sponsored a
school – the spectacular opening celebration with the pink plumes of drum majorette
headdresses contrasted by their white boots in the drying soil, mingled with the aroma of
shisha nyama and the abandoned swimming on deserted Cape Vidal beaches on the
way home.
Another was the trips to the Transkei in a Cessna Caravan at an altitude of 600 feet –
high enough to appreciate the vast wonder of the Wild Coast - low enough to make one
nervously fondle the flotation device beneath one’s seat. 1
Harber & Associates
Experiences include memorable offices: working for Rodney Harber was the most
formative introduction into the seamless combination of architecture with life: the
visceral, the messy, the magnificent. It all happened betwixt Rodney & Roz’s growing
brood, Frank Edwards’ many incarnations of Rodney’s pond, the Scotty dogs, and
multiple tin aeroplanes from Bergville suspended from jap-panel ceilings.
There were memorable people & events: working on the 98 ArchAfrica Conference with
Brian Johnson, a pre-cursor to the work for the UIA Conference which the KZNIA later
embarked. There was a sunrise swim in the Indian Ocean with Ken Yeang when he
compared the Durban Beachfront to Tel Aviv. I wonder what he would think now.
New York
The New York experiences include memorable study trips, contrasting the extremes of
reality; one could argue that life is the study trip for the profession.
Breathtaking was the trip for an Art Deco Conference. I need say no more….apart from
the lasting impact of the view from the penthouse-board room, # 1 Wall Street: the Irving
Trust Company Building by Architect Ralph Walker . And to rival that verticality there was
1 Or to put it as the Daily News did yesterday: God was in a terrific mood when he made
Pondoland
3
a trip to Bombay to witness the vast horizontality of Bombay’s infamous slum: Dharavi
made famous by the movie Slumdog Milllionaire and the novel Shantiram by Gregory
David Roberts. This was part of a trip to the Rizvi College in Bombay with the Harbers in
‘98 which was life altering – the dysentery that followed felt almost life-ending.
It all leads me to ponder how we are formed by what we experience, in people and place
and how our experience informs our profession. To quote Barrie Biermann:
Slide 4
Jack Diamond
Formative approaches to the design process in the profession include a memorable
Awards Adjudication Programme with Jack Diamond, now practicing in Canada. Jack
tells the story of making his students remember a place that had made a deep impact on
them and then to draw that space in plan. In short – great places do not necessarily
make sexy plans. While part-time tutoring at UKZN in the mid-90’s Issy Benjamin was in
town for a short stint and he made a profound and lasting impression with his quote that
there is a deep distinction between designing with love or designing in fear.
Slide 5
on connection to place
barrie biermann, 1971
“the bond between an
organism and the soil
that nurtured it
[evokes] the
relationship between a
man and his native
soil…..”
on process issy benjamin, 1987
“there is a great difference between building out of love, and building out of fear”
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Alchemy
This has led me to appreciate that there is alchemy in the undertakings of this profession
– an alchemy that is apparent in the Crofton Benjamin exhibition opening here tonight.
How does one take the base material of sand and stone and create something that
elevates the human soul?
Six Themes for New Millennium
In the mid 90’s Juhani Pallasma structured Six Themes for the New Millennium – calling
architects to invest in the experiential nature of architecture. He hails slowness, plasticity,
sensuousness, authenticity, idealisation and silence as meritorious. He compels us to
avoid the reduction of architecture to visual commercial commodity, to pure visual
titillation.
Slide 6
Interestingly Jeremy Steere at his opening last Wednesday spoke about the distinction
between architecture he would like to ‘stroke’ (for this read Zaha Hadid et al) and that
which he would like to create. I would like to argue for an architecture that strokes us.
Much is being written on consumer culture, short-term gratification, the commoditisation
of the human experience. The roll-on for the built environment is architecture pushed by
time and finance: not by joy and delight. Titles like Oliver James’ Affluenza say it all and
John Naish calls for us to consider that we have, and have had “Enough”.
Slide 7
‘We’re burning through the planet’s ecology and it’s leaving us sick, tired, overweight and
angry” (Naish, 2008). Many counter-movements have been spawned.
affluenza & enough
oliver james 2007,
john naish, 2008
virus of capitalism &
consumerism:
“we’re burning
through the planet’s
ecology and it’s
leaving us sick, tired,
overweight and angry”
(naish, 2008)
six themes for next millennium juhani pallasmaa, 1994
slowness plasticity sensuousness authenticity idealisation silence
5
Slow Architecture
Counter-movements in our common lexicon now include Slow Food as a backlash to Fast
Food. And recently Slow Cities. The autobahn is not celebrated in this category. So how
about Slow Architecture?
Slide 8 [www.solowarchitecture.ie].
How about purposefully engaging an architectural approach that allows for reflection. One
that determinedly understands how what we create has impact. On us as people. And on
the planet. Pallasmaa calls for an architecture that rejects momentariness, speed and
fashion.
Slide 9
He calls for an architecture for the senses.
Slide 10.
slow architecture
‘slow’ has been
described as a
process that optimises
the advantages of
technology and the
pleasures of reflection
www.slowarchitecture.
ie
on perception juhani
pallasmaa, 1995
book title: “the eyes of
the skin - architecture
and the senses”
on architecture juhani pallasmaa, 1994
“we need an architecture that rejects momentariness, speed and fashion”
6
Architecture Feeling Good
I would like to argue that back in the mid 50’s Crofton and Benjamin’s concerns were
exactly these – creating spaces that FELT good. It lies boldly in the curvaceousness of
the forms, in the sensuousness of rooftop extremities, in the authenticity of place - all
qualities which resound in the work exhibited here tonight. And the timelessness of the
joy and delight captured are infectious. On a building visit to Las Vegas today Issy spoke
about designing for “the foot that dances, the voice that sings”. The buildings also hold a
dignity and a presence. A silence if you wish.
Slide 11]
If we appreciate that architecture needs to provide the spaces for our homecoming, then
the call for slowness and a reflection on what we are doing and a celebration of where
this has been achieved, is vital.
Slide 12,
I believe this is achieved in the work of Crofton Benjamin. Quoted as some of the highest
praise Issy received was a client commenting that being in the home Issy Benjamin had
designed was like being on holiday. Issy further extemporises: why not then treat work
like a holiday and then further why not treat life like a holiday?
Slide 13
Celebrating Durban
The celebration of remarkable Durban architecture and sharing those with the Durban
public is one of the key goals of the current committee’s term. As is the development of
the KZNIA Building at 160 Bulwer Road as a Centre for Architecture with greater public
accessibility.
on architecture
juhani pallasmaa,
1994
“it is the task of
architecture to
provide stable and
reliable ground for
the perception of the
world, to provide the
ground for a
homecoming”
on consequence
winston churchill, 1943 “we shape our
buildings; thereafter
they shape us”
on great architecture juhani pallasmaa, 1994
“every great architecture work has its unique silence”
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Goals
The Committee’s term ahead is a very busy one with COP 17 on the horizon and our
representation on the Climate Change Advisory Forum; Celebrating Architecture and
Human Rights on Architecture Day in October; and undertaking the groundwork for the
UIA 2014 - and we look forward to a closely knit group of professionals working together.
The KZNIA has an effective regional membership and we look forward to moving from
strength to strength.
Thank you
This is not an individual undertaking.
I would like to thank the following people tonight:
Bharti Vithal – the current vice president whose moral barometers are only matched by
her measured, steady, calm nature.
Ivor Daniel – the past past president for his listening ear and generous advice.
I would like to thank the engine room of the KZNIA: the absolute commitment of Nicci
Jeee, Emeldah Majola and Georgie Chennels and Eunice Mkhize. They hold it together.
As much as it is the presidential inauguration, the start of my term also signals the
nomination of a new committee: to the stalwarts Trish Emmett, Wally Peters, Rodney
Harber & Bruce Clarke thank you for the long distances travelled. Thank you to Kevin
Bingham, Joanne Lees, Nasreen Arabi, Mick Backler, Melissa Wilkins and to the regional
representatives who join us when they can.
To the membership who constitute this institute, thank you. The KZNIA has a national
reputation for being able to get things done.
To the team who put the exhibition together, Leon Conradie, Denni Guichard, Angela
Shaw, Richard Stretton & Stefan Mostert: you have done an incredible job!
To my friends, thank you for your enduring support.
To my colleagues at work and especially to Jonathan Edkins, thank you.
And to my family to George & Fran and to our two daughters Rachel & Sophia, who are in
the audience tonight: thank you. To my dad & Roz thank you for making the trip.
And in memory of my grandmother Dorothea Magdalena Prinsloo, who drew the plans for
the house my grandfather built – the house in which I spent some of my formative years,
thank you.
To our sponsors for the evening: Corobrick , the Concrete Institute, St Gobain, the Dawn
Group: your support is appreciated.
Lastly, I would like to thank Issy Benjamin for the light he shines – for his humility. He
leads by example and reminds us that we are obligated to enjoy our lives and to infuse
our work with that joy.
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INFORMING GOALS FOR THE TERM:
7 Goals for the current presidential term: 2011 - 2012
1. Establish a Centre for Architecture
Refurbish and adapt 160 Bulwer Road to be:
• a more accessible and public-friendly environment,
• better suited to seminars and exhibitions
2. Promote KZNIA within the profession
• through a website
• through updating events and promotions
• through providing relevant professional support to members
3. Promote architecture to the citizens of Durban
• enhance media presence
• commit to public participation in exhibitions
• ensure public events for World Architecture Day October 2011:
Architecture and Human Rights
4. Preparation for UIA 2014, entitled: architecture otherwhere
• can we imagine coming together as architects with the burden of our
geographical and historical trajectories temporarily suspended, upended,
turned upside down?
• can we suspend south looking north, east opposed to west?
• can we have less global stratifications embedded in our conversations?
• what probable worlds will emerge?
5. Engagement with COP 17:
• representation on Climate Change Advisory Forum
• faster, harder, smarter: working towards a shared vision for human(e)
settlements
6. Education: determining for office-based learning
• a tool to nurture transformation in the profession
7. Heritage
• addressing matters of accreditation to work on heritage buildings
• agitating for more structured conservation approaches
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