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Anton Roodt: The unmechanical juxtaposition of artist and architect

04 January 2021 | Story Igno van Niekerk | Photo Francois van Vuuren (iFlair)

The Afrikaans words, weerlose meganika, can be roughly translated as ‘vulnerable mechanics’. If you do not know the exact meaning of this, rest assured, you are not alone. At least one person does. Anton Roodt of Roodt Architects has been summoning a storm of positive reviews in the literary world with his debut offering, which is neither an environmentally friendly building nor creative historical restoration for which he is renowned, but a book.

Weerlose meganika was written as part of the requirements for Roodt’s fourth MA degree – all obtained at the University of the Free State (UFS), where the Roodts have been part of the UFS family for three generations. Anton’s father was the Head of the department of Architecture, and his son recently completed his studies in the same department. His wife, Zarine, has been involved as lecturer and research fellow in the Department of Communication Science. Roodt’s wide spectrum of interests shows in the variety of his MA degrees (Architecture, Town and Regional Planning, Environmental Management, and now – Creative Writing).

Roodt, renowned for his creativity and innovative manner of working, has barely stepped into the world of literature; yet the book, published by Tafelberg Publishers, is being described in words probably never used by critics: “verrassend vernuwend” (surprisingly refreshing), “baldadig,” (which I can only translate as ‘wildly playful’), and nostalgic science fiction.

In a Zoom conversation, Roodt shared that he wrote mostly in his spare time. Many hours of study in the buzz of architecture classrooms taught him to focus anywhere and anytime. According to Roodt, the chapters that had to be removed in the final edits of Weerlose meganika comprise sufficient material for a second book.

Anton and his son, Leon-Pierre, both worked on the cover of Weerlose meganika: Anton designed it and Leon-Pierre was responsible for the graphics. Although publishers usually prefer to appoint their own designers, Tafelberg liked and kept the design as presented. This was no surprise, as design is not new to Anton who, as a student, was involved in the design of rag posters. During a particular rag, he realised that the poster design was extremely successful, as about 90% of them were stolen by students from lampposts and other areas.

Roodt’s recipe for success? He is naturally curious and wants to learn more about many things. This allows him to connect with interesting people such as his fellow students and lecturers (Dr Francois Smith and Prof Henning Pieterse) in the Creative Writing course, where they kept on pushing each other to improve their work. It is clear that Roodt is on a lifelong journey of learning. And, in case you are wondering – yes, he recently started his PhD studies. At the UFS, of course.

When I asked Anton about the strange title, Weerlose meganika, he explained that he has always been fascinated by juxtapositions. He loves bringing seemingly unrelated elements together.

Looking at the reviews, he has been successful once again.

*** If you are curious to know more, Weerlose meganika is available at most bookstores, as well as online.

News Archive

UFS sets trend for higher education institutions

2005-09-21

The University of the Free State (UFS) offers more service-learning courses than any other higher education institution in the country and has the highest number of students enrolled for these service-learning courses.

This was the research findings on higher education institutions conducted between 2001 and 2004 by the Joint Education Trust (JET) into service-learning courses. These are courses which seek to integrate service to the community into the academic core of higher education institutions.

The results of this research indicated that the UFS is one of the few higher education institutions in South Africa that have made progress in integrating community engagement into the mainstream academy.

According to the findings 2 233 students at the UFS participated in service-learning courses supported by JET, while 858 students at the University of Transkei (UNITRA), 636 students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and only 600 students at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) participated in service-learning courses.

In total there were 6 930 students participating in service learning courses supported by the JET at 10 institutions throughout the country.

The research also found that out of a total of 182 service-learning courses supported by JET countrywide, the UFS had the highest number of such courses at 42, followed by WITS with 28, the University of Kwazulu Natal with 26, UWC 24 and UNITRA with 22.

Nationally, most of the service-learning courses at higher education institutions are offered in the human sciences (62), followed by health sciences (37), education (26), agriculture (14), and economic sciences (11).

According to leading academics, service-learning is a credit-bearing, educational exercise in which students participate in an organised service activity that meets identified community needs and helps the student to gain a deeper understanding of course content and a sense of civic responsibility.

Reacting to the research findings, the Rector and Vice-chancellor of the UFS, Prof Frederick Fourie, said the university feels strongly that there should be integration of service-learning into the academic core of the institution.

“Through service-learning modules the UFS can give expression to its role of service to the community as an institution of higher learning, producing quality graduates who understand the communities in which they will have to function for the rest of their lives,” Prof Fourie said.

According to Mr Jo Lazarus, the project manager of the Community-Higher Education – Service Partnership (CHESP), which falls under the JET, a number of institutions have identified community engagement as a strategic priority and have allocated significant resources from their central budget towards its implementation.

Mr Lazarus said most students have an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards service learning.

“A large percentage of students surveyed indicated that their service-learning course helped to improve their relationship skills, leadership skills and project planning abilities. As significant is the fact that these courses also benefited them in terms of their awareness of cultural differences and opened their eyes about their own cultural stereotypes,” said Mr Lazarus.

“The key challenge still hampering the integration of service-learning as a core function of academic activity is that some institutions still see service-learning as an add-on, and nice-to-have activity,” he said.

According to Mr Lazarus higher education must demonstrate social responsibility and commitment to the common good by making available expertise and infrastructure for service-learning as a form of community engagement.

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
   20 September 2005

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