Category: Uncategorized

  • The Cozy Cape Cuddle

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    I was on a call last week or the other, where I learned one of the team mates from our partner studio moved to Cape Town recently. Earlier today, I joked with a friend that I was escaping the winter. This brought about thoughts of my first winter experience in Cape Town. So with most…

  • A Pot of Problems at the Table of Grace

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    Not all burdens weigh the same. There is a story I carry with me from my university days. It involves our then lecturer Mr. Mukucha. His hoarse and brazen voice was more abrasive than a cement stock brick you find on a construction site. So try imagine hearing this in his voice: “If you were…

  • Confession of a Coffee Snob

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    NK
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    Durban. Cape Town. Joburg. Nairobi. Addis Ababa. Kampala. Lusaka. Every city I enter, I start with coffee.Not for the flat white, not the latte art, not the Wifi. When I visit speciality coffee shops I am looking for signals. Non-verbal cues and unspoken clues to help me decode a city. Coffee shops for me are…

  • My Personal Architecture

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    NK
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    There are certain objects I’ve come to rely on, they mark out small territories of calm. In a restless world, they give shape to stillness. None of them are extraordinary. In fact, that’s the point. They are ordinary things, made well, used often. The Urbanist Tote Built for movement. My carry wear is sturdy, spacious,…

  • The Curse of the Drunk Sailor

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    NK
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    One of the most challenging periods in my professional career was unpacking and processing my travels. I’d travel often and when I return, was bursting to share my intimate knowledge and practical experience with the hopes of injecting radical ideas into organisations, my practice and in the case of Africa, building for the next billion.…

  • Back to the Art of Critique

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    NK
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    A Personal Take on the Woolworths Eat Out Awards I’ve always held a quiet reverence for the culture of critique especially in hospitality. As a kid, I had to wait my turn to read the Sunday paper tossed on the dining room table. I would charge straight for the lifestyle section, this dash was of…

  • A Continental Visionary

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    NK
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    The original article was published by the Design Indaba. Link HERE Durban-based Nkululeko Mthembu – a Design Indaba Emerging Creative for 2022 – is the director of Pista Ventures, a research and design practice at the intersection of cultural intelligence, design thinking and technology. The innovative young entrepreneur became more attuned to the needs of…