#GAPP Architects & Urban Designers

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Grand Central Water Tower(1997)

Midrand, South Africa

Architects: GAPP Architects & Urban Designers

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The Grand Central Water Tower, located in Midrand, South Africa, is a distinctive architectural landmark designed by GAPP Architects & Urban Designers and completed in 1996. This structure stands out for its futuristic and sculptural form, embodying elements of high-tech architecture—a style characterized by the showcase of structural and functional elements as aesthetic features. The tower's most striking feature is its conical shape topped with a spherical water tank, supported by a slender stalk that minimizes its footprint while maximizing functionality. The design cleverly integrates form and function, using the water tank not only as a utilitarian feature but also as a key component of the visual impact. The use of steel and other industrial materials enhances the high-tech feel, making the water tower a modernist beacon in the landscape of Midrand.

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Discovering the Best Architecture Firms in South Africa

When it comes to innovative design and creative solutions, South Africa is home to some of the best architecture firms in the country. With a rich cultural heritage, diverse landscapes, and a dynamic urban environment, the architectural landscape in South Africa is as varied as it is inspiring. In this article, we will explore what makes these firms stand out and highlight a few that are truly exceptional.

One of the primary characteristics that set the best architecture firms in South Africa apart is their ability to harmonize modern architectural practices with traditional African influences. These firms do not just focus on aesthetics; they also emphasize sustainability and social responsibility. This is evident in their approach to design, where they prioritize eco-friendly materials and energy-efficient solutions. By focusing on these principles, they are addressing some of the pressing challenges that our world faces today, such as climate change and urbanization.

Among the top contenders in this vibrant industry is StudioMAS, a firm renowned for its innovative designs that reflect the unique identity of South Africa. Their portfolio encompasses residential, commercial, and public projects that are not only visually striking but also functionally efficient. StudioMAS utilizes local resources and involves the community in their design processes, ensuring that their projects resonate with the people who will inhabit them.

Another noteworthy firm is GAPP Architects. Based in Cape Town, GAPP is celebrated for its commitment to creating spaces that enhance the urban experience. Their work ranges from public buildings to private residences, all tailored to meet the specific needs of their clients while respecting the surrounding environment. GAPP’s designs often incorporate sustainable practices, making them a leader among the best architecture firms in South Africa.

GW Architects is also making waves in the industry. This firm focuses on projects that improve community spaces and promote social change. Their work in informal settlements showcases their dedication to uplifting marginalized communities through thoughtful design. By prioritizing functionality and social impact, GW Architects exemplifies the powerful role architecture plays in building a better South Africa.

The Best architecture firms in South Africa are not only defined by their impressive portfolios but also by their collaborative spirit. Many of them engage with local artisans and specialists to create unique, culturally relevant designs that honor the rich heritage of the region. This practice not only empowers local craftsmen but also assures that each project fits seamlessly into its context.

South Africa’s architectural landscape is vibrant, driven by a group of firms that stand out due to their commitment to sustainability, community engagement, and innovative design. Whether you're looking to build a new home, develop a commercial space, or simply appreciate the beauty of architecture, exploring the creativity flourishing in these best architecture firms in South Africa can provide you with endless inspiration. The evolving dialogue between tradition and modernity continues to shape the built environment, making these firms essential to the nation's future.

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Grand Central Water Tower, Midrand, South Africa, 1996 by GAPP Architects & Urban Designers

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Grand Central Water Tower, Midrand, South Africa, 1996 by GAPP Architects & Urban Designers. (Photo: Coutesy GAPP Architects)

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Singita Volcanoes National Park / GAPP Architects & Urban Designers |

https://www.archdaily.com/972629/singita-volcanoes-national-park-gapp-architects-and-urban-designers/61a3783d93dd1269175aaac2-singita-volcanoes-national-park-gapp-architects-and-urban-designers-photo?next_project=no

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"It's time to abolish the architecture critic"

Newspapers' largely white, male architecture critics are a reflection of the structural inequalities of the built environment and are not equipped to deal with our current time of crisis, says Mimi Zeiger.

On 8 January, just days after insurrectionists stormed the capital, architecture critic Blair Kamin announced on Twitter that after nearly three decades he would step down from his role at the Chicago Tribune. Some, whose minds were previously reeling from the events in Washington, suddenly had a new fixation: Who would replace him?

Kamin refrained from playing favourites, preferring to honour his Pulitzer-winning predecessor Paul Gapp, who served as the paper's architecture critic for 18 years. In that vacuum, speculation erupted in tweets and on backchannels. Names were floated then caught in what seemed like a vortex, but was really just an eddy compared to national events.

A similar flurry happened in 2018 when Christopher Hawthorne left his post as the Los Angeles Times architecture critic after 14 years to become chief design officer for the city of Los Angeles. And in 2011, when Nicolai Ouroussoff resigned after seven years at the New York Times – a relatively short critical run by comparison.

In each case, unaffiliated writers and critics vied for the top spot. My own heartbeat hard three years ago when I found myself in a cluster of names circling the LA Times spot. Like bridesmaids, we held our breath waiting to see who would catch the bouquet.

We are led to believe through myth and snark that criticism is a rarefied act

Such conjecture is unsurprising, these are elite positions after all. To covet one is to yearn for the power of influence as much as the financial stability it promises – freelancing these days is often a game of chicken with precarity.

But speculation and gossip, along with the old "criticism is dead" chestnut, mask the root condition: scarcity. We are led to believe through myth and snark that criticism is a rarefied act. And even if we shun such thoughts for a more populist stance, it's hard to argue with the reward: a full-time newspaper gig with health benefits.

This perception of scarcity, however, reinforces structural inequity in architecture. Only a few individuals – white and often male – hold architecture critic positions. Their entrenchment, for a decade or three, at the top of the food chain systemically restricts a plurality of voices from reaching the widest of audiences, from benefiting from networks of power, and from economic solidity.

Recently, Chicago-based writer Zach Mortice argued that the urgencies of our political moment demand that critics address how racial inequity is forged by the built environment, calling out this arena as the "highest calling" of architectural criticism. His point is crisp and well taken but does it go far enough?

Architecture continues to operate as a form of colonisation and globalisation

It is of utmost importance to interrogate how policy and design have been used as tools of segregation and disinvestment against black and brown communities and how architecture continues to operate as a form of colonisation and globalisation. However, the same structural conditions that produce inequity in the field and the greater built environment also limit who is legitimised as a critic.

If we only address a critic's subject without looking at the author, we risk producing criticism that trades in tokenism and extraction. Moreover, such an approach aligns black, indigenous and people of colour's (BIPOC) communities with loss and crisis rather than expressing individual narratives — stories that express a fuller range of human experience, including creativity and pleasure, pain and hope.

Perhaps then, it's time to abolish the architecture critic.

I write this rhetorically, even provocatively, but not without consequence. Abolitionist and defund the police movements focus on dismantling systems of power – systems built on racism and violence. They do so, in part, as a means of getting to what might lie beyond mass incarceration.

"Ultimately, abolition is a practical program of change rooted in how people sustain and improve their lives, cobbling together insights and strategies from disparate, connected struggles," write Ruth Wilson Gilmore and James Kilgore for The Marshall Project.

"We know we won't bulldoze prisons and jails tomorrow, but as long as they continue to be advanced as the solution, all of the inequalities displaced to crime and punishment will persist. We're in a long game."

My cause is minor, trifling, scarcely worthy of a comparison. But I persist because I want to envision what architecture criticism might look like without a heavy capstone of "the critic" — when we don't feel the pressure of scarcity but revel in the richness of many voices, many perspectives. Could this be our long game?

If newspapers, magazines, and online publications want to support a more diverse set of writers, they first need to take a hard look at how much they pay

Currently, BIPOC writers are few in a field dependent on the privileges of specific interests and cultivated networks. As noted, most critic positions are occupied by men. Historically and today, some white women – Ada Louise Huxtable and Esther McCoy, Inga Saffron and Alexandra Lange — have found success, yet overall parity eludes.

What platforms, what footings must be rebuilt to better support gender and racial equity within design publishing? Breaking into criticism requires constant hustling and pitching story ideas. It means writing, often for years, at rates somewhere between labour-for-love and a dollar-a-word. It can be exhausting and demoralising.

If newspapers, magazines, and online publications want to support a more diverse set of writers, they first need to take a hard look at how much they pay and recognize that low rates contribute to unsustainable and inequitable practices. Not everyone, especially historically marginalised groups, can afford to make criticism a hobby or side gig.

Architecture criticism can't be reflective of contemporary culture without diverse representation in the ranks

"Leaning in" and perseverance don't correct for gaps in access, either. It's an issue currently being addressed by groups such as the London-based New Architecture Writers, which offers free training and black, Asian and minority ethnic emerging writers, as well as Office Hours, whose online programs aim to provide the mentorship needed to scale barriers to entry into all facets of the design field. These efforts only work, however, if publications make opportunities available.

Ultimately, architecture criticism can't be reflective of contemporary culture without diverse representation in the ranks. This isn't a new or novel revelation, but if we continue to obsess on the singularity of "the critic", it needs to be re-stated.

In the summer of 1969 – a time marked by protest and cultural revolution, Huxtable wrote a letter to A M Rosenthal, her editor at the New York Times. Architecture and the built environment were at the crux of the moment but not getting the reporting they deserved.

"I feel like this is one our major new coverage problems right now, since the field is virtually the man-made world in a period of crisis and change: cities, public and private construction, speculative development, government action, new communities, preservation, expressways and their urban and sociological displacement, urban renewal, land use and abuse, planning and design from the housing unit to the regional scale," she wrote.

It's mad to think that a handful of elite critics tackle this current period of change and crisis

Her key concern was all of it was being addressed in a fragmented fashion by the newspaper, with the bulk of it landing on her desk in a state of panic. She argued that the Times has "the talent and the machinery" to work collaboratively on these issues—but wasn't doing so.

I read her letter today as an object lesson for our own moment of reflection and revolution. It's mad to think that a handful of elite critics tackle this current period of change and crisis. We don't need to adhere to pretensions of "the critic" and the rarity it engenders—the term is restrictive. Urgencies of our time demand an outpouring of criticism by as large and diverse a group of writers as we can muster.

Image is by Karolina Grabowska via Pixabay.

Mimi Zeiger is a Los Angeles-based journalist and critic. She has covered art, architecture, urbanism and design for a number of publications including The New York Times, Domus, Dwell, Architects' Newspaper, and Architect.

The post "It's time to abolish the architecture critic" appeared first on Dezeen.

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Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...

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Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...

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Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...

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Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...

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Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...

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Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...

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Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...

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Cute Home Decoration

Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...

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15 Prodigious Living Room Large Wall Decor Creative And Inexpensive Ideas

Cute Home Decoration

Set in Rwandas northwestern reaches, right on the edge of Volcanoes National Park, Singita Kwitonda Lodges unparalleled position puts life-changing gorilla-trekking experiences within easy reach. The creative team  behind the  design  are  Architects: Gapp Architects & Urban Designers...