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Architecture students share their dreams and ambitions on Youth Day
ix architectural students from SACAP’s National Architectural
Student Forum (NASF) shared their thoughts about their
architectural studies on Youth Day, within the context of 21st
century South African realities and the recent ‘Think Tank’ that
SACAP held with its stakeholders around the decolonisation of
architectural education and the #Feesmustfallcampaign.
Khensani de Klerk, Chairperson of the NASF and a student at
the University of Cape Town (UCT), believes that architecture is
shifting away from being a traditional elitist discipline, although
she says transformation
is an ongoing project. “As
a postgraduate student,
I would like to create a
safe space in which black
women can address the
fact that they are in the
minority in the discipline
– decolonisation is one of
the challenges students
face today,” she says.
“My role is rooted in
amending apartheid
spatial planning and
exploring intangibles,
like economics and
politics, that come with
negotiating that space
– after all, as the architect Alfredo Brillembourg said, ‘If architecture is frozen
music, then urbanism is frozen politics’.”
For Viwe Mpambani, who aspires to finishing her diploma at the Cape
Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), architecture holds the promise of
assisting disadvantaged communities. “I would like to design sustainable, cost-
effective houses, schools or even community centres from natural and recycled
materials,” she says. “I would love to mentor new students as well as be a
voice for them. Architecture is a demanding field and you must be prepared to
sacrifice your time – but just one project can change people’s lives. Architecture
is not just about designing beautiful buildings; it is a tool with which to improve
communities.”
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