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Changing landscapes the focus of 33rd Sophia Gray lecture

31 August 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Mpeti Morojele and Prof Jonathan Noble, Head of the UFS Department of Architecture, at the 33rd Sophia Gray Laureate exhibition at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

The Department of Architecture at the University of the Free State (UFS) this year hosted the first entirely face-to-face Sophia Gray lecture since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Talking about Changing Landscapes, Practice and Pedagogy, Mpeti Morojele presented the Sophia Gray lecture – the biggest and most prestigious architectural lecture of its kind in South Africa – as the 33rd Sophia Gray laureate.

Hailing from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, Morojele established his design practice, the award-winning MMA Design Studio in Johannesburg, in 1995.

Local and international recognition

He is recognised for his work locally and internationally. Some of his projects include the South African Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the South African Embassy in Berlin, Germany, the Maropeng Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, as well as various Freedom Park projects, including Isivivane (the symbolic final resting place for South Africa’s fallen heroes), //hapo (telling the South African story of liberation and the triumph of the human spirit over three billion years), and Isikhumbuto (a place of remembrance, a gathering space at the top of a hill surrounded by the wall of names, sanctuary, gallery of leaders, and the Moshate).

His work engages the African landscape, incorporating indigenous knowledge and ritual to respond to and enhance the emerging African condition.

Becoming conscious

In his presentation, Morojele explained his journey as an architect. As a student at UCT, he said he felt invisible because of the kind of architecture they were talking about; mostly architecture of the Western world. He elaborated on this point in his lecture, explaining about becoming conscious.

“It took me back to the origins of humankind. I found it interesting to consider what the architecture at our origins was, and what the environment was in which we first became conscious of ourselves. It has been said that becoming conscious was the beginning of spirituality and art. The idea of origins interested me, and also how we as humans became conscious of ourselves and the space around us, until we achieve the state where we actually create these spaces for our own use,” he said.

As we evolved and became more conscious, we not only found objects, but placed objects in ways that commemorate our unity and spirituality, signifying society coming together to build something collectively.

Symbiotic relationship with the environment

For Morojele, animism – the belief that inanimate objects have internal and distinct spiritual essences – also played a role in his designs. “It allows us to have a symbiotic relationship with our environment, as opposed to one where we exercise dominion over all things. Animism locates us in the environment as part of it rather than as outside observers of the environment.”

The Kigutu International Academy, located on the Village Health Works Campus 100 km south of Bujumbura in Burundi and nestled in lush mountains overlooking the beautiful Lake Tanganyika, is an example of where he places humans close to the environment. Here he essentialises the architecture. This project, with its open spaces, also brought about the question of walls. Do they unite or do they divide?

Morojele remarked that architecture takes lessons from landscapes by giving shelter, security, and prospects of freedom.

Re-establishing what it means to be human

His goal was to plant an idea in the minds of the architects who attended the lecture. Given where we are headed in the world, we need to re-establish what it means to be human; it is only when we recognised the humanity in all of us that we can begin to use architecture to unite societies.

In order to do this, our focus needs to be less intellectual and more about how we as biological beings behave in environments; for example, do people feel alienated or do they belong in our spaces?

“These are the important things, I think, our architects need to talk about in the future,” he concluded his lecture.

• Examples of Morojele’s work, including drawings and designs, can be viewed at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

News Archive

Statement on protest at the UFS

2005-03-04

Following a protest by student and non-student organisations today, the management of the University of the Free State (UFS) would like to place the following facts on record:

1. There is a well-documented process underway to further transform the UFS. At the official opening of the UFS on 4 February 2005 , the Rector and Vice-chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie, announced that the UFS would draft a comprehensive Transformation Plan to guide the next phase of transformation at the institution.

The UFS appeals to student formations, staff associations, trade unions and other role-players to make a constructive input into this Transformation Plan.

The UFS management has been - and always will be - willing to engage with role-players and is prepared to do so even after today’s protest.

2. There is thus no regulation or policy prescription which separates students in hostels according to race.

The reality is that students exercise their freedom of choice as to which hostel they wish to be placed in. This was agreed upon by black and white students in 1997/8.

However, the unintended consequence and practice of this hostel placement policy has been that students themselves have tended to choose to stay in hostels which have over time become black hostels and white hostels.

This is a matter of concern for the management of the UFS as such a situation does not promote interaction across language, cultural and socio-economic groupings of students.

This matter is receiving attention and an intensive consultative process, which will include students, will be launched to review this policy.

The management is convinced that such interaction will enhance the learning experience of all students and sensitise them to the reality of a multicultural South Africa and a multicultural world.

3. No student organisation has been banned from operating at any of the three campuses of the UFS.

In the past few weeks, SASCO, the Young Communist League and the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) have held meetings on all three campuses, namely the Qwaqwa campus, the Vista campus and the main campus.

There are also regular interactions between top management and the leadership of SASCO and the ANCYL on campus.

In fact, the UFS upholds the right of students and staff to associate freely and to organise themselves as they see fit.

The UFS also upholds the rights of staff and students to engage in legal and peaceful protests.

The management however remains committed to discussing issues that affect staff and students in a constructive manner and appeals to student organisations in this case to engage with management.

4. The issues of registration, fees, debt and financial aid are continually monitored, and interventions to assist students are made regularly. To assist as far as possible those academically deserving students who face financial difficulties, the UFS management has put in place a structure called the Monitoring committee that includes management and student representatives.

The purpose of the Monitoring Committee is to review the cases of individual students to determine how best they can be assisted.

This applies to the Qwaqwa campus, the Vista campus and the main campus.

It is generally the case that students who perform academically will not have any difficulty in obtaining financial assistance. However, according to the requirements of National Student Financial Scheme, students who perform poorly will have difficulty in obtaining such assistance.

5. With regard to student governance, the process to institute an inclusive Central Student Representative Council (SRC), on which all three campuses will be equitably represented, was launched in July 2004, and a preliminary constitution has just been drafted. At the same time an inclusive process to review certain elements of the constitution of the main campus SRC was initiated at the end of 2004. This process, which includes all relevant student organisations and structures, is planned to produce an outcome within the next couple of months.

6. There is no policy at the UFS that is based on racism or that discriminates on the basis of the race of students and staff.

As part of the building of a new institutional culture within the broader transformation process, the UFS management is determined to eradicate all elements of racism that may occur on its campuses, and has already instituted inclusive forums on campus to discuss the issue of values and principles for a non-racial university.

Issued by: Mr Anton Fisher
Director: Strategic Communication
Cell: 072 207 8334
Tel: (051) 401-2749
4 March 2005

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