BASA SUPPORTS ARCHITECTURE ZA 2010

Architecture ZA 2010 is fast becoming one of Africa’s premier urban culture festivals. The first fully integrated Architecture ZA Festival recently drew students, academics, architects, cultural commentators and producers of all stripes, to Joburg’s Newtown precinct. Dubbed the country’s first architecture mega-event, AZA 2010 was one of the recipients of recent supporting grants from Business and Arts South Africa – specifically for the creation of the AZA 2010 Pavilion “Taking the Gap” which will be used as an arts community centre in Thinasonke Informal Settlement.

“Our supporting grants are grounded in the key area of sustainability,” says Business and Arts South Africa CEO, Michelle Constant. “What was especially striking about the AZA 2010 Pavilion application was that it would serve a short-term purpose during the festival and then move into a permanent location in a part of Gauteng that really needs a central focus for the arts.”

The AZA 2010 Pavilion was masterminded by Sarah Calburn (Program Director of AZA2010),and Dustin Tusnovics of SPACE MATTERS – architecture and urbanism in collaboration with the Federation of the Urban Poor, who are extremely active in the informal settlement of Thinasonke.. SPACE MATTERS spearheaded the funding raising (financial and in-kind) for the Pavilion and its relocation to Thinasonke, from sponsors who are active in the fields of alternative building materials. Lombard Insurance Group - a member of BASA - was their first and largest sponsor.

Architecture ZA 2010 is fast becoming one of Africa’s premier urban culture festivals, bringing together leading-edge thinkers and multi-disciplinary practitioners from around the globe. The 2010 edition of the event, also supported by BASA member, Breinstorm Brand Architects and the Cement and Concrete Institute, took place in Johannesburg’s Newtown precinct in September and featured 120 local “cultural producers of the city” and eight international architects from all over the world including Canary Island architect Fernando Menis.

The next BASA supporting grant cycle closes on November 3, with the outcome available on December 1. For application forms visit www.basa.co.za