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UFS Architecture alumnus wins coveted national prize

13 June 2024 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Supplied

Arran Wood pictured with Prof Jan Smith, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architecture, in front of his project.

A former Master’s student in Architecture at the University of the Free State (UFS) has recently been honoured with the esteemed Corobrik National Student Architecture Award. The 2023 grand prize was awarded to Arran Wood from UFS for his project "Spectral Flesh – Remembrance," which explores South Africa's forgotten nuclear history.

Corobrik’s vision for this competition is to provide up-and-coming architecture students a platform to showcase their architectural talent and creativity. The eight finalists were chosen by major South African universities, each selecting its best Master’s architectural student to participate in the awards.

The eight regional finalists had the opportunity to present their theses to an esteemed panel of judges, including Carin Smuts from CS Studio Architects, Somers Govender from Artek 4 Architects and Rudolf Roos from HDG Pretoria.

Unveiling forgotten conflict: Architecture as a mediator and reminder

Wood’s project delves into the role architecture can play as a mediator and reminder of forgotten conflicts. “The Angola-South African War left extensive scars and remains a raw place in the lives of many South Africans. Yet the memory and memorialisation of the conflict have become a shrouded spectre. One of the most obscured fallouts of the war was the fact that South Africa managed to construct nuclear weapons and became the first nation to decommission their nuclear arsenal voluntarily,” Wood explained.

The thesis proposes a theoretical foundry and “inverted monument” at the forgotten nuclear weapons development site at Pelindaba near Hartbeesport Dam. He chose this project due to his interest in the relationship between architecture and memory, particularly the memory of warfare. “I wanted to focus my research on something specific to South Africa. I settled on the Angola-South African War because its fallout is still a relevant struggle that many people deal with, yet it remains largely unspoken. This led me to discover how intimately the nuclear weapons programme was connected to the conflict,” Wood stated.

Awards pave the way to success

Wood mentioned that he had known about the prestigious Corobrik Awards early in his studies but only realised later that one winner is chosen to represent the whole country. “Winning the national award still feels a bit unreal. From prior experience, I have seen how the award's prestige follows the winners long into their careers, standing as a significant achievement. It is a great honour to be considered one of these winners, and I am very grateful for the lasting recognition the award brings to my career.”

He credited the lecturers and staff at the Department of Architecture for their significant role in his success. “They taught me what I know, and it was most inspiring to see their passion for architecture. The support from the lecturers at this incredible department goes far beyond their job descriptions,” he remarked.

Wood also won the Dean’s Medal for the best results in the final-year Master’s class during the April graduation ceremonies of UFS. He is currently working for an architectural firm in Cape Town, named TwoFiveFive Architects.

News Archive

A new dawn for student governance

2011-09-02

Our SRC presidents: Richard Chemaly (Bloemfontein Campus) and Bongani Ncgaca (Qwaqwa Campus)
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

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The successful and peaceful completion of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Student Representative (SRC) elections 2011 herals a new dawn for student governance with the announcement of the results today (1 September 2011).

The SRC elections at the Qwaqwa Campus were completed on 25 August 2011, while the elections at our Bloemfontein Campus took place on 29 and 30 August 2011.

“A new dawn heralds a new day when Richard Chemaly, the son of Lebanese immigrants becomes President of an SRC, as elected by students from all racial backgrounds and from across the student body at large. A new day has arrived when candidates could have won voter support across racial lines; a new day is here when all SRC members are now recognised leaders on the basis of academic accountability,” the Dean of Student Affairs, Mr Rudi Buys, says.

A new dawn has arrived; firstly, insofar as student elections for the choice of student leaders at the UFS now proceed according to a non-racial and a non-party political basis.

Not only did the SRC elections at both the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses achieve its required quorum, with 31% (4 729 votes) and 50% (2 112 votes) voter turnout, respectively, but the SRC elected by students at the Bloemfontein Campus is 55% black and 45% white, and 60% female and 40% male. The numbers of votes gained by successful candidates also indicate that voters from all racial backgrounds have voted for their candidates of choice.

Secondly, a new dawn has arrived insofar as student governance occupied by only some student groups claiming to speak on behalf of all students has made way for direct voting for candidates by the broad student body and the threefold increase of student governance structures on campus.

Not only did all students at our Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses (a total of 15 173 and 4 257, respectively) have the opportunity to participate in voting directly, but nine additional Student Councils were established at our Bloemfontein Campus that each holds an ex officio seat on the SRC and allows for student governance in all the major student sectors of the student body, such as for postgraduate students, international students and all categories of student associations.

The various councils now established include the Student Academic Affairs Council, the Student Associations Council, the Postgraduate Student Council, the International Student Council, the Student Media Council, the Residences Student Council, the Commuter Student Council and the Rag Community Service Fundraising and Service Councils. In addition, all faculties also introduced student representative structures at departmental and faculty level in 2011 to ensure student participation in faculty management and governance.

The SRC members at the Bloemfontein Campus are:

Elective portfolios:
President: Mr Richard Chemaly
Vice-President: Mr Lefata David Maklein
Secretary: Ms Matshepo Ramokgadi
Treasurer: Mr Werner Pretorius
Arts & Culture: Ms Alta Grobelaar
Accessibility & Student Support: Mr William Clayton
First-generation Students: Ms Petre du Plessis
Media, Marketing & Liaison: Ms Biejanka Calitz
Sport: Mr Bonolo Thebe
Student Development & Environmental Affairs: Ms Busisiwe Madikizela
Transformation: Ms Qaqamba Mhlauli

Ex officio portfolios:
Dialogue & Ex officio: Associations Student Council: Mr Anesu Ruswa
Academic Affairs & Ex officio: Academic Affairs Student Council: Mr Jean Vermaas
Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Campus Residences Student Council: Ms Mpho Mokaleng
City student Affairs & Ex officio: Commuter Student Council: Ms Annemieke Plekker
Postgraduate Affairs & Ex officio: Postgraduate Student Council: Ms Glancina Mokone
International Affairs & Ex officio: International Student Council: Mr Pitso Ramokoatsi
Student Media Affairs & Ex officio: Student Media Council: Ms Nicole Heyns
RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Fundraising Council: Ms Iselma Parker
RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Community Service Council: Ms Motheo Pooe

In the Qwaqwa elections, SASCO achieved 36,84% of the vote, with SADESMO, PASMA and NASMO each achieving 29,73% and 18,56% and 12,74%, respectively .

Mr Bongani Ncgaca was elected as the President of the SRC at our Qwaqwa Campus, while the names of the SRC members at the campus will be announced on 7 September 2011.

The Central SRC will be established on 8 September 2011 by a joint sitting of the two SRCs.

The successful completion of the SRC elections at the Bloemfontein Campus follows a yearlong review process of student governance by a Broad Student Transformation Forum (BSTF) that consists of 59 delegations from student organisations and residences. The BSTF adopted independent candidacy for elective portfolios and additional student councils to provide ex officio seats on the SRC as the template for student governance, following the consideration of a series of benchmarking reports on student governance nationally and internationally.

The UFS Council adopted the new SRC Constitution, as drafted and submitted by the BSTF, on 3 June 2011.

Media Release
1 September 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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