STUDIO MAKE is a student design–build initiative at the Nelson Mandela University School of Architecture, conceived and led by architect and senior lecturer John Andrews. The studio collaborates with non-profit organizations working in marginalised and disadvantaged communities to design and construct small-scale buildings and produce design and design documentation to support funding initiatives.

If you want to start a new project with us or want to volunteer to be part of the team, get in touch!

In STUDIO MAKE Architecture students are immersed in every stage of the process—community engagement, brief development, design, documentation, and construction—gaining first-hand experience with real communities, real materials, real budgets, and set within a real professional and social context. As John Dewey reminds us, “education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”.

The work is not only about helping communities and teaching architecture, but also about encouraging students to reflect on their own privilege, building social awareness to foster better citizens and to create stronger community advocates. To create architecture for those who need it most but can least financially afford it.

In a world marked by spatial and social injustice, the increasing abstraction of architectural education, and the dominance of digital screens, STUDIO MAKE offers an invaluable, tactile, and hands-on experience.

As a research and innovation platform, the studio explores the tectonics and architecture of community—testing the expressive and structural potential of standardized, economic materials through basic construction techniques that emphasize dignity, flexibility, portability, and pre-manufacture.

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