Prof Jonathan Alfred Noble
Position
Professor
Department
Architecture
Address
Department Architecture
Internal Box 46
UFS
Telephone
0514013598
Office
Architecture Building 101
Information

Publications

 

Published Books

2020. The Architecture of Peter Rich: conversations with Africa, London: Lund Humphries, 184 pages, ISBN: 978-1-84822-257-1.

2011. African Identity in Post-Apartheid Public Architecture: White Skin, Black Masks. Surrey: Ashgate. 314 pages, ISBN 978-0-7546-7765-9.

Reviews of African Identity in Post-Apartheid Public Architecture: White Skin, Black Masks

Melinda Silverman, in Journal of Architectural Education, October 2014, vol 68, no. 2, p 263 – 265. 
David Rifkind, in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, September 2013, vol. 72, no. 3, pp412-414. 
Mathew Wright, in African Affairs, January 2013, vol. 112, issue 446, pp 167-2168.
Herman Casakin, in Journal of Town and City Management, 2011, vol. 2, issue 3, pp 300-301.
Jeremy Foster, in Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review, vol. 23, issue 3, pp 86-87.
Marilyn Martin, ‘Reading Architecture through Fanon’, in Art South Africa, Spring 2011, vol. 10, Issue 01, p 74.


Edited Books

2016. Masters Projects: Architecture and Urbanism Volume 2 2014, Jonathan Noble & Diaan van der Westhuizen (Eds). Johannesburg: Wits School of Architecture and Planning, 130 pages, ISBN 978-1-86838-391-1.

2014, Masters Projects: Architecture and Urbanism Volume 1 2013, Diaan van der Westhuizen & Jonathan Noble (Eds). Johannesburg: Wits School of Architecture and Planning, 2014, 195 pages, ISBN 978-0-620-59386-1.


Chapters in Books

2017. What is a Design Thesis?, in 10 Years and 100 Projects, Ora Joubert (Ed). Cape Town: Bell – Roberts, pp 12 – 14. 

2014. Masters Projects: Architecture and Urbanism Volume 1, introductory essay by Jonathan Noble & Diaan van der Westhuizen. Johannesburg: Wits School of Architecture and Planning, pp 8-13.

2009. Constitutional Court, in 10 Years and 100 Buildings: Architecture in a Democratic South Africa, Ora Joubert (Ed). Cape Town: Bell – Robert, pp 116-119.

2007. Gold Reef City: Reflections of Loss, Nostalgia and Identity, in Tourism Revisited, D. Vanderburgh & H. Heyne (Eds). Brussels: La Lettre Volee, pp 141-154.


Publications in Journals

2021. Reimaginings at the Temple of Light, Venice Biennale 2018, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 36, no. 1, pp 1 – 23.

2020. Mediation and Materiality at the South African Embassy in Ethiopia, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 35, no. 2, pp  1 – 18..

2018. Assimilation, Ambiguity and Artefacts: renovating the home of architect Peter Rich, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 33, no. 3, pp 74 – 87.

2017. Life a Fish in Water: the smooth hybrids of Jackson Hlungwani, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 32, no. 2, pp 120 – 131. 

2016. Artifice, Play and Projection: reflection on design process, Journal of the South African Institute of Architects, Nov – Dec, issue 82, pp 32 – 46.

2014. On the Question of Architecture and Identity, in Post-apartheid South Africa, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 29, no. 3, pp 111 – 126. 

2014. Architecture, Historicism and Historiography, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 29, no. 2, pp 17 – 29.

2013. Material, Motif and Memory, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 28, no. 2, pp 183-198.

2010. Mediating Public and Private: Three Models of ‘Public Space’, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 25, no. 1, 2010, pp 47-57. 

2009. Architecture and the othe[R]eal, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 24, no. 1, 2009, pp 48-66. 

2008. Architecture, Hybridities and Post-Apartheid Design, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 23, no. 2, pp 71-88.

2008. Memorialising the Freedom Charter: contested imaginations for the development of Freedom Square at Kliptown, 1991-2006, South African Journal of Art History, vol. 23, no. 1, pp 13-32.

2005. Architecture and Cultural Identity, World Architecture (China edition), no. 180, June, pp 88-93.

2004. Collaborations: The Architecture of Ahrends, Burton and Koralek (AKB), P. G. Raman & J. Noble, Acta Structilia, vol. 11, no. 1&2, December, pp 61-70.

2004. Architectures of Freedom, Architecture South Africa, no 10, July/August, pp 20-22.

2000. The Architectural Typology of Antoine Chrysostome Quatremere de Quincy (1755-1849), Edinburgh Architectural Research, vol. 27, September, pp 147-161.

1997. Before We Could Build, a history of Planacts’ involvement in participatory community development during the Apartheid years, Spazio & Societa, Anno X1X, n. 77,  pp 88-97.  


Editorials and Book Reviews

2014. At Home with Apartheid: The Hidden Landscapes of Domestic Service in Johannesburg, by Rebecca Ginsburg, invited book review in Journal of Architectural Education, vol. 68, no. 2, pp 262-263.

2010. Editorial for the South African Journal of Art History, vol. 25, no. 1, p v.

2005. Landscape on the Edge: New Architecture in South Africa, guest editor for a feature edition on recent South African architecture, in World Architecture (China edition), no. 176, February, pp 25-115. 

2002. Opportunities for Relevance, De Arte. April, vol. 66, pp 102-106.


Curated Exhibitions

2014. Masters Projects: Architecture and Urbanism. 20th February 2014, Diaan van der Westhuizen and I co-curated an exhibition of some 40 design masters projects, at MOAD (Museum of African Design), in Maboneng. 

The exhibition received the following reviews:

Art South Africa, by Edna Peres, June 2014, volume 1, issue 04, p 70.
Architecture South Africa, by Guy Trangos, March/April 2014, issue 66, p5 & p 51.
Classic Feel, April 2014, p 38 – 39.

2000. At Home and Away, Wits architecture department exhibition, co-curated together with Colin Savage, for Urban Futures 2000, Johannesburg, 2000.

2000. Credo Challenge 2000, co-authored together with H. Dodd, and students from the Wits school of Architecture, published as a poster insert and a feature article in The South African Architect,  Journal of the South Africa Institute of Architects, November / December, p 64.   


Conference Papers

2014. Mediation and Materiality at the South African Embassy in Addis Ababa, presented at Arts Council of the African Studies Association, 16th Triennial Symposium, New York.

2010. South African Journal of Art History, annual conference 2008-2010. Prof Randall Bird and I hosted the SAJAH conference at Wits.

2007. In Between Public and Private Space, paper presented at the Architectural Student Congress, Cape Town. 

2005. Architecture, Hybridity and Post-Apartheid Design, paper presented at the INHA conference, Changing Boundaries: Architectural History in Transition, Paris.

2002. The Tent and the Metropolis, paper presented at the South African Architectural Historians Conference, Pretoria.

2000. The Metropolis and the Mall, paper presented at Urban Futures 2000, Johannesburg. Featured in The Mail and Guardian newspaper, Vampires of Urban Development, July 21, p. 42.                                   


Forthcoming Publications

2024. Practice-based Research in Architecture at UFS, Image and Text.

Area(s) of Interest

My research operates at the intersection of cultural history, aesthetics, social theory and philosophy, set in relation to architectural history and theory. In my work I aim to translate ideas from these other domains into lines of inquiry that are useful for architectural studies. More specifically, my research output of the last few years has focused upon two distinct, yet not unrelated, areas of inquiry – concerning the creative relation between theory and design and regarding questions of African identity.

Courses Presented

Since 2017 I have worked to establish the first architectural, design based PhD program in South Africa. Our new Masters and PhD with Specialization in Design degrees launched, at UFS, in 2018. 

Convenor for Masters and PhD with Specialization in Design (ARCD8900, ARCD9100)
Architectural Treatise (ATRE7904)  
Design and Research Methods in Architecture (DRET6804)  


BLOEMFONTEIN CAMPUS FACULTY CONTACT

Elfrieda van den Berg (Marketing Manager)
T: +27 51 401 2531
E:vdberge@ufs.ac.za

QWAQWA CAMPUS FACULTY CONTACT

Dilahlwane Mohono (Faculty Officer)
T: +27 58 718 5284
E:naturalscienceqq@ufs.ac.za

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