Contemporary Architectural Practice in Africa

Mashabane Rose Associates

by Martin Moeller

Blueprints Fall 2007
Volume XXV, No. 4

Even those Americans who follow the design world quite closely are likely to have little or no knowledge of contemporary architecture in Africa. While several recent projects on the continent have garnered international press coverage, these were primarily the work of non-African architects, as in the case of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Alexandria Library) in Egypt, by the Norwegian firm Snøhetta. Very few buildings designed by architects based in Africa are widely known outside of the countries in which they are located.

Nevertheless, there are a number of contemporary African firms—especially in the rapidly changing nation of South Africa—that are doing extraordinary work. Among these is the office of Mashabane Rose Associates (MRA) in Johannesburg. With a portfolio that includes several very high-profile projects, such as South Africa’s first museum of Apartheid and an arts center at the University of Johannesburg, the firm already enjoys great prominence in its own country. MRA has also begun to make news overseas, having been a finalist in several major design competitions in Canada, Ireland, and elsewhere. Actually, although they may not realize it, many Americans are at least indirectly familiar with one of MRA’s projects, namely, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, which opened to much media attention at the beginning of this year.

At first glance, much of MRA’s work seems as though it would fit comfortably in Europe, Asia, or the Americas. A closer look, however, reveals that the firm’s projects are quite strongly rooted in their physical and cultural contexts. To date, MRA has consistently produced buildings that have a universal, modern quality, and yet are distinctly African at the same time.

“Most of our work, fortunately or otherwise, cannot be divorced from the dictates of our African landscape,” says Phill Mashabane, who, along with Jeremy Rose, is one of the firm’s principals. “We derive inspiration and ideas from the landscape, incorporating client use expectations. We try to fuse all those interpretations—and timeless architectural details—into practical space.”

The arts facility at the University of Johannesburg is a case in point. The project consists of two largely unadorned brick-and-concrete structures—one for performance and the other for visual arts—linked by a forecourt that serves as a gathering space for students and also buffers the facility from nearby sources of noise. The courtyard itself is unplanted except for a carpet of grass that is gently terraced, descending toward the entrances to the buildings. A long, low, rectangular fountain, in which water levels gradually rise and fall to suggest tidal motion, lines one side of the courtyard, while a curving wooden walkway and a somewhat enigmatic circular form incised into the lawn offset the linearity of the buildings. The result is a strikingly minimalist composition, of which the stark yet beautiful landscape is, surprisingly, the most assertive element.

While physical context is often a key determinant in MRA’s design process, several of the firm’s most important commissions have been defined primarily by their emotionally charged programs. One such project is the Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum in Soweto, named for a 12-year-old boy who was one of hundreds of young people shot and killed by police during a student uprising in 1976. A photograph of Pieterson’s body being carried by another student was widely published around the world, and became a symbol of the Apartheid regime’s brutality.

The exterior of the museum is rather modest, with simple walls made of brick—the material most commonly used in surrounding structures—and punctuated by what appear to be randomly placed windows. The interior provides a carefully choreographed experience, however, organized around a continuous ramp that leads the visitor through the events of the day on which Pieterson was killed. From inside, in fact, it becomes clear that the window pattern is not random at all. Rather, each window is carefully placed so that it frames a view relevant to the story. By applying explanatory text—captions, in effect—directly to the glass, the architects cleverly co-opted landmarks beyond the museum’s walls and made them part of the exhibition. At the center of the building is a gravel-lined courtyard containing blocks of stone engraved with the names of all of the victims of the massacre.

As in the Pieterson Memorial Museum, control of the visitor’s path is a key element of MRA’s design for the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. The entry sequence begins with an external ramp, which is lined on one side with a wall composed of loose stones bound together in metal mesh—the first of many instances throughout the museum in which cage-like elements serve as metaphors for political oppression. Life-sized images of people walking up the ramp provide a human context even if no one else is actually present. After reaching the roof, which affords expansive views of the surrounding landscape, visitors descend into the “belly” of the museum and its subject matter. Before they do so, however, they are forced into two separate paths—one for whites and one for non-whites—providing a visceral reminder of the absolute segregation that was the law of the land less than two decades ago.

While any architect might feel daunted by the challenge of designing a building to commemorate such a difficult period in his country’s history, Mashabane seems to have pursued the project with resolve, and ultimately even found the experience somewhat cathartic. “We responded to the dictates of the time in accommodating the painful record of the segregation program that was perpetuated by the Apartheid policy,” he said. “The memory had to be rekindled and preserved. The challenge of the project was to also house the intangible—the memory—with resonating voices from the past. On a personal level, it served as a relief of internal pressures.”

It is difficult for a foreigner to comprehend the pace and degree of change in South Africa over the past couple of decades, during which one of the most repressive regimes on Earth gave way to a modern democracy without civil war. While the country still faces enormous challenges, from persistent poverty and crime to rampant HIV/AIDS infection rates, it also boasts a growing economy and continuing social progress.

In many ways, the office of Mashabane Rose Associates is emblematic of the new South Africa. The staff, who are all pictured on the firm’s website, represent a remarkable cross-section of ethnicities and professional backgrounds. According to Mashabane, such diversity directly contributes to the quality of the firm’s work.

“I personally have a diverse background,” says Mashabane. “I appreciate different value systems that inform thought and application. I look at the value input rather than the person. Architecture is an art that can only be derived from different value systems, [moving] towards collective responsibility.”

Martin Moeller is vice president for special projects and a curator at the National Building Museum.

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