Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa May/June 2014 | Page 79

MIENTJIE VAN NIEKERK
NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
Mientjie van Niekerk’s thesis was entitled “A platform for trade and interaction.”
The platform comprises an essential oil distillation plant, an informal market
and a cattle trading area for the Ovahimba people of Opuwo, Namibia.
The lively town of Opuwo is located in the North Western part of Namibia
and is the capital of the Ovahimba people. This cultural group is made up of traditional nomadic
pastoralists who move in search of good grazing land and water to take care of their sacred
cattle herds.
Opuwo is a meeting place where the Ovahimba nomads, tourists and local people come together
to trade and interact , forming a rich node of energy in the very harsh climatic environment of
the Kaokoveld. The dynamism of Opuwo is produced by tourists travelling to the Kunene River,
surrounding Ovahimba settlement groups coming to Opuwo for the necessary resources and
facilities, Ovahimba men travelling hundreds of kilometres for cattle trading and traditional Himba
harvesters coming to sell their Commiphora Wildii resin and Mopane seed gatherings.
The design proposal was fuelled by these energy sources in order to create a new town centre
with an essential oil processing plant as the catalyst project.
Mientjie also received an award for best use of clay brick. She says she incorporated thick mass
walls of clay bricks which were used to create a protective skin in the same way the red earth mixture
protects the Ovhaimba people from the harsh climatic conditions in Opuwo. The entire design
proposal was dressed in ochre colour bricks which bind the architecture to the immediate context
and created a cool and comfortable internal working environment.

Student Awards

79