LORENZO NASSIMBENI

The mural was designed in collaboration with 26’10 Architects for a building which they designed at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital. The view from the building for which the ceramic mural is designed looks upon a landscape which is representative of the essence of Johannesburg, and particularly its geological composition. The view shows a landscape of strata - the almost subterranean layer, the mine dump layer, the layer of buildings, the layer of the natural ridge, the layer of the electrical wire infrastructure, and the layer of the sky. The mural seeks to depict these layers, and see the buildings as similar to minerals floating within and outside of these layers. In essence, a depiction of the landscape which is viewed from the facade of the building, is represented by a mural made of ceramic tiles, which in turn adorns the facade of the building.

Location: Coronationville, Johannesburg, South Africa

For: Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital

Year: 2016

Architects: 26’10 South Architects

Collaborators: Ashley Heron

Photographer: Dave Southwood and Lorenzo Nassimbeni

The urban precinct of Sandton is one where motor vehicles and parking spaces overpower pedestrian movement. The project recognises this notion with an artwork which sheds a colourful light upon a staircase linking the street level to the urban piazza of the precinct. This project takes the form of an artwork made of tiles adorning the staircase.

A pattern composed of ‘arrow-like’ shapes was generated in response to an analysis of the geometric composition of the building - the immediate context of the artwork. These shapes are a directional device guiding movement up and down the staircase. A palette of primary colours on a white ‘canvas’ of tiles was selected to enliven the site which is largely composed of grey tones.  

Rather than an imposed object in the space, the artwork is the space itself. When viewed in elevation from across the street, the artwork presents itself as a flat image. As one approaches the piazza, the artwork starts to loosen as the faceted canvas seems to tilt with the changing field of view.

Credits

Location: Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa

For: Abland Property Developers

Date: 2017

Architects: Paragon Group

Collaborators: Parts&Labour

Photographer: Dharmaratna Saraswati

The surface artwork is integrated with the development of a residential tower which incorporates a restaurant and associated amenities of the Ellipse Waterfall project. The site is an open piazza, a forecourt to the tower. The artwork relates to the piazza at various scales—urban, architectural, landscape, and detail. It integrates these elements into one cohesive design. It is made up of custom-designed elliptical tiles and concrete seats, responding directly to the architectural language of the building. Primarily, the artwork is a directional device guiding the pedestrian from the mouth of the piazza to the entrance of the building. To achieve this, the tiled pattern is at its densest at the mouth of the piazza and disperses as it approaches the entrance of the building. A group of concrete seats brings a three-dimensional aspect to the piazza. Line drawings made of mild steel are embedded in the curved facade of the seats. They are an abstract representation of the historical Highveld landscape of which the site is a part. 

Credits

Location: Ellipse Waterfall, Johannesburg, South Africa

For: Attacq and Tricolt

Year: 2023

Architects: dhk Architects

Landscape Architects: GREENinc Landscape Architecture + Urbanism

Collaborators: Wolkberg Casting Studios, Kamal Ranchod, Ilaena Napier and Rafiq Paulen

Photographer: Paris Brummer

The public artwork, entitled ‘Present Shapes’, is sited in Bonteheuwel. In the South African context, Bonteheuwel is one of the most socio-politically significant urban environments in the city of Cape Town. The community spirit of Bonteheuwel was referenced in the public artwork intervention by placing importance on the presence of the pedestrian in relation to the intervention. With reference to communication between the residents of Bonteheuwel, the project incorporated an art workshop with school students of the area as the key generator for the project. The social aspect of the site was of primary importance in the conceptualisation of the intervention.

The site of the artwork is Freedom Square, the civic centre of Bonteheuwel. It is located precisely in the centre of the town, and is the space to which all roads lead. Considered the jewel of the area, it is placed at the heart of the overall environment. The open square is delineated by civic buildings, some of which are commercial. The public library takes pride of place, and has a prominent platform or ‘stage’ upon which it sits. As part of the platform, there is a flight of stairs leading to a landing. Upon that landing, the iconic figure, political activist Ashley Kriel, would stand to address audiences and deliver his message during the Apartheid struggle of South Africa.

Working closely with the TERRA+ Landscape Architects, the public artwork design strategy as a layer to the landscape design. An installation made of aluminium shapes was masked onto a security screen in front of the library. The screen is a backdrop to the ‘stage’ in front of the library as well as the open square. The floor artworks on the square engage the pedestrian, whilst two painted murals by local artist, Shaunez Benting, consolidate another edge of the space. A key part of the public artwork intervention was its spatial function. The idea was to define the boundaries of the site and give depth to the space through the inclusion of colour as a counterpoint to the materials of the overall landscaping.

The catalyst for the design of the artworks was an art workshop held for the junior school students of the area. The artist considered this event as the public artwork in itself, a sort of artistic and educational performance. The library screen installation, floor artworks and murals are seen as by-products of the workshop. With Bonteheuwel having a challenging history of socio-political turbulence, the project focused on the present day outlook of the school students in terms of their spatial context. The colourful and playful nature of the artworks represents the artistic response of the school students to their environment.

The brief for the workshop spoke of the context of Bonteheuwel. Presented as aspects of ‘home’, the buildings, streets and natural elements (eg. trees) were linked to colourful shapes and shown to the students as ‘building blocks’ for a freeform collage. Although the response to context was important, it was the exercises in the principles of drawing (line, shape, proportion, composition etc) which was fundamental in the process. A second exercise saw the students trace shapes from an aerial photograph of Freedom Square. Again, brightly coloured shapes were encouraged, and each student had a wonderful interpretation of the space. The separate drawings (one per student) were gathered and placed together to form an overall image of the Bonteheuwel. The workshop was a joyous and meaningful event, and much inspiration surrounded it.

The artist then took the drawings from the workshop and used them as the basis for the design of the library screen installation and floor artworks. The first exercise, that of the colourful shape collages, was the basis for the library screen artwork design. The artist created a composition which represented a graphic summary of the artworks, incorporating the work of each student. The composition of this artwork communicates the spirit of the workshop. The library in front of which the screen artwork sits is a place of learning and socialisation. In the landscape architecture scheme, the platform or ‘stage’ in front of the library was carefully designed to give it a prominent position as a spacemaker on the site. The library screen artwork supports this notion conceptually and practically.

Landscape architects: TERRA+ Landscape Architects

Mural artist: Shaunez Benting

Photographers: Southland Photography and Bruce Sutherland

The artwork pays homage to the enchanting natural landscape and architectural heritage of the Bosjes Farm. Through the meeting of nature and architecture, an artwork telling the story of the spatial essence of Bosjes is brought to life. The artwork celebrates the passage of time, alluding to the natural and built landscapes of the farm as being 

Site-specifically, the artwork refers directly to the mountain landscape, the architectural language of the existing Herehuis (Manor House) and the plant landscape of the farm. Faceted concrete forms are arranged to create a mountain scape which embraces an architectural form, the Herehuis (Manor House). The semi-circular elements complete the landscape, referring to both the werf walls once enclosed the farm, as well as the plant landscape of Bosjes.

One of the shapes in the artwork recalls the gable of the Herehuis (Manor House). Clad with brass, this shape is treated with a sense of sanctity. It is the jewel within the artwork, as is the Herehuis within its landscape.

Location: Bosjes, Worcester, South Africa

For: Bosjes Farm

Year: 2024

Architects: Meyer & Associates Architects & Urban Designers

Collaborators: Roark Robinson

Photographer: Paris Brummer

The artwork is a landscape in itself, an allegory of the natural environment which is its site. Three key elements of the landscape inform the artwork. They are the sea, the rocks and the sand of the beach. The artwork is a homage to our natural environment, bringing awareness to the necessity to preserve it. The artwork and landscape reflect one another. The materials are integrated with those used in the landscape architecture of the overall project. The ‘sea’ and ‘sand’ of the sculpture take the form of paved horizontal ‘landscape planes’. The granite blocks are used to make up the ‘rocks’ of this built landscape. Social interaction is encouraged in that people can sit on the sculpture and walk through it as they interact with the space as a whole. The artwork encourages the user to visually and physically experience the artwork as being part of the landscape in which it is placed. The ‘rocks’ of the artwork lessen in height and become more elongated in the length of the composition. This gradation refers to the typical relationship between headlands and the ocean in the context of Cape Town. 

Location: Simonstown Cape Town, South Africa

For: City of Cape Town  

Year: 2021

Landscape Architects: Terra+ Landscape Architects

Collaborators: Azraa Gabru

The project is sited at a precinct in Parow, Cape Town. The environment has seen significant dilapidation in the last ten years and was earmarked for an urban upgrade. An arcade between Parow Train Station and the significant street of Voortrekker Road is the actual site.

The proposed artwork intervention is a series of concrete seats placed at the intersection of the arcade and cross-streets. The seats are faceted with compositions reflecting the architecture of the environment.

The intervention integrates with the landscape architecture design by TERRA+ Landscape Architects.

The project is a collaboration with OPENCITY ARCHITECTURE URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH. Sited at a Cape Farmstead in South Africa, the project is a proposal for a tiled mural. The mural is proposed for the wall which makes a treed resting space, with a seat and a central pool. This landscaped space was designed by OPENCITY ARCHITECTURE URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH.

The idea was to interpret the typology of the Delft Plate, a cultural artifact related to the VOC, or Dutch East India Company. The emblematic graphic of the stereotypical plate was fragmented in order to create an elongated graphic in conversation with the space. The fragmentation related to the patterned shadows cast by the trees in the space.

Our team including Casper Lundie of BIRU and Andrew Brose of MASS Design Group was selected as one of three winners in the Social Impact Art Prize, an initiative of the Rupert Museum. Directed by Hanneli Rupert and Roelof van Wyk , the competition saw 6 projects being developed as finalists over the the months between late 2019 and early 2020. The other finalists were : 'A Seat At The Table' (Kasthuri Naidoo and Ayesha Mukadam) 'Mirage' by (Studio August) 'Revealing The City' (Kim Lieberman, Paragon Group) 'Tears Become Rain' (awarded project - David Brits and Raiven Hansmann) 'Wolk' (awarded project-Pierre Swanepoel and Gustav Praekelt)

Our project proposed a work of landscape architecture in the form of a garden space and pavilion in Graaff-Reinet. The proposed project looks at the relationship between people and the natural and urban landscape of the town.

There is an existing cultural practice of the use of medicinal plants in certain communities of the formal town and related informal settlements. The base of knowledge associated with the practice is dwindling, affecting the prevalence of the use of the plants. Our ongoing project seeks to address this in the creation of a garden sited in the town. Named 'The Good Garden'.

A workshop is proposed to engage members of the community in gathering forgotten knowledge, consolidating existing knowledge, and researching to uncover future knowledge regarding the plants. With the workshop as the catalyst, the establishment of the garden can take place. This would represent a step toward reinstating the culture of the use of medicinal plants in the area.

The proposed garden is located at Market Square, a space of historical significance in terms of trade and transfer of knowledge. The square has been earmarked for upgrade by the government, and we hope that the garden will act as catalyst for this development. There is potential for the garden to have satellite equivalents in neighboring Karoo towns, acknowledging the culture practice as a regional phenomenon.