Officials examine Johannesburg Native Townships plan. Apartheid Museum Photograph: ApartheidMuseum

It is the mid-1950s. The precise location is not clear. Five officials aboard a van are looking intently at a hand-drawn map titled Native Townships, signed off by Johannesburgs city engineer. Presumably they are visiting the area the map depicts, southwest of Johannesburg, planned for the imminent resettlement of tens of thousands of non-white residents from the citys western areas.

The intention and effect of maps such as this was to assert control over space as part of the process of achieving racial apartheid. Such plans, and the records of their use, were instruments that helped to realise and maintain the National Partys Group Areas Act (1950) legislation, which segregated populations racialised as black, Indian and coloured into residential areas away from those allocated to the white population.

In Johannesburg, the Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 (1954) and central government pressure resulted in an acceleration of the city councils earlier piecemeal slum clearances, facilitating the removal of Africans from Johannesburgs western areas, such as Sophiatown, to new gridded suburbs south-west of the city, such as Soweto, shown on the map. This resulted in the forced removal of around 60,000 people over a period of five years from February 1955. From 1960 to 1983 a further 3.5 million non-white South Africans would also be displaced and forced into segregated neighbourhoods.

The plan is a careful scale drawing, draughted at a size that could easily be rolled up and rolled out on location. In situ interactions with maps and technical drawings are common practice in urbanisation. In the staged publicity photograph, these middle-aged white men performed their expertise through their visual and physical interaction with the plan they loom over, as they point at, hold and master it. Posing as if unaware of the photographer, their engagement with the plan is gestural, rather than technical, during a conversation. The fact that the men are in a van reinforces their separation from and liberty to move around the territory they are discussing; and emphasises the mobility of the image, a tool within the drastic reconfiguration of the social character of the city.

The professional identities, image-making practices, forms of image and visual languages used within this process were not new or specific to South Africa, even if they were operating in new institutional contexts. Rather they emerged through the exports and impositions of planning expertise through European colonialism and post-second world war modernist reconstruction. We can trace in this map, for example, echoes of garden cities and the postwar British planning system.

The documentary photograph illuminates how maps operated both as practical and rhetorical tools in imagining and imposing the scientific spatial segregation of peoples according to racial constructs. It effectively captured the power of government officials, professionals and the apartheid system. Unintentionally, as an historical artefact, it now serves to communicate this troubled past and the violence city plans can enact.

Ben Campkin is the author of Remaking London: Decline and Regeneration in Urban Culture (IB Tauris, 2013), director of UCLs Urban Laboratory, senior lecturer in the Bartlett School of Architecture and co-editor of Urban Pamphleteer.

Mariana Mogilevich is a historian of architecture and urbanism and Mellon Fellow in architecture, urbanism and the humanities at Princeton University.

Rebecca Ross is a graphic and interaction designer and urban historian, senior lecturer at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design and co-editor of Urban Pamphleteer.

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The architects of apartheid

Sure, we can all take some slabs of gingerbread, stick icing in between them, and create a makeshift (and delicious) house. But some B.C. architects are taking things to the next level and for a good cause, to boot.

Architects with Iredale Group Architecture built creative gingerbread houses for children staying at two B.C. transition homes. North Vancouver's Sage Transition House and Victoria's The Cridge Transition House for Women offer safe places for women and their children fleeing domestic violence.

The gingerbread project started off as a design challenge to do something non-traditional with the cookie kits, Irendale marketing director Katheleen Dixon told The Huffington Post B.C. in a phone interview. From there, the architects ran with it.

Basically we just wanted to do something that was related to architecture but that would help the kids make their Christmas a little bit better [since] theyre going through a lot of change," she said. "And having worked with the two homes this past year [on other projects] we felt like we wanted to do something that was very nice.

One of the gingerbread houses was made to look like the Sith Temple from "Star Wars," which was inspired by all of the current hype for "Episode VII." The team used marshmallows to make storm troopers and topped them off with Santa hats made out of icing. Red guards were made out of fondant, fountains were made out of blue candy canes, and the reflecting pool was filled with Jujubes. A second scene depicts "The Simpsons," while a third shows the streets and canals of Amsterdam.

This is the first time the firm, which has offices in both Vancouver and Victoria, has made the gingerbread houses for the children. But Dixon says the team plans on making this an annual event.

It feels so good," she says. "I think it really built up our internal morale.

See some of their creations:

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B.C. Architects Build Unreal Gingerbread Houses For Kids In Transition Homes (PHOTOS)

Architects | Live at the SM Skydome
PULP Live World and 28 Black proudly invites you to welcome Sam Carter, Tom and Dan Searle, and Alex Dean as they make their Philippine debut on February 7, ...

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Why Hairdressers Should Be Like Architects
Subscribe! It #39;s Free! Ben tells us about his frustration with getting his hair cut. Also check out my main channel Etcha! http://www.youtube.com/humanetcha Snapchat: thewordassassin Facebook: https://ww...

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The Power of UNESCO World Heritage (3rd International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam)
The POWER of the UNESCO World Heritage Macchiavelling the power of world heritage Contribution to the 3rd International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2007 by bad architects group it!-heritage...

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Debbie Flevotomou Architects - Hotels #39; design

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"Public school in the making": the Department of Education building. Photo: Christopher Pearce

One of the two major public buildings on Sydney's Bridge Street should be converted into a much-needed city school, says a group of prominent Australian architects.

The Department of Education building and the adjacent Department of Lands building are being offloaded by the Baird government for "no longer meeting their requirements"after more than a century of civic use.

The architecturally prized landmarks, known as "the sandstones", are being sold on a 99-year lease through an international expressions of interest campaign closing on December 3. The marketing pitch describes it as a "rare" chance for a buyer to convert the two buildings into boutique luxury hotels.

But eight architects and academics are appealing to the Premier and Treasurer to keep the historically significantbuildings in public ownership by realising the Education building's potential as "a Sydney city public school in the making".

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Australian Institute of Architects' gold medallists Richard Leplastrier and Peter Myers, both of whom worked withJornUtzonon the Sydney OperaHouse, are among those who put their names to a letter sent on Saturday.

"Surely here is an unlikely to be repeated opportunity to make a very fine city-based school in a buildingthat belongs to the citizensand is currently under the custodianshipof the Department of Education," the letter says.

The group argues the building was "readily adaptable" for use as a public high school; a purpose that would require less intrusive changes to the historic structure than a hotel.

"Basically, you could call it Bridge Street High School, just write it in chalk on the wall and that's it; everything's there," said Mr Myers, who has designed plans that show how the building's internal courtyard could be converted into a 500-seat theatre.

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Sydney landmark should house future city school, say top architects

Como, Italy (PRWEB) November 30, 2014

A' Design Award and Competition is delighted to share that the Installation Design by Cheungvogl Architects has been awarded with the coveted Golden A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design Competition.

Insights on Aesop Installation Cheungvogl Architects, the creative team behind the award winning work "Aesop Installation" said: Cheungvogl created an installation for Aesop at I.T Hysan One in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong that builds on the reputation for architecturally remarkable spaces. Cheungvogl have imbued the exhibition space with a delicate luminosity. Eight hundred resin boxes are arranged atop steel rods of varying lengths, creating the sense that each box is ascending at its own pace, as if being drawn upward by an invisible thread. The installation explicitly focuses on the integration, interaction and communication. Learn more about the award winning design: https://competition.adesignaward.com/design.php?ID=30086

Team Members for Aesop I.T Installation, Hong Kong Aesop I.T Installation, Hong Kong was imagined by Judy Cheung, Christoph Vogl , K Nakamura and Kai Fischer.

The Golden A' Design Award The Golden A' Design Award is a prestigious award given to top 3% percentile designs that has exhibited an exemplary level of excellence in design. The designs are judged by a grand jury panel of designers, press members and academics who score entries based on their functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, fun details, technology, and any other specific points that could be considered. Laureates of the A' Design Award and Competition are granted a series of PR and marketing services such as an article feature at DZGN Design Blog, inclusion in World Design Rankings and World Design Index as well as physical exhibition of awarded projects in several countries.

About A' Design Award and Competition Endorsed by the DesignCompetition.com and many others, the A' Design Award and Competition aims to highlight the excellent qualifications of best designs, design concepts and design oriented products in all countries and in all creative disciplines. The ultimate aim of the A' Design Competition is to push designers, artists, architects and product manufacturers worldwide to create superior products or projects that benefit society. To learn more visit: http://www.whatisadesignaward.com

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Cheungvogl Architects wins Golden A' Design Award

Como, Italy (PRWEB) November 29, 2014

A' International Juried Design Award and Competition is pleased to announce that the Architectural Design Project - General Department of Information System by AGi Architects has been granted a Golden A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design Competition Category.

Regarding "General Department of Information System" Project

AGi Architects, the creative team behind the award winning architectural project "General Department of Information System" said, The design proposal for the General Department of Information System, GDIS, in Kuwait, developed by AGi architects in collaboration with Bonyan Design, is based on three principles: representativeness, security and functionality, turning the complex, with a total gross area of 135,482 sqm, into a strong civil icon representing Kuwaits Ministry of Interior Affairs. Building design aims for the clear transmission of a conceptual duality it derives from: technology, innovation and transparency versus strength, stability and security, which are inherent to the Ministry of Interior Affairs." Learn more about this design: https://competition.adesignaward.com/design.php?ID=29912

Design Team for General Department of Information System

General Department of Information System was co-designed by the AGi team which consists of: Joaqun Prez-Goicoechea, Nasser B. Abulhasan, Salvador Cejudo, Daniel Muoz, Carmen Sagredo, Daniel Bas, Adamira Herrero, Alfredo Carrato, Ana Lopez Cerrato, Lucia Azurmendi, Javier Alonso, Nicols Martn, Moyra Montoya, Maria lvarez labrador, Hanan Alkouh, Robert Varghese, Sarah Al Fraih and Bonyan Design.

The Golden A' Design Award The Golden A' Design Award in Architecture is a prestigious architectural design award given to top 3% percentile designs that have achieved an exemplary level of perfection in architectural design. Entries to the A' Architectural Design Awards are peer reviewed and anonymously voted by a grand jury panel of established academics, press members and design professionals following strict evaluation guidelines. Laureates of the A' Design Award & Competition are provided a series of PR and Publicity services, such as exhibition of their work in MOOD Museum of Design, to celebrate the status of winning the accolades. Award winners are further invited to join the World Design Consortium and are listed in designer rankings. Entry instructions, evaluation methodology and details on winner services and prizes are available at A' Design Awards website.

About A' Design Award and Competition A' Design Award and Competition is organized and awarded annually and internationally in all creative design, architecture and engineering categories to reach a wide, design-oriented audience. Award winning works are translated to all languages in order to create a global awareness for good design practices and principles. The ultimate aim of the A' Design Accolades is to create incentives for designers, artists, architects, brands and product manufacturers to come up with superior products and projects that benefit society. To learn more about the A' Design Awards please visit: http://www.whatisadesignaward.com

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AGi Architects Attains Golden A' Design Award

Pier Solar and the Great Architects - Xbox One Launch Trailer [EN]
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