Across the country, next-generation professionals are pushing well beyond the boundaries of design and build, finding new ways to start mapping the uncharted horizon of South Africa. Highlighting these young talents and championing their creativity, innovation, and inspiration, SCAPE’s coveted Faces of the Future initiative is all about jump-starting careers, celebrating bright minds, building the industry, and designing tomorrow. Our phenomenal winners have been selected across architecture, landscape architecture, interior and product design categories, after which the prestigious grand title was appointed.
Look out for these accomplished Faces of the Future…
Furniture and Product Designers
Founders of deft.
@deft.studios
www.deftstudios.co.za
Architects and designer-maker duo Martin Tallie and Zani Alberts joined forces to establish their furniture and product design studio deft. (meaning clever or skillful) in 2020. What started out as a personal expression of creativity and exploration has since matured into a humble business that advocates for longevity through simplicity and quality craftsmanship. Embracing simple geometries and clutter-free design, every piece is locally designed and carefully crafted by a small team of passionate makers. The pair – who was included in Design Indaba’s Emerging Creatives 2021 – is driven by sustainability and conscious craftmanship, which can be seen throughout the business. All deft.’s solid woods are FSC-certified to ensure sustainable forestry. Their products also make use of non-toxic finishes and recyclable or reusable packaging materials. To them, it’s not just about using sustainable raw materials but making a long-term investment to intentionally create furniture that will stand the test of time. The studio has also partnered with Greenpop, which means for every furniture piece sold, a tree is planted.
Nico Hendriksz and Anton Louw
Product Designers and Developers
Founders of Kino
@kinofurniture
www.kino.co.za
This innovative pair of product designers certainly needs no introduction. After developing a love of woodworking during their industrial design studies at CPUT, Nico and Anton established Kino in 2016 – a Cape Town-based furniture studio specialising in high-quality free-standing, solid-wood furniture items. Upon making their public debut at 100% Design South Africa in Johannesburg in 2017, the company walked away with the ‘Best of 100% Talent’ award. Serving as Kino’s motivating catalyst, the accolade encouraged them to return the following year with a new collection of freshly developed furniture items to showcase their passion for design and Kino’s exceptional production capabilities. Again, the response was beyond what they could imagine and the dynamic duo was honoured to accept the ‘Best Furniture Design’ award in 2018. With nine years of furniture design and manufacturing experience each, Nico and Anton believe that good design is the ability to combine considered shape and materials to create a product that is beautiful as well as functional, with a long lifespan. Their unique products are minimal in style, with considered detailing. Instead of being mass-produced, each item is made to order by a small team of skilled and passionate craft workers.
Ashleigh Lloyd
Industrial Lighting Designer
Owner, Founder, and Creative Director of Studio Lloyd
@studio_lloyd
www.studiolloyd.com
Ashlee Lloyd is the incredible creative force behind the international award-winning, Cape Town-based, female-owned Studio Lloyd. Boasting myriad accolades, she holds a Bachelor of 3D Product Design & Industrial Design from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (cum laude), was selected as an ‘Emerging Creative 2017’ at Design Indaba, and represented The Loeries Youth Committee (Loeries Future 15) in 2021-2022. Founded in 2016, Studio Lloyd specialises in handcrafted custom architectural lighting and outdoor furniture. In the years since, the studio has been crowned Winner of the Prestige Awards UK 2021-2022 for Best in Interior Design Specialist Services in Africa; shortlisted for the Bar & Design Awards for the Amoeba Light Sculpture located in the Skotnes Restaurant at the Norval Art Foundation in Cape Town; and named a finalist for their Amoeba Chandelier at the Loerie Awards 2019 (Product Design Category). Studio Lloyd has also been featured on various South African television shows, including the Expresso Breakfast Show, Win a Home (SABC3), Top Billing, and Newzroom, to name a few. The design studio’s products range from light sculpture installations to light pendants, seating, and decorative elements for international as well as local projects. The result is a culmination of functionality and true individuality. Their mission is simple: drive diversity in the industry and create local, support local, manufacture local to support our economy while exporting quality goods.
Kelvin Green
Candidate Landscape Architect
Yes& Studio
@yesandstudio
www.yesand.studio
Kelvin Green graduated with a Master of Architecture from the University of Cape Town after which he proceeded to kick-start his career as a candidate landscape architect at Cape-based Yes& Studio. His master’s thesis placed runner-up for the Most Innovative Final-Year Landscape Architecture Award at the 35th Corobrik Student Architecture Awards 2022. Kelvin’s project, titled ‘Overcoming the M5: An approach to reducing the inequality in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town’, endeavoured to understand the legacy of Apartheid on urban connections by proposing a well-designed connection as a starting-point solution. Cape Town’s spatial framework is cut by natural barriers, industrial belts, and large-scale infrastructural developments that forcefully segregate people by race. Extending between the city’s major business district and the outer suburbs, the M5 has had a remarkable impact on the economic conditions on either side of the buffer zone. As such, Kelvin’s project specifically looked at placing emphasis on the ramp’s exit/entry design and the hierarchy of the space to make users feel safe and encouraged to use the infrastructure.
Kwezi Futshane
Landscape Architect
Cunnane Stratton Reynolds
@kwe.zi
www.csrlandplan.ie
Kwezi Futshane is an award-winning landscape architect from Cape Town, South Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences & Oceanography and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Cape Town. During his studies he worked as a landscape architect intern where he was exposed to socio-spatial thinking within landscape planning and design. Kwezi was also the winner of the Most Innovative Final-Year Landscape Architecture Award at the 35th Corobrik Student Architecture Awards 2022, whereby his master’s thesis won first place. His project, titled ‘How to design a landscape that celebrates Khoesān indigeneity and heritage’, sheds light on the historic sensitivities within the Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) in Cape Town, focussing its design strategy mainly on the contested River Club site. Since joining the Cunnane Stratton Reynolds team in Dublin, Kwezi has been exposed to various types of projects covering a wide range of scales. He regularly exercises his skills in Revit, AutoCAD, and the Adobe suite of programmes to deliver masterplans, Revit model drafts, design renders, and various supporting documents.
Giorgio Tatsakis
Interior Architect
Founder of Atelier Giorgio
Co-Owner and Co-Creative Director of Clay by MG
Creative Director of the Ethos Group
@giotatsakis
@ateliergiorgio.design
www.ateliergiorgio.design
Renowned Joburg interior designer and founder of Atelier Giorgio, Giorgio Tatsakis is a real tour de force in the industry. With his Greek-Cypriot heritage and a short stay in Athens in the late ‘00s, Giorgio’s designs are largely inspired by his love and appreciation for Mediterranean culture, food, architecture, and design. Whilst completing a BA degree in interior design at Greenside Design Centre, he worked on a couple of hospitality and residential projects, including Ethos in Sandton and Ethos in Rosebank. Thereafter, he completed big commercial projects for BGR Rosebank (Oxford Parks), BGR Honeydew, and GRK in Rivonis, as well as two ongoing luxury residential homes in Sandton, and Kuzina restaurant in Honeydew. Giorgio is also the co-owner of a ceramics and woodware company called Clay by MG, which he owns with his sister, Mary. In 2020, his work at Ethos in Sandton won the HOSCO Style Award for its interiors, atmosphere, and ambiance at the Luxe Restaurant Awards. The next year, Ethos Rosebank won the International Restaurant of the Year Award, and its interiors were shortlisted for the 2022 International Hotel and Property Awards that took place in Capri in July 2022, placing in the top four out of thousands of global entries.
Ural Chetty
Candidate Architect
LYT Architecture
@ural.__
www.lyt.co.za
Ural Chetty certainly isn’t resting on his laurels. As a candidate architect at LYT Architecture, Ural has worked on multiple projects at different stages of the design process, including research, design development, construction documentation and presentations both locally and internationally. He holds a professional Master of Architecture from the University of the Witwatersrand and was named the winner of the Southern African Institute of Steel Construction (SAISC) Third-Year Construction Prize for the best use of steel in a final-year project (project titled ‘Jozi Arthouse’). He also placed runner-up in the 35th regional Corobrik Student Architecture Awards for his thesis titled ‘A Breath of Fresh Air: Dismantling Toxicity in a Post-Industrial Landscape in Durban, South Africa’. Driven by a passion for spatial reform that deals with social, cultural, and political issues across the country, Ural’s project was based on large-scale public architecture that focusses on rehabilitating residential areas which were placed near heavy industrial zones during Apartheid spatial planning. This topic inspired him to start his own research collective with friends and colleagues called STUUDIO to investigate and interrogate the urban conditions of the city to help find new ways of spatial reform that would address a wider spectrum of issues faced in the built environment.
Maxine Levy
Project Architect and Designer
TwentyEightZeroTwo Architects
@maxinelevy.h
www.2802architects.com
Maxine Levy holds a Master in Architecture (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria and is known to spesialise in the complexity of urban-architectural systems. As a project architect and designer at TwentyEightZeroTwo Architects, one of Maxine’s flagship projects is Congo Villa – a high-end residential project situated in the heart of Lubumbashi, DRC. Working alongside a client who reveres architecture and the people who create it, the brief was to design a modern family home that caters to an at-home professional. Responsible for the project and design development, as well as the interior design, Maxine played the roles of designer, architect, interior architect, procurement specialist, project manager, logistician, business administrator, technician, and negotiator. Through the process, she learned to create innovative architecture with a truly multinational, multicultural team where language barriers are pronounced. The architecture pays tribute to the modern masters of our history, with a deep understanding of the human experience. Separated into three parts, the home consists of the office annex, the main house, and the bedroom annex. With a massive light-weight cantilevered roof floating above a double volume glass box, the main house is home to the main convivial spaces, offering clear vistas and access to the surrounding gardens and annexes. Intimate and grand in equal measure, this home will serve its inhabitants through a stunning visual and physical experience, a timeless design for a timeless ideal.
Candidate Architect
SAOTA
@phoweffect_
www.saota.com
Mpho Sephelane’s name is making the rounds this year, and for good reason. The candidate architect from SOATA boasts a Master of Architecture from the University of Cape Town and has received numerous accolades, including the Molly Gohl Memorial Prize for best female third-year student in her class, Best Student Graduating in Design and Theory Studio II, placing Dean’s Merit List, and becoming a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. Yet, her most prestigious title was awarded at the 35th Corobrik Student Architecture Awards where Mpho received the national grand prize for her master’s thesis, titled ‘Re[covering] Place: African ways of seeing, thinking and making as a call to rethink and remake places in cities’. Her project investigates issues of recovery and preservation of traditional African knowledge systems, and how these can be translated into making contemporary spaces. The project proposes the use of the Basotho blanket as a symbolic artefact of cultural preservation and continuum through architecture. This is explored through its connections to traditional practices such as litema mural practice, communal relatedness, and connection to nature in the creation of symbolic form and space.
Architect
Vivid Architects
@rese_boshoff
www.vividarchitects.co.za
After completing her Master of Architecture at the University of Cape Town, Rese Boshoff went on to become an architect at Vivid Architects. It was there she had the opportunity to be involved in the Bridgewater development by Rabie Property Group in Century City from design to council submission through to completion. Having gone to site four months before lockdown in 2020, the challenge of building such a complex mixed-use development on top of pandemic challenges made it an exercise of communication and collaboration in isolation. But this experience only refined her resilience. In a private capacity, Rese also has a collection of complete and ongoing small-scale publications and practices. Her zine ‘(un)familiar faces’ was a study of buildings, and of how buildings engage with people in a universal language. Her area of expertise is the built environment, with an emphasis on designing spaces that are welcoming and functional for those living in and making use of them. Rese believes architects are only one cog in the larger machine of good city planning and growth. She envisions the city’s potential to provide for its citizens, and the architect’s role in facilitating this with the help of the city municipality, spatial practitioners, activists, and developers.
