MPHO SEPHELANE - WINNER ( R70 000 PRIZE MONEY ) UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN ‘ Re [ covering ] Place : African ways of seeing , thinking and making as a call to rethink and remake places in cities ’
By using the Basotho blanket as a point of entry , Mpho investigates issues of recovery and preservation of traditional African knowledge systems and how they can be translated into the making of contemporary space . The blanket revealed an interesting cross-pollination of cultures and an ability to embody the tangible and intangible infrastructures that shape the identity of the Basotho people .
The project proposes the use of the Basotho blanket as a symbolic artefact of cultural preservation and continuum through architecture . This is explored through its connections to traditional practices such as litema mural practice , communal relatedness , and connection to nature in the creation of symbolic form and space . These associations of the blanket are translated into an architecture that engenders a revival of traditional practices through tectonic agency , relatedness to context , and creation of communal linkages in Maseru , Lesotho .
66 Student Awards