This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Arthur Cotton Design and Technology Centre at St Andrew’s College and the Diocesan School for Girls.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Arthur Cotton Design and Technology Centre at St Andrew’s College and the Diocesan School for Girls.
To celebrate the occasion, and as part of the centre's annual Designer-In-Residence programme, interior designer Kyra van Winkel gave presentations to senior design pupils and members of the public last week.
Van Winkel is a former DSG pupil who now works in Johannesburg as an interior designer for large corporations. She works for Giant Leap Workspace, which she says was enthusiastic about her coming to share her experience with young people.
Her slide show showed the progression in her work, from her studies at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), to her recent projects with South African firms. “We need more talented designers in South Africa,” said van Winkel. And it isn't only a job for women, she said – "In fact, we need more men in the industry.”
On that score, she is proud of her father, Keith van Winkel, who said he was responsible for introducing design into the education system, with the first courses being taught at St Andrew's. Kyra states that “I feel my Dad’s input has been valuable to schools, and I feel very privileged and welcome to be here.”
“South Africa, in the 90s, had no design programme in the education system,” said Keith. He is director of the school's Arthur Cotton Design and Technology Centre, established in 1991, and believes design has a crucial role to play in South Africa's future.
Having more designers could mean keeping raw materials, such as gold, within South Africa, he said. Making end-products, rather than just exporting raw materials for processing, would better serve the country's economy, he said. “Design can change our lives.”
