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Milde McWilliams Memorial Lecture
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MILDE McWILLIAMS MEMORIAL LECTURE
The Milde McWilliams Memorial Lecture is an annual public lecture presented by the School of Architecture at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. The Milde McWilliams Memorial Lecture is generously funded by the Milde McWilliams Trust. The first Milde McWilliams Memorial Lecture was presented in 2007. All the lectures have been presented on the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University South Campus, mostly in the Auditorium.
The principal aim of these lectures is to provide a forum for the exchange of architectural thought at the highest level in a form that is accessible to both the student body and the community. This lecture series is intended as a highlight of the regional architectural calendar. The policy is to focus on the work of important Southern African architects, including South Africans who are based abroad. The lecture is held in September or October each year.
While the naming of the series is derived from the Trust that funds the lectures, a further reason for this is the association of the Trust with esteemed architect Herbert McWILLIAMS (a founding donor of the Trust) and through him with the important practice of JONES AND McWILLIAMS. Jones and McWilliams was founded by Victor JONES and William John McWILLIAMS in Johannesburg in 1901, relocating to Port Elizabeth in that same year. Herbert McWilliams, the son of WJ McWilliams joined the practice in 1934. This remarkable practice was responsible for a large number of significant buildings throughout the Eastern Province, especially in Port Elizabeth. In the great historic precinct of central Port Elizabeth, buildings of theirs, such as the King Edward Mansions (now the Edward Hotel), the Technical College, the Port Elizabeth Club, the King George VI Art Gallery (now the Nelson Mandela Municipal Art Gallery), the Harbour Board Building, the Reserve Bank and many others are landmarks that have defined the character of this realm. They were also responsible for many of the finest houses, still treasured places of residence, in suburbs such as Mill Park and Walmer. This series of lectures also honours their remarkable contribution to South African architecture.
The Milde McWilliams Memorial Lecture Laureates are as follows:
| 2007: | Marcel BOTHA: "Reflections on the Integration of High Technology and Architecture" |
| 2008: | Silvio RECH: "From the Boma to Downtown: The Work of Silvio Rech" |
| 2009: | Pierre SWANEPOEL: "An Urban Architecture in South Africa" |
| 2010: | Peter RICH: "Space, Place and Architecture" |
| 2011: | Andrew MAKIN: "A New Way to Relevant Architecture in the 21st Century" |
| 2012: | Gawie FAGAN: "A Body of Work" |
| 2013: | Luyanda MPAHLWA: "Towards An Appropriate Architecture: The roots of African Architecture" |
| 2014: | Adéle NAUDÉ SANTOS: "Architecture Across Two Continents" |
| 2015: | Macio MISZEWSKI: "The Work of VDMMA Architects" |
| 2017: | John RUSHMERE: "Aesthetics of Place" |
| 2018: | Heinrich and Ilze WOLFF: "What do you think about elephants?" |
| 2019: | Mphethi MOROJELE: "The Work of VDMMA Architects" |
| 2023: | Carin SMUTS: "Changing Landscapes" |
Prof. Gavin McLACHLAN, Director: School of Architecture, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University