Motivational misalignment: Managing the competing drivers of trans-national design-build in rural South Africa.
The University of Nottingham has run a series of design/build projects in South Africa for ten years. Over the past four years, a concerted effort has been made by new stakeholders in the University to re-align the work towards a more explicitly collaborative, focused, and equitable model. The projects, not uncommon to building beyond borders, have a series of stakeholders: students, educators, end users, University Institutions, and non-governmental organisations. The motivations for each to enter a project are diverse and can be contradictory. This paper explores the motivations of some of these stakeholders, and lays the groundwork for more formal studies with others. ... download PDF
Building versus built: ten years of transnational design/build projects in South Africa.
This article is a critical examination of the learning that comes not from the act of building but from having built. Whereas design/build projects in architecture education are generally discussed in terms of the pedagogical benefits of learning-by-doing, in this article we focus on the benefits of learning-by-having-done. ... download PDF
When design-build met the live project - or - what is a live-build anyway?
This is a paper about definitions. In tutoring students towards written essays, dissertations and theses of architecture students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, we have both been guilty of being unkind to students who begin their written assignments with dictionary definitions. Nonetheless, we want to use this paper to explore some of the nuances of different definitions of some of the pedagogical work that we do. ... download PDF
Lesedi Project Report
Student wellbeing and mental health have become areas of concern for architecture schools across the world. To address these, countless programmes have been developed to “support” students and encourage engagement. This report explores a project in which students report exceedingly high levels of engagement, respond with enthusiasm for learning, and in doing so undertake work above and beyond the expectations of their course. ... download PDF
The University of Nottingham has run a series of design/build projects in South Africa for ten years. Over the past four years, a concerted effort has been made by new stakeholders in the University to re-align the work towards a more explicitly collaborative, focused, and equitable model. The projects, not uncommon to building beyond borders, have a series of stakeholders: students, educators, end users, University Institutions, and non-governmental organisations. The motivations for each to enter a project are diverse and can be contradictory. This paper explores the motivations of some of these stakeholders, and lays the groundwork for more formal studies with others. ... download PDF
Building versus built: ten years of transnational design/build projects in South Africa.
This article is a critical examination of the learning that comes not from the act of building but from having built. Whereas design/build projects in architecture education are generally discussed in terms of the pedagogical benefits of learning-by-doing, in this article we focus on the benefits of learning-by-having-done. ... download PDF
When design-build met the live project - or - what is a live-build anyway?
This is a paper about definitions. In tutoring students towards written essays, dissertations and theses of architecture students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, we have both been guilty of being unkind to students who begin their written assignments with dictionary definitions. Nonetheless, we want to use this paper to explore some of the nuances of different definitions of some of the pedagogical work that we do. ... download PDF
Lesedi Project Report
Student wellbeing and mental health have become areas of concern for architecture schools across the world. To address these, countless programmes have been developed to “support” students and encourage engagement. This report explores a project in which students report exceedingly high levels of engagement, respond with enthusiasm for learning, and in doing so undertake work above and beyond the expectations of their course. ... download PDF
A podcast, hosted by James Benedict
Brown, recorded while he was participating in the 2017/18 edition of the
project, building a small crèche in the village of Mothopong, near Tzaneen in
Limpopo Province as a guest academic staff member.
Limpopo Diaries, Part One
The first episode, recorded in Nottingham the week before the phase one students departed for Tzaneen, James speaks to some of the project's stakeholders based in the UK, including the project’s structural engineers as well as the students themselves.
... listen here
Limpopo Diaries, Part Two
In this episode, recorded during week one of the second phase of the four-week build, James speak again to structural engineers Lois Plaistow and Steve Wickham of Price & Myers; project manager Assistant Professor Pete Russell, Thušanang Trust Director Terry Morgan and University of Nottingham Faculty of Engineering Project Officer Tony Gospel.
... listen here
Limpopo Diaries, Part Three
In the third episode, recorded during week two of the second phase of the four-week build, James speaks to staff, students and stakeholders in the project as it nears handover to crèche teacher Joyce.
... listen here
Limpopo Diaries, Part One
The first episode, recorded in Nottingham the week before the phase one students departed for Tzaneen, James speaks to some of the project's stakeholders based in the UK, including the project’s structural engineers as well as the students themselves.
... listen here
Limpopo Diaries, Part Two
In this episode, recorded during week one of the second phase of the four-week build, James speak again to structural engineers Lois Plaistow and Steve Wickham of Price & Myers; project manager Assistant Professor Pete Russell, Thušanang Trust Director Terry Morgan and University of Nottingham Faculty of Engineering Project Officer Tony Gospel.
... listen here
Limpopo Diaries, Part Three
In the third episode, recorded during week two of the second phase of the four-week build, James speaks to staff, students and stakeholders in the project as it nears handover to crèche teacher Joyce.
... listen here