Edgar Pieterse
The April gathering of the Cape Town Design Network 2010 gave design-minded Capetonians a chance to view the Counter Currents Exhibition currently running at the Cape Institute for Architects, 71 Hout Street.
The exhibition – which features startling statistics of Cape Town’s demographics – accompanies the recently launched book Counter Currents: Experiments in Sustainablity in the Cape Town Region, edited by Edgar Pieterse and published by research outfit African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town.
Exhibition curator Tavengwa Tau explained that the exhibition, “looked at Cape Town in a real way”. It provided, he said, a big picture account of how sustainable, or not, the city was in terms of social issues, infrastructure and leadership. The bald statistics make this picture accessible and understandable.
The book Counter Currents is a response to the enormous development which the city is currently undergoing and which Tau describes as both, “inspiring and alarming”. The starting point for the book is that this development is unsustainable and does not provide an informed response to the complex and extensive needs of the city. The book highlights the important “counter-currents” – initiatives and interventions which do exist and provide a guide for the city’s growth in a way that is more inclusive and sustainable.
ICT Entrepreneur and Enterprise Architect Roderick Lim Banda presented on Digital Story Telling and its relevance in 21st Century Africa on 14 April. Expressing his excitement at contemporary advances in design, Lim Banda’s presentation focused on his passion for the convergence of ICT Architecture and Design.
Make sure you don’t miss the next CTDN2010 held at the Townhouse Hotel . 60 Corporation Street on 11 May from 17h30. Nick Leon of Design London will speak and Zayd Minty and Lorelle Bell of Creative Cape Town will share recent news on the East City Design Initiative and developments with World Design Capital.
Nick Leon
Nick will be brought down courtesy of The British Council and with the kind support of Grand Daddy Hotel. He is Director of Design London, a pioneering programme that brings together Imperial College and the Royal College of Art to explore how design can be more effectively integrated with business and technology to create world-beating products and services. Prior to joining Imperial College he worked for over 30 years at IBM. He consults to various cities including Barcelona. He is here to attend the East City Design Initiative Symposium and to talk to educational bodies, policy makers and business leaders.
