WORK WE'VE DONE
The following is a selection of recent works_contact us for our full portfolio
“OUR WORK SPANS STRATEGIC CONSULTANCY AND DESIGN SERVICES, HIGHER EDUCATION INNOVATION, CAPACITY BUILDING THROUGH PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, AND CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH.”
– DR. SECHABA MAAPE
Arquiteturas Film Festival Trophy_2025//
Design By: Dr Sechaba Maape
Produced by: ArtWorks_Porto
Photo Credit: Goncalo Gomes
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Arquiteturas Film Festival Trophy
Strategic Consultation_Design, AI and prototyping for digital fabrication. Porto, Portugal_2025​
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The Arquiteturas Film Festival trophy, created during my residency with INSTITUTO in Porto in January 2025, is more than a design commission. It is the result of a strategic partnership focused on shaping the festival’s cultural identity and narrative.
Developed in collaboration with INSTITUTO and produced by ARTWORKS, the trophy reflects a broader approach to design as a tool for meaning and communication. Referencing figures like Pancho Guedes and African design traditions, it serves not only as an object of recognition but also as a way of expressing the festival’s values and vision.​ A key feature of the project is a custom stamp, both symbolic and material, that connects the trophy to the identity of the festival. This element, along with the overall concept, was part of a larger narrative strategy developed during the residency and shared in a recorded conversation now available on INSTITUTO’s YouTube channel.​ Displayed at Batalha Centro de Cinema and awarded on 27 June, the trophy reflects my approach to design as a form of cultural strategy. Through collaboration, clarity, and strong narrative thinking, I help institutions turn design into identity.
Trophy AI Iterations
Design and AI prototyping: Dr Sechaba Maape
Tropical Ontology Exhibition_2025//
Place: Johannesburg
Photo Credit: Adey Omotade
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Tropical Ontology
Research and Public Engagement_Exhibition and Film Screening. Johannesburg, South Africa_2025​
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Tropical Ontology is an ongoing research and public engagement project by Dr. Sechaba Maape, exploring African identity, hyper-essentialism, and digital experimentation with a focus on generative AI. A new iteration opened on 7 April 2025 at the Wits School of Architecture and Planning and ran for a month.​ Dr. Maape’s AI-generated visuals merge Pancho Guedes’ influences with exaggerated African motifs, questioning fixed narratives of identity. For this exhibition, he was joined by Adey Omotade, whose Yoruba-inspired “Post-Afrobeat” soundscapes created a sonic dialogue with the visuals, and Emalohi Iruobe, who presented print works rooted in Yoruba heritage. Tropical Ontology positions Afreetekture as a strategic partner for institutions navigating AI transitions, combining cultural insight, public engagement, and cutting-edge research to craft new narratives and futures.
Tropical Ontology 2025//
Film design and Production: Dr Sechaba Maape
Sound design and Production : Adey Omotade
ArchitecturesA JOurnal Poster_2025//
Place: Johannesburg
Image Credit: Dr Sechaba Maape
ArchitecturesA Journal
Strategic Consultation and Editor_Creative direction, editing and relaunch. Johannesburg, South Africa_2024/2025​
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Appointed as Editor of Architecture South Africa Journal in 2024, Dr. Sechaba Maape led a bold strategic realignment of the journal, beginning with the relaunch of Issue 101 on 5 September at Keyes Art Mile in Johannesburg. Breaking with decades of editorial continuity, the relaunch redefined the journal as a platform for experimentation, emerging voices, and critical engagement with post-apartheid spatial practice. Issue 101 introduced a radically new visual and conceptual direction, foregrounding themes of invention, identity, and the making of future practice. Issue 102 deepened this agenda with the theme “Us,” challenging readers to reflect on inclusion, legitimacy, and belonging in architecture through contributions from practitioners working across formal, informal, academic, and community-based spaces. Together, these issues mark the beginning of a new editorial era, where the journal is not simply a publication, but a cultural instrument, opening space for new vocabularies, interdisciplinary thinking, and generative tools such as AI.
ArchitecturesA Journal covers Issues 101 & 102_2025//
Place: Johannesburg
Image Credit: ArchitecturesA
Council of Non Human Beings_2023//
Medium: Digital Drawing
Place: Venice, Italy
Image Credit: Dr Sechaba Maape
South African Pavillion, La Biennale di Venezia
Curatorial Consultation_Creative direction, narrative and exhibition_Venice, Italy_2023
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In 2023, Afreetekture, led by Dr Sechaba Maape, was appointed as one of the official co-curators of the South African Pavilion at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale. This appointment placed Afreetekture on the global stage, contributing strategic leadership to the exhibition titled The Structure of a People.​ Dr Maape led the initial conceptual framing of the pavilion and was responsible for its ongoing narrative direction, shaping the exhibition’s thematic core, intellectual grounding, and cultural strategy. His curatorial approach introduced a new vocabulary of spatial storytelling rooted in indigenous intelligence, speculative design, and critical cultural practice. Within the pavilion, Maape also authored and designed The Council of (Non-Human) Beings, a digital and symbolic exhibition that explored land, animism, and interspecies consciousness through immersive visual narratives. This work extended Afreetekture’s commitment to digital experimentation, cultural narrative, and speculative spatial methods.
Through this role, Afreetekture established itself as a global leader in creative direction, narrative design, and culturally attuned innovation, bringing deep conceptual insight and design fluency to institutions, exhibitions, and curatorial platforms worldwide.
Council of Non Human Beings_2023//
Medium: Digital Drawing and AI Animation
Place: Venice, Italy
Image Credit: Dr Sechaba Maape