Sakhile

Authors

Nicole Nomsa Moyo, CanadaFollow

Abstract

Honorable Mention

Inspired by the culture of the Ndebele and Zulu of South Africa.

Why do you believe African homeowners will be interested in building a home such as the one you have submitted today?

Homeownership and identity are strongly linked. The Sakhile house design embraces and celebrates the present and the past. It is affordable and gives opportunity for growth. The house provides functions that make it sustainable and requires a minimal cost to maintain as the architecture serves and provides from the environment to the family. The house gives the owner independence as the walls act as a canvas for the freedom of the owner‘s cultural expression. Women are especially empowered through the design which celebrates movement and transparency. The simplicity of the design within the house embraces growth and multifunctional spaces of comfort and tradition.

What inspired you to enter this special competition to create a modern architectural language for Africa?

I have a great passion for the African couture and development. When I found the competition I felt obligated to start imagining and contributing to the evolution of the built environment on our beautiful continent. I also found that the competition creates a wonderful platform for young designers like me to get engaged in defining the geography of the continent even from afar.

What did you find most interesting or challenging during the research and development of your prototype?

In a world that is globalizing and spaces become replicated and homogenous. Architecture is especially driven by mass urban sprawl development trends and mass production. In this process only those who are able to afford an individual expression of architecture can do so.

This competition allowed me to revisit basic forms and meanings of the built environment especially on the African continent. What were most fascinating are the traditional forms of building construction that not only borrowed from but worked simultaneously with the environment. The challenge was then to reintroduce some of the passive building systems into an aesthetically beautiful and desirable modern day house.