jaco wasserfall architects inc

Jaco Wasserfall was born in Otjiwarongo, raised in Windhoek, and is a fifth generation Namibian of German and French descent. For ten years he was a principal architect at Architext, until electing to establish his own firm in 2004.
Possibly the first architect in southern Africa with a PhD, he studied in Pretoria and, after graduating, began teaching full-time before obtaining a post-graduate scholarship to Cambridge in 1985.
He was married in King’s College Chapel early the following year, and lived in Cambridge until returning to Namibia four years later, choosing to engage private practice while remaining active in academia. Jaco has been instrumental in the establishment of Namibia’s own fledgling school of architecture at the Windhoek Polytechnic, and continues to perform a range of examination, accreditation and system review functions at celebrated institutions around the world.
 
Education: 1982 B.Arch (UP) with distinction
                    1990 Ph.D (University of Cambridge UK)
 
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Professional Record:
1984-1985 Part-time Associate – Schalk Le Roux Architects, Pretoria, South Africa
1990 -1993 Partner – Buro Odendaal, Windhoek, Namibia
1992-1994 President – Namibia Institute of Architects Serving Member – Namibia Council for Architects and Quantity Surveyors Serving Member – Council of the SADC Union of Architects 1994 Namibian Representative – National Board, ISAA 1993-2004 Director – Architext, Windhoek, Namibia
2001- 2004 Serving Member – Namibia Council for Architects and Quantity Surveyors
2004 - 2009 Managing Director, Jaco Wasserfall Architects, Windhoek, Namibia
2009 - 2018 Managing Direcor, Wasserfall Munting Architects, Windhoek, Namibia
2018 -  Managing Director, Jaco Wasserfall Architects, Windhoek, Namibia
 
AWARDS
1999 - NIA Merit Award (Highly Recommended) – Namlex Chambers Windhoek, Namibia
2002 - NIA Merit Award (Excellence) – Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre, Windhoek, Namibia
2010 - NIA Merit Award – Ernst & Young Offices, Windhoek, Namibia
2010 - 22nd Sophia Gray Laureate in recognition of his contribution to architecture and architectural debate in                            Southern Africa
2011 - Didalo Minosse International Prize for Commissioning a Building, Vicenza, Italy (Commendation) – Offices for
            Bührmann & Partners, Windhoek, Namibia
2011 - World Architecture Festival, Barcelona, Spain, shortlisted for Bührmann & Partners Offices, Windhoek, and                        Hilton Hotel, Windhoek
2012 - NIA Merit Award (Excellence) – Offices for Bührmann & Partners, Windhoek, Namibia
2012 - World Architecture News Awards Hotel of the Year 2012, shortlisted for Hilton Hotel, Windhoek
2012 - Chosen as one of “100 Architects of the year 2012” by Korean Institute of Architects at the 31st Korean                              Architecture Festival Publication:
 
Work widely published in local, South African and international journals and publications, including:
              Phaidon’s Atlas of World Architecture,
              Braun’s Atlas of World Architecture,
              International Office Building – Modernity + Creation,
              Architecture of the 21st Century: Africa and Middle East,
              and online in Arch Daily: ‘South African Architect’, Primedia Publishing,
January/February 2001 ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2001 - ‘50 Years of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2002 - ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2004 - ‘Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture’, Phaidon Press,
2004 - ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2005 - ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2006 - ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2007 - ‘Walls & Roofs’, vol.10 no.1, Media in Africa,
2009 - ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2009 - ‘A Magazine’, Department of Architecture, UFS,
2010 - ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2010 - ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2011 - ‘The Digest of Namibian Architecture’, Picasso Headline,
2012 - ‘Architecture South Africa’, November/December
2010 - ‘Dedalo Minosse Exhibition Catalogue 2010/2011’, Vicenza (Italy),
2011 - ‘Atlas: Architectures of the 21st Century, Africa and Middle East, Fundación BBVA (Bilbao),
2011 - ‘International Office Buildings’, Design Vision International Publishing (Hong Kong),
2012 - ‘Atlas of World Architecture’, Braun (Switzerland),
2012 - ‘Architecture: the people, places, and ideas diving contemporary design’, Design Bureau Special Edition, Alarm                 Press (Chicago), October
2012 - ‘The Making of an Intuitive Architecture’, Flamingo In Flight Magazine for Air Namibia, Media Nova                                       Publishers, Namibia, September 2013
 
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
Registration: 1985 - Registered Member, South African Council for Architects (SACAP)
                       1986 - Registered Member, Namibia Council for Architects and Quantity Surveyors (NCAQS)                                                           - Registered Member, Namibia Institute of Architects (NIA) Affiliation:
                       1990 - Cape Institute of Architects (CIA) OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Examiner/                                                                 -  Adjudicator: External examiner for architecture on numerous occasions from 1985 to 2009 at:                                         -  the University of Pretoria, the University of the Free State, the University of Cape Town, 
                               -  Pretoria Technikon and the Technical University of Tshwane.
                        1997 - Adjudicator, Namibia Institute of Architects Merit Awards
                        1999 - Adjudicator, Des Baker Award: School of Architecture, University of Natal Academic                                                              Accreditation: Served as member on SACAP, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and                                                  Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) Joint Visiting Boards (accreditation inspections)                                         and other validation and accreditation boards and executives on numerous occasions since 1997                                        to the present for all the major architecture schools in South Africa, as well as the School of                                                Architecture, Chinese University of Hong Kong, the School of Architecture, Jomo Kenyatta                                                    University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya, the School of  Architecture, Nairobi University,                                            Kenya, School of Architecture, Uganda Martyrs University, Kampala, Uganda and the School of                                            Architecture, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia. Acts as systems reviewer for the                                          Canberra Accord.


HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
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