Regional winners of Architectural Student of the Year Awards announced

Jaco Jonker and Musa Shangase

Jonker received the first prize cheque of R8,000, with Lance Ho Hip receiving the R6,500 second prize and three people sharing third place. They are Kirsty Fick, Julian Almond and Lucille Jacobs. Onthatile Magalemela received the prize of R4,500 for the best use of clay.

The competition has been held annually for the past 28 years to reward and advance excellence in the profession nationwide. It starts with regional rounds at eight major universities throughout South Africa. Then, the overall national winner from among the regional finalists is named and presented with a cheque for R50,000 at the 29th Architectural Student of the Year Awards function in Johannesburg in May 2016.

New timber mill

Jonker's thesis is The Plug-In Plantation - Reforestation and industrialisation of the Nasrec precinct through the implementation of a new timber mill industry.

Jonker says his thesis project explores how we can reshape an important part of Johannesburg's southern reef band, the Nasrec precinct, to reduce direct and secondary impacts of soil erosion, heavy-metal toxins, and rampart water evaporation from increasingly frequent dust storms along the engineered mine dumps in the area. In order to do this, the project envisioned how existing 'thirsty' Eucalyptus tree groves in the area can be replaced with more sustainable varieties of Conifer tree plantations.

Ho Hip's thesis is a weather station for Zanzibar. It is entitled Square Kilometre Array and is a data collection laboratory on Changuu Island.

Traditionally and historically, architecture has always viewed weather as the enemy, fighting to keep it out, or at bay. In the SKA: Weather Station, the opposite occurs - the building acts as its own data collector, sensing changes over differing scales and periods of time; through voids, cracks and scientific instruments - inviting weather in.

Use of clay bricks

Makgalemela incorporated clay bricks into his thesis entitled, Urban Catwalk, which is a route along is a route along the beach promenade of Stone Town in Zanzibar. Along this route there are three pavilions.

Material used includes lace, beads and more stereotypically feminine adornments, all which were secondary to the core material, clay bricks. The pavilions are constructed from bricks as it is very evident in the Zanzibari landscape and the existing brick patterns in Zanzibar inspired the direction of the project.