A block of apartments in Maboneng, Johannesburg, combines thoughtful, occupant-centred design with a modern African aesthetic.

Is this what modern African architecture should look like? It certainly is a modern African design in a modern African city – Johannesburg’s eastern CBD, on the peripheries of Maboneng – shaped according to the real needs of real people. The building is a block of flats called Corner Fox (it’s on the corner of Fox and Commissioner streets), and was designed by Gregory Katz Architecture.

READ MORE: Bold Contemporary Joburg Home

Gregory has taken a bunch of ordinary requirements and constraints, including a tight budget, and created something quite extraordinary. His design is full of ingenious little departures from the standard template for a high-density residential building, all of which make a big difference. And refreshingly, it looks like nothing else around it.

The eye-catching façade is achieved with nothing more than painted stock bricks, and a sprinkling of facebricks turned at right angles to create that pixelated-looking pattern. The building takes up a full city block and follows a classic courtyard layout, with the flats on the outside forming a protective outer wall, and looking in over a central courtyard with parking, a lawn and a swimming pool. “We were working with the idea of a sanctuary,” says Gregory.

It’s not cut off from its surroundings, though. The edges along the sidewalk are home to shops that face the street to keep the pavements around the building active, busy and safe. The arrangement of the apartments and the corridors inside is also designed to be busy and active. “We wanted to recreate the micro-context of the street and foster a sense of community,” says Gregory.

READ MORE: About Face: Contemporary Face Brick Buildings

He has brought the common areas – such as corridors – to life with clever tweaks. For example, there are bulges and undulations along the corridor edges where people can stop and chat. “Typically, there are no breakout spaces in the CBD, so people tend to leave their buildings, which are then largely deserted during the day,” he says.

He has also built in multipurpose spaces with laundry basins, going so far as to hope that residents might use the balustrades to dry their washing. “It can be quite beautiful,” he says. Speaking of which, the pattern on the façade was inspired by shweshwe fabric. The fusion of patterns hints at a modern African aesthetic, opening up a sense of possibility for the future of inner-city life.

For more information, visit gregorykatz.co.za.

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Renowned architect Sir David Adjaye takes VISI through the design thinking behind Hallmark House, his first major project in Southern Africa.

Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye is the designer behind some of the world’s most iconic buildings, including the much-talked about $540 million Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, DC, the biggest project undertaken by Adjaye Associates thus far.

What has us really excited, however, is his current project in Johannesburg. Situated in Maboneng, Hallmark House (which we recently featured here) is being redeveloped into a luxurious residential building and retail space. We caught up with the acclaimed architect to talk about the building’s design, architecture in South Africa, and the importance of sustainability.

How do you feel the design of this building works in a South African context?
Johannesburg is a city born of incredible division, and its architecture reflects that. But it is also a city undergoing massive change, and very vibrant creative and artistic communities are emerging in the inner city; the city is reinventing itself for the 21st century. This project is very much part of the plan to create urban infrastructure that reflects and supports that. I saw this as a transformative opportunity to combine an African aesthetic with a contemporary vision, and also to show that the relics of the old mode of the city had the capacity to adapt and to change. It was very important to me to show that this building could address changing lifestyles, and take a more fluid approach to the way we inhabit cities. The building has a long history, having been used in the 1970s as a diamond polishing facility.

How have you incorporated the original structure into the new design?
Hallmark House is one of the signature icons of the industrial heritage of Johannesburg; it really reflects a belief in modernity to
create light-filled industrial spaces. It has this incredibly versatile structure that we wanted to reveal, not disguise. So the raw structure, which we’ve sandblasted and cleaned, is exposed throughout the building, in the living spaces as well as the retail spaces. Paired with the newer, smooth finishes, the frame gives a distinct experience of the layers of history contained in this building.

How does sustainability play a role in the design?
My approach here has very much been one of responsiveness, so the project engages the local climate in an organic way, using passive strategies. For instance, the brisesoleil, a key new feature of the facade, mitigates heat gain. We’ve also stepped the facade back, creating new balconies and allowing for natural cross-ventilation.

What do you admire about architecture in South Africa?
Most cities have division, but it’s implied. South Africa, sadly, is one of the few countries in the world that has a specific spatial architecture that is born from division. To undo that division requires a radical change in the operating mode from which you see the city. You have to be prepared to create new overlaps that do not make immediate visual sense, but actually make sense as an integration project. I admire that there has been a real concerted effort to refocus with architecture in the country. The laissez-faire default position is to accept certain status quos and picturesque views, because that is a comfortable position. South Africa, more than anywhere else, has had to challenge these positions because it really needs to invent new practices to overcome its history. If it doesn’t, that paralysis will persist. You may create laws, but architecture is the ultimate arbiter of our psyche.

Don’t forget to read our Q&A with Sir David, where he also discusses other Adjaye Associates projects, such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. You can also explore the interiors of Hallmark House here.

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The collaboration between urban developer Jonathan Liebmann of Propertuity and celebrated architect Sir David Adjaye of Adjaye Associates is setting new standards for modern city living in Joburg.

The 1970s building, located in Joburg’s urban regeneration epicentre, Maboneng, has been transformed into a modern mixed-use residential and hotel development with Propertuity driving the development, Adjaye Associates behind the architecture and Aimee Henning of Malica Design designing the interiors.

Propertuity explained the vision, which aligned with David’s interest in context and history: to integrate retail, lifestyle, architecture and design into mixed-use spaces that celebrate art and urbanism, while combining residential and hotel living seamlessly with leisure and business spaces.

“I saw this project as an opportunity to help transform the city and move it beyond the incredible division that too often characterises it, as well as an opportunity to combine an African aesthetic with a contemporary vision,’ says Sir David. “It was very important to me to show that this building could address changing lifestyles. It was about taking one building and rehabilitating it, transforming it into an urban community that can truly address the changing, fluid nature of city life.”

As the building’s 66 m-high silhouette is one of the icons of Joburg’s industrial heritage, David felt strongly that he wanted to “reveal, not disguise its raw structure”. So this was sandblasted, cleaned and exposed as a feature throughout. Over time the planter boxes that wrap around the building’s perimeter on each floor, will form a vertical garden, adding much-needed greenery to the city. The private terraces also connect residents, or guests, with each other – the wooden gates between each terrace can be left open to encourage neighbourliness and interaction.

The 46 hotel rooms occupy floors four and five, while floors six to 15 are residential apartments ranging from 30 to 600 square metres in size. The interior’s attention to detail and focus on local design offers layered, sophisticated and inviting spaces. A rotating exhibition will be on display, curated by Hazard Gallery, as well as Nirox Art Foundation’s permanent collection.

Social areas serve both the building’s residents and guests. On the rooftop there’s a bar, dipping pool, restaurant, spa and gym; on the ground floor, a jazz bar and speakeasy for evening entertainment. A restaurant, coffee shop, conferencing facilities and serviced offices complete the well-rounded offering.

For more information, visit propertuity.co.za.

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Luxury local tea label YSWARA has opened its first tearoom and store in Johannesburg’s Maboneng Precinct – and it’s beautiful to say the least.

The space, which focuses on the desert pink and rose gold hues that YSWARA is known for, was designed in collaboration with the talented Mia Widlake of Studio 19. Described by YSWARA as “afro-zen,” the design takes inspiration from across the continent. “Our decor reflects our Pan-African spirit with inspirations from all parts of Africa: a Moroccan-inspired tearoom, Coptic crosses from Ethiopia, totem lamps inspired by West and Central Africa, etc.,” explains the team behind this growing brand. “Every detail has meaning.”

This award-winning business, whose products are locally manufactured in the Cradle of Humankind, is now available at 25 retailers in 15 countries around the world. Founder Swaady Martin describes the store’s choice of colour and pattern as something she would have picked out as a child, with dusty pink being one of her favourite colours early on, as well as the colour she chose for her first apartment in Switzerland 20 years ago. “I don’t think of them as childish,” she says, ”rather they are timeless reflections of who I am.”

Apart from the calming use of colour, the tearoom’s interiors are made up of a combination of natural materials, including stone, marble, copper and wood. The brand’s aim is to provide a peaceful sanctuary in the heart of the bustling Johannesburg CBD.

The opening of the tearoom also sees an extension in YSWARA’s range of accessories, including new ceramic, glass and copper tea-sets made in collaboration with local artisans.

The YSWARA tearoom is located on the ground floor of the iconic COSMOPOLITAN building on the corner of Commissioner & Albrecht Streets, Maboneng (opposite the Museum of African Design). Opening times are Tuesday to Saturday from 9am – 5pm and Sundays from 9am – 4pm.

For more information, visit yswara.com.

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Even before the birth of ‘live, work and play’ cultural hub Maboneng, the Newtown Precinct was among the first areas in the Johannesburg CBD to get a taste of inner city rejuvenation back in the noughties. On 25 November 2015, that process took what is arguably one of its biggest leaps forward when WORK | SHOP | NEW | TOWN was officially opened.

Located at the award-winning Newtown Junction, the 1200 square metre retail concept houses over 45 stalls and store units with an in-depth focus on local fashion. Amongst the offerings are well-known design brands like Black Coffee, MaXhosa by Laduma Ngxokolo, Maria McCloy, Pichulik and milliner Crystal Birch.

The project benefits from the experienced eye of its curators, SOURCE, a South African design company run by Trevyn and Julian McGowan, the dynamic couple behind the V&A Waterfront’s Watershed project, GUILD international design festival and the Southern Guild Gallery in Cape Town’s Woodstock.

WORK | SHOP | NEW | TOWN is open seven days a week, 11am to 7pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 7pm on Saturdays and 10am to 4pm on Sundays.

For more information, visit workshopnewtown.com, follow @workshopnewtown on Twitter or WORKSHOPNEWTOWN on Instagram.

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A 1970s building known as Hallmark House in Joburg’s Maboneng precinct is being transformed by architect David Adjaye into a luxury hotel and apartment block, complete with plant-covered balconies.

Adjaye Associates believe that the modular building makes it a perfect candidate for a redesign and transformation into a residential space. Once used as a diamond polishing facility, this 66m-high building will soon boast trees on every floor, a hotel, shops, housing and community facilities.

The aim behind the project is to “combine an African aesthetic with a contemporary vision,” says Adjaye. Plans are set for the building to be completed in May 2016.

For more information, visit adjaye.com.

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1 December

Prints: Willem Boshoff; Pat Mautloa; William Kentridge and Diane Victor

Fried Contemporary, 1146 Justice Mahomed Street (formerly 430 Charles Street), Brooklyn, Pretoria 

Until 17 January 2015. This new exhibition in the Collector’s Room showcases a selection of prints by some of South Africa’s greatest printmakers and artists.

HOMECOMING at Southern Guild Gallery

Until 10 February 2015. The new Southern Guild Gallery is open at Unit 1, 10-16 Lewin Street
Woodstock, Cape Town. Homecoming is the first exhibition and features designers and artists such as Brett Murray, Gregor Jenkin, Justine Mahoney and Laurie Wiid van Heerden.

4 December

South African Market’s 1^st birthday

1^st floor, 107 Bree Street, Cape Town

Thursday at 6pm. Established in 2013 S.A.M. aims to be a platform for South African fashion, furniture, jewellery and décor designers to retail their most accomplished work to the local and tourist market.

Situated in a loft space on Bree Street S.A.M. is configured so that designers are able to have their own store-within-a-store. The curated collections offer unique pieces of local design of an international standard. Do some Christmas shopping away from busy malls and support local traders.

Karoo Farmscapes, solo exhibtion by Mark De Wet

Classic Revivals, 34 Napier Street De Waterkant, Cape Town

Until 30 January 2015. From 9am to 5pm.

Fete – An Art Show Or Something

246 Fox Street, Arts on Main, Johannesburg

A one-night exhibition showcasing a broad range of emerging and experimental art practices from Cape Town and Johannesburg, including works from Europe and USA. The South African art collective MARTHA the curate this exhibition. Open from 7pm to 11pm.

Not A Witch by Atang Tshikare

54 Church Street, Cape Town

Atang Tshikare is considered by many in the design world to be one of the most exciting prospects to emerge in recent years. His first solo exhibition of paintings opens at the Worldart gallery on 4 December 2014.

Not by a witch will feature eight paintings of which three are portraits of inspirational friends – Athi-Patra Ruga, Nthato Mokgata (Spoek Mathambo) and Isaac Zavale.

Gallery hours are Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm and on Saturday from 10am to 1pm.

Dillon Marsh: For What It’s Worth Exhibition

Until 24 January 2015. Photographer Dillon Marsh will be hosting a solo show at the Brundyn+ Gallery at ORO AFRICA Building (First Floor), 170 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town.

6 December

Le Kap Lifestyle Fair

Blaauwklippen Vineyards, Stellenbosch

Join in the fun with wine, gourmet food, dressage and couture fashion. Dress code is chic/glamorous. On from 11am to 7pm. Tickets are available at Computicket at R500 each.

12 December

The Art of the Brick Lego Exhibition

V&A Waterfront, Cape Town

Until 28 February 2015. See acclaimed artist Nathan Sawaya’s incredible works built in this childhood classic toy. The works consist of giant portraits and large-scale figures contructed from Lego.

Tickets are available online through Computicket and cost R140 for adults and R95 for under 18s.

14 December

Spier Winelands Express

Travel by train to visit Spier, one of the oldest farms in the Cape Winelands. Upon arrival, taste five wines, visit Eagle Encounters and enjoy lunch at the farm-to-table restaurant, Eight.

The ticket includes entrance to Eagle Encounters, Spier Wine Tasting (or a grape juice tasting for kids), as well as two bottles of your choice of signature wines (one white, one red). You also get lunch at Eight or a selection of picnic goodies to the value of R125 from Eight to Go Deli. Cost is R390 per person or R295 for children.

28 December

Spier Winelands Express

Travel by train to visit Spier, one of the oldest farms in the Cape Winelands. Upon arrival, taste five wines, visit Eagle Encounters and enjoy lunch at the farm-to-table restaurant, Eight.

The ticket includes entrance to Eagle Encounters, Spier Wine Tasting (or a grape juice tasting for kids), as well as two bottles of your choice of signature wines (one white, one red). You also get lunch at Eight or a selection of picnic goodies to the value of R125 from Eight to Go Deli. Cost is R390 per person or R295 for children.

____________________

Ongoing Events

Free Outdoor Active Fitness Programme returns to the V&A Waterfront

V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, 021 408 7600

Until March/April 2015. Having partnered with top experts to develop the programme, the V&A will host a series of free physical activities ranging from yoga to running clubs, bringing the gym outdoors, and to you. 

V&A Market on The Wharf

Nobel Square, between the Two Oceans Aquarium and the V&A Hotel, Cape Town

The V&A Market on The Wharf is quickly entrenching its position as Cape Town’s ultimate gastronomic destination. An array of artisanal foods, on-site demo kitchens and a kids’ entertainment area are just a few of its features. The market is open all day Wednesday to Sunday.

Neighbourhood Goods Market

The Old Biscuit Mill, 373 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town

Every Saturday from 9am to 2pm, come rain or shine, the Old Biscuit Mill becomes the hotspot for locavores. Expect over 100 specialty traders including local farmers, fine-food purveyors, organic merchants, bakers, grocers, mongers, butchers, artisan producers, celebrated local chefs and micro enterprises – not to mention the designers. Get there early for parking. 

Neighbourhood Goods Market

73 Juta Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg

This is the younger cousin of the Cape Town event. It runs every Saturday from 9am to 3pm. It may not be quite as big and epic, but it’s steadily growing alongside the exciting Braamies rejuvenation.

Groote Post Country Market

Groote Post, Darling Hills Road, Darling, 022 492 2825

Until April 2015. Indulge in the best of local Darling gourmet produce, arts and crafts, décor, gifts, homeware stalls and more, while the children are entertained by tractor rides, guided horse riding and sheep-shearing demonstrations. Relax in the shade on the lawns and tables, enjoying the live music while sipping on Groote Post’s Rosé, specially produced for the markets (and for sale at the monthly markets only). Held on the last Sunday of every month, until April 2015, between 10am and 3pm. Entry is free.

City Bowl Food Market

14 Hope Street, Gardens, Cape Town

Every Thursday from 4.30pm to 8.30pm and Saturday from 9am to 2pm, this food and wine market offers easy access to fresh produce and tasty fare. Thursdays in particular have become quite a social affair and Saturdays sometimes includes a fashion component. 

Capital Urban Market

107 Corobay Avenue, Menlyn Maine, Pretoria

Capital Urban Market is a Pretoria inner-city market forming part of the Cool Capital 2014 citizen-driven initiative to revitalise and restore the inner-city, as well as give local designers and entrepreneurs the opportunity to showcase and expand their brand.

Dear Mr Mandela, Dear Mrs Parks and Freedom XX

The University Museum, 52 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch (Sasol Art Museum), 021 808 3691

Until 31 December 2014, Dear Mr Mandela, Dear Mrs Parks is inspired by the late human rights activist Rosa Parks, as well as the hundreds of children around the world who wrote letters to Nelson Mandela. The staff of the university museum crowd-curated Freedom XX, with each member selecting an artwork and writing a short curatorial statement. Both form part the university-wide celebrations of 20 years of freedom. 

La Motte Helgaard Steyn Awards Exhibition

R45 Main Road, Franschhoek Valley, 021 876 8000

Until June 2015. The exhibition will showcase the works of the winners of the Helgaard Steyn Award since its inception in 1987 until 2013. It will focus on three main areas: visual art works, musical compositions and literature.

Save The Date

18 – 21 March 2015: Made Expo Milano

Presented by Milano Architettura Design Edilizia.

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The director of the Museum of African Design takes us on a tour of his apartment on the periphery of the pulsating main street of Maboneng. Sometimes it takes an American in Africa to show us that size is not everything.

The most striking thing about Aaron Kohn’s bachelor pad on the third floor of the Artisan Lofts in Maboneng is not that it’s right next door to a brothel or that the balcony catches the most indulgent rays of sun on mornings after a night of partying. It’s that the apartment is, well, so tiny. 

At only 30 square metres – “as well as a 10 square-metre balcony,” he emphasises – Aaron has to make the space work for his needs. We settle on the short-short chairs on said balcony and enjoy the sunlight, as a low-hanging lamp sways in the breeze. “I know they’re tiny chairs,” he laughs, “that’s kind of the theme of the apartment if you haven’t noticed.”

“This,” he gestures to his bedroom, “looks massive to me. Especially after living in New York. It’s, like, three times the size of a New York apartment at, like, a fourth of the rent. Everyone has it hard in New York. You make a lot more money in New York but over there you have a shittier quality of life.”

The 23-year-old’s quality of life has improved considerably since he left his birthplace in Cleveland. Before he was a resident of Joburg’s hipster hub, Aaron was an African Studies student at Columbia University in New York. He spent a year as an exchange student at Wits University – “because I knew all the Americans had gone to UCT” – and co-founded the AfricanLookbook.com e-retailer where five-panel Babatunde caps priced as high as $40 are sold to Americans and Europeans who want some African flavour in their wardrobes. Even before that though, he did a year of high school in Gaborone, Botswana, and travelled through Namibia. It’s these experiences that are part of the reason he became “obsessed” with this continent. 

Now, he is the director of the new Museum of African Design (MOAD), a stone’s throw from his apartment. MOAD is a project of developer Jonathan Liebmann, who was named one of Forbes magazine’s 30 Most Promising Entrepreneurs in Africa. Since 2006, Jonathan’s company, Propertuity, has rejuvenated the entire Maboneng Precinct, transforming it from an industrial neighbourhood to a creative one – complete with an independent cinema, restaurants and a Sunday market. 

The initial plan was to give AfricanLookbook.com the pop-up shop treatment inside MOAD, but through “a combination of impulsive emails from me, and them giving me a chance,” he was tasked with being the director of the museum. In November last year the museum, which describes itself as “a permanent cultural laboratory”, officially opened with an exhibition called Native Nostalgia, curated by Aaron and inspired by a book of the same title by journalist Jacob Dlamini. 

Images from the exhibition are still stuck to Aaron’s kitchen wall. They are swallowed by a blood-red colour scheme. A cow-skin from Amatuli lies on the cold floor. “When I first lived in Africa it was in Gaborone, a place that relies on cattle for everything,” Aaron explains. “I like the Nguni rug because it is one of few I’ve seen with both black and brown tones. There’s usually only one or the other.”

Looking around the man cave, past the clothes hung on a rail, bottles of spirits in varying degrees of emptiness line the top of his fridge; there is coffee in a white cup with Johannesburg’s skyline circling it. We drink water out of a jug that uses the Marlboro cigarette brand motif to announce Joburg Tap Water. An alphabet shoe rack “has notebooks, tools, remotes for all the different gadgets in the place, power cords… With so little space, it becomes a fun storage solution”.

Aaron explains that he doesn’t have any keepsakes or souvenirs from around the world in his apartment – where would he put them all? But he’s happy to source everything locally. It’s clear: Aaron hearts Africa.

“My attitude is I’m happy here. I can be here a lot of the time and never have to step into a mall,” he smiles broadly. “And besides, everyone knows that design and art are going to reshape this city and country.” 

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From photographic art and a minimalistic coffee press to upcycled pallets and a rainbow bin in Copengagen, here are the top VISI picks of the week series – week 66. 

1. Creative Cloud mosaic piece by Kylli Sparre

“Flowers, photography and music. Simply beautiful!” says editorial and online assistant Chantel Hans.

Image credit: sparrek.org

2. Brothers in Benches by r1

“I just love this new life for old pallets in Maboneng,” says editor-in-chief Sumien Brink.

Image credit: r1r1r1.net/proj

3. Copenhagen Pride x Vipp Trash Your Prejudice

Deputy editor Annemarie Meintjes was impressed by this cool Vipp campaign supporting equal rights, that encouraged everybody to trash their prejudice in a giant rainbow painted bin during Copenhagen Pride.

Image credit: vipp.com

4. Push Coffee Maker by Mette Duedahl for Muuto

“The new Muuto range includes candlestick holders, chairs and tables, but I just loved this coffee press. Simple, functional design at its best,” says online editor Lindi Brownell Meiring.

Image credit: muuto.com

5. Tilia by Alicja Prussakowska

“Too pretty to actually use, so I’ll probably keep draping my towels over the bathroom door and leaving my clothes on the floor,” admits features editor Bibi Slippers.

Image credit: alicjaprussakowska.com

Browse more like VISI picks of the week series – week 66 on picks of the week 268.

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