Benjamin Kollenberg is a design architect and co-founder of the Collective Studio Africa; an architectural firm based in Johannesburg. Ben grew up in Johannesburg & currently lives in Cape Town. He completed his Masters in Architecture where he graduated with cum laude from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2018. His inspiration to become an architect runs in the genes as both his parents are architects, he loved what his parents did & always knew that is what he wanted to become. His work is more focused on art & creativity.
The creative process behind his work is inspired by the people around him, hearing their stories, their thoughts & how they view the world also from seeing art & listening to music “I listen to music, often old music that always triggers memories that triggers my creativity”. Ben enjoys going to art galleries & exhibitions, he has actually done a few art collaborations. He enjoys doing different things, thrives in a busy & under pressure environment he considers that as both his strength & weakness.
He describes establishing the Collective Studio Africa alongside Avela Magqashela as “a bit of a perfect situation” – they both worked together at StudioMAS, they used to joke about starting their own architectural firm & designing each other’s projects, in 2015 they actually established Collective SA. “Avela and I we have similar aspirations, we view the world in different perspectives which enables us to create problem solving designs for our projects and we come from different backgrounds".
His highest moments in his careers include completing his thesis titled 'Capital Capitol' which won numerous awards & establishing Collective SA. He has also has received quite a few commendments including SA Cities Networks, he was chosen as on the top 10 designers in SA by Landscape Magazine in 2020. He won the Carl & Emily Fuchs competition in 2017, he also won 1st place in a competition with students from universities in SA.
"There is such an amazing potential in architecture and design, I really want to create meaningful change that is something that I am always quite conscious of is adding an extra level of care to a design because architecture is not always about building, I want to make buildings that are carefully considered & meaningful rather than building for the sake of building, sometimes I think the best solution is not necessarily to build a building, maybe it is knocking down a building or creating an open space or putting on something on the roof – that is the extra level of care I want to create, designs that are mindful to the environment & to the people I think it makes a really big difference to the final product and also to be a designer than being an architect" - shares his design philosophy & prospects as an architect.
Visit their website https://collectivesa.co.za/
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