“The conference will examine how architects and other designers work with both ‘bigness’ and ‘smallness’ across disciplines. We will show how architects can work across all manners of different scales, incorporating both micro and macro scale into design. The Wits Johannesburg campus, as the venue, allows for a fantastic array of SCALE elements to be incorporated into the programme,” he adds.
The AZA16 festival brings together local and international professionals. Workshops, seminars and exhibitions provide an opportunity for multi-disciplinary delegates to network and learn. Keynote speakers will include experts from both South Africa and abroad, such as Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of California in Berkeley Stanley Saitowitz, and Baerbel Mueller from the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
Saitowitz will explore the topic of ‘building the city’ – an ancient process which has been in progress for millennia. He will demonstrate how each contributing part in architecture should add to the whole of a city, taking its surroundings into account.
The festival also provides an opportunity for students to showcase their unique designs. A submission area for the Des Baker 2016 competition will be set up at AZA16. To qualify for the competition (with up to R 25,000 to be won), students need to identify issues related to urbanisation and develop long-term interventions. The task is to design multiple small urban objects for various locations, forming a network as part of a strategy to address an identified issue.
“This year’s AZA is going to be the best yet!” says van der Merwe. “We cannot wait to see the creativity and growth that will take place at the event. It will showcase how solutions, both big and small, can make a positive difference in areas where urbanisation is taking place. For designers and architects, it is most definitely one not to be missed,” he concludes.
For more information about AZA16, go to http://architectureza.org.
