Thabiso Joyisa is determined to see the realisation of Level Six project – a student led initiative that he showcased during the prestigious Design Indaba Festival earlier this year.

The Design Indaba Festival is an annual celebration of design and creativity, showcasing the hottest and most relevant talents across the creative sectors. Conference attendees are privy to the absolute vanguard of the industry, experiencing the work, ideas, thought leadership and design thinking that permeates a cross-section of current creativity.

“I was selected as the Emerging Creatives class of 2019, which was an opportunity for me to be among world’s best designers and creatives. My participation was to exhibit my work and ideas that I was selected for, which was a project called Level Six that I started back in 2015 when I was doing my second year at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). My participation in South Africa’s and international prestigious platform was a dream for me to share my ideas with the world,” said Joyisa.

The DUT Architectural Technology alumnus said he was inspired and empowered by the exposure and valuable knowledge that he acquired through his participation in the Design Indaba Festival. “I have always wanted to be part of these creative, explorative, engaging stories that push boundaries of innovation, with the attempt to make the world better through design. Besides the architectural part of Design indaba, it is also a platform of multidisciplinary process, which has been close to my heart because design is complex but centred around essential core fundamentals which is nature and humans,” he stressed.

Joyisa said the Level Six project is an Architectural student movement aimed at transforming the current academic and social space within our Institutional surroundings. He added that this project is synergistic with the Department of Architecture’s Long-term vision in addressing the social problems and lack of collaboration in the Department, particularly between the students in the different years and across different disciplines.

“Our vision is to build a new Floor on the existing S block at DUT connected to the University’s DNA strand of student centeredness and the Strategic Plan’s Strategic Focus Area, which is to improve facilities and infrastructure. We believe that this is an innovative idea, and with the right sponsorship it can improve the students experience and offer more opportunities and resources to create a conducive environment for the broader DUT community,” he said.

He added that even though this project is still at the preliminary stage,  they are encouraged by the support they are getting from DUT management. “We are pleased to know that our vision was considered by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of People and Operations, Dr Issac Machi. We are pleased that our project was approved and included in the master plan of the institution. We also want to acknowledge Dr David Mohale, he was very helpful at the early stages of the project, to get us where we are,” he added.

He also added that they are working with the University’s Advancement and Alumni Relations department to consolidate fundraising efforts for this project.

Pictured: An artistic impression of the proposed Level Six project that was showcased at Design Indaba Festival earlier this year.

Nduduzo Ndlovu