"ukuqala" exhibition at the Mock-Up Stuttgart extended

Since the beginning of June, the Nimbus Group Mock-Up in Stuttgart-Feuerbach has been welcoming visitors to a fascinating exhibition about a construction project run by Stuttgart University in South Africa for AIDS orphans and children infected with HIV.

Ukuqala is Xhosa, one of the eleven official languages in South Africa, and means "beginning". And the beginning was made in 2010 with the thesis written by Leslie Koch and Ulrike Perlmann at Stuttgart University's Institute of Public Building and Design under Prof. Arno Lederer. The pilot project started with guidelines for sustainable building and the practical implementation of the theory learnt in the lecture theatre. In the meantime, 70 architecture student have travelled to Grabouw near Cape Town as volunteers to undertake construction work for the South African non-governmental organisation Tembalitsha. The NGO and its sub-organisation Village of Hope help children who have been directly or indirectly affected by HIV. The students have learnt that they need to think in more simple terms and to realise buildings directly from the design – but that they can nevertheless create aesthetically appealing buildings. Their dedication was met with overwhelming gratitude, especially from the children, who followed the building work with great curiosity and rewarded the volunteers with beaming eyes and enthusiastic smiles.

The years 2011 and 2012 saw the construction of two residences for volunteers; in 2013 the existing main building – the children's unit – was refurbished and extended. The houses were built of sustainable, low-cost and, wherever possible, traditional building materials such as the typical rammed earth for the walls. Thanks to the construction work, the village can now accommodate twice as many children as before.

All three ukuqala projects, which were also supported by the Nimbus Group, are featured in the exhibition at the Mock-Up with plans, models and lots and lots of photos. Parts of the exhibition could also be seen at the "Afritecture" exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich at the beginning of the year.

The Nimbus Group Mock-Up will be hosting ukuqala until the middle of September, giving visitors a chance to get a feeling for the building conditions in South Africa, so aptly described by Victoria von Gaudecker from Stuttgart University: "Anyone who has stood with others up to their knees in cob in the searing heat for hours on end soon forgets all about selfishness."

"Ukuqala – a student project in the Village of Hope", 01.06.-12.09.2014
Nimbus Group Mock-Up
Leitzstraße 4c, 1. OG
70469 Stuttgart
http://www.nimbus-mockup.com
The Mock-Up is open from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.