Anne-apolis

  I have always loved books, since my earliest childhood memories. My mom remembers when I was three years old, that I used to get up in the night and "read" by the passage light, eventually falling asleep on a pile of books. The problem book lovers face is that they also tend to love owning books, whether bought new with that distinctive smell, picked up second hand or passed on between friends and relatives. My first bookcase was given me for my sixth birthday by my grandfather, a beautiful piece in solid wood that I have kept to this day, always in pride of place as the large spacing of the shelves makes it ideal to show off my best art, architecture and archaeology books. It is also the home of my compact complete Oxford Dictionary, bought from wedding gifts of cash: a strange choice of memento for a wedding, but I had married a partner with a shared love of books, which we successfully passed on to our two children. My first bookcase: in pride of place in my living room ...

  In my time at Wits University I have been involved in many rewarding initiatives: one of the more significant has been improving accessibility for members of the Wits community who live with disabilities. This all started several decades ago, when my Dean at the time threw my name out as a possible contributor to making the spaces and facilities more accessible. The University had recently appointed a new director of what was initially called the Disability Unit (now the Disability Rights Unit ). Dr Anlia Pretorius has recently retired, but in her years of service she started and entrenched a number of initiatives that range across the entire spectrum of disability in her vision to create a universally welcoming environment. .As an architect, my involvement has always been focused on physical mobility, but this has included a concern for people with visual impairment. The two are closely linked in their spatial requirements, including smooth surfaces free of obstructions, and ram...

This morning I spent a very enjoyable few hours with my mom at an art class that is held once every two weeks at her care home. We did watercolour portraits of other residents - quite challenging and interesting to see how varied the approaches were. This is one of several activities that they arrange on a regular basis to help their residents stay connected and mentally stimulated. My mom moved here five years ago because she seemed to need a higher level of care than she could manage, living on her own, and she was starting to become quite isolated and lonely, even though she had a circle of acquaintances in her previous retirement village. Her present care home has a very sensitive balance between communal living and privacy: my mom has her own room with space for a couch and occasional chair, a display cabinet and the kist she was given when she got married. It also has its own garden area that adjoins a communal garden, with a private outdoor seating area and space for the roses s...

 In one of my blogs last year, I took a visit to the Flower Hall at Wits University which is an award-winning adaptation of an old exhibition building into a stunning exam venue. Today we walk across to the original East Campus, down the hill towards the sports fields, to look at a small gem of a building that has seen several adaptations for vastly different uses. Approach to the WCCO from the west The building started life as a cricket pavilion, designed by the Professor of Architecture, Geoffrey Pearse , who had been appointed in 1922 when the University of the Witwatersrand began. Prof Pearse will be remembered for his publication on Cape Dutch Architecture, the result of a field trip with a group of students who were to play a central role in introducing Modernism to South Africa, including Rex Martienssen and John Fassler. The cricket pavilion, designed in the 1920s, had a symmetrical design, centred on a curved colonnaded verandah facing the cricket field, and crowned with ...