Studio Form

This brutal icon with no windows. Inside a quiet piece of Cape Town infrastructure history today. A giant brutalist tiki box for the country at one stage. The former Roggebaai Post Office & Telephone Exchange. Built in the early 70s on reclaimed Foreshore land, a solid block that once carried the city’s phone lines and post. Concrete mass above. Brass-framed glazing below. Strange, fascinating piece of Cape Town’s infrastructure history.

Procurement meetings, design sign off, site walks, and an extraordinary setting. Working inside the Two Oceans Aquarium today on a high-impact project we are designing and project managing for the Two Oceans Foundation. Hard to stay focused when the feeds are this compelling. Tag-along-to-work with us if you can guess who PawPaw is? 🤣🤣🤣 #BehindTheBuild #TwoOceansAquarium #TwoOceansAquariumFoundation

Design Week Cape Town 2025 saw a special presentation by Studio Form (@studi0_f0rm ) for ‘Form in Dialogue’. Guests joined founder Shruthi Nair for a city walk that linked the South African Museum, Slave Lodge and Old Town House tracing stories of art, science and heritage through our common spaces. Ending at the new Black Brick in Gardens (@blackbrickgardens ), guests enjoyed wine and tunes while discussing the sights and sounds that they’d just experienced. It’s so important to us to include these storytellers and activations of this kind in the Design Week South Africa programme, so thank you to Studio Form for sharing with us all. Images by Solly King @sollynotsorry_

Meet our new clients ;) Incubating this mammoth project that we’re so excited to share more snippets of, in good time. For now here’s our ‘occasional’ office view.

Our new Studio Form website is now live. It offers a considered reflection of our practice — 18 years of inquiry, material experimentation, and over 500 projects shaped through collaboration. Explore the work and the stories that continue to define our evolution. Thank you @llana.vallabh for capturing the multifaceted chaos of who we are / I am ❤️and building this website for us. Link in bio.

Ricardo Nobangela sketches as he listens. It’s how he reads a room — translating ideas into spatial possibilities. With a foot in urban planning and another in live illustration, his practice sits right at the intersection of cities, culture and community. This drawing was made on the @blackbrickgardens rooftop during our @designweeksouthafrica Form + Dialogue activation: @afrosynth ‘s David Durbach in conversation with illustrator @big_diff_ Darren Christian about his visual world-building for the new Sandy B release — imagining a Durban that looks forward, not back. The sketch becomes a record of the exchange: thinking made visible. #StudioForm #DesignWeekSA #FormAndDialogue #RicardoNobangela #LiveSketch #UrbanCulture #Afrosynth #DarrenChristian #FutureDurban

Still buzzing from yesterday! 🖤✨ We journeyed together through three iconic historic sites — connecting stories of our practice in the city, design, and heritage along the way — and wrapped it all up at the stunning @blackbrickgardens and @atras_capetown . The perfect rooftop finale: tunes by @afrosynth , good conversations with @big_diff_ , and that feeling of “wow, we did that.” Huge love to @designweeksouthafrica for backing our mission and this wild, wonderful activation. More adventures, more intentional impactful making, more storytelling, more community — we’re only getting started. Xoxo 💫

@sherlock_flips put this summary of our Form + Dialogue activation for @designweeksouthafrica and we LOVE it 😻

Form in Dialogue brings Studio Form’s @studi0_f0rm work to life through a city walk linking the South African Museum, Slave Lodge, and Old Town House — tracing stories of art, science, and heritage through the spaces we’ve helped shape. They will end at the soon-to-open BlackBrick @blackbrickgardens Gardens for sundowners by Minimalist Wines @minimalistwines and an Afrosynth Records @afrosynth listening session, with a live sketch by Ricardo Nobangela @ricky_davinci and a conversation on album art between Darren Christian and DJ Okapi. Part of Design Week South Africa, this event explores how design, sound, and storytelling connect through the city. Sadly, it’s completely sold out. Go to our programme in our bio to see what else is happening for the remainder of the week until Sunday.

Studio Form x Design Week South Africa We’re out on site today for our final walk-through before Saturday’s Form in Dialogue city tour — and we can’t wait to share it all with you! 💥 @blackbrickgardens are setting up a tasting feast (with all the bells and whistles) to help us unwind after all that walking and talking — while we listen to @afrosynth share stories behind the music. 🎶 We’re fully booked, but you can still join the waiting list via the @designweeksouthafrica bookings page. This isn’t your average walk — it’s an experience. Journey through Cape Town’s cultural landmarks with: 🎨 Qhamani Tywakadi— curatorial insights behind each exhibition 🏛️ Shruthi Nair— Studio Form’s design process and interventions 🔨 Bhuto Tshuma— meet the master cabinet maker! 🖋️ Ricardo Nobangela— live sketching the *Afrosynth Test Pressing Listening Session* 💿 Darren Christian— in conversation with *Afrosynth* on album art and new releases Please note: it’s essential to complete the full tour— each stop has been carefully considered, and logistically we’re unable to accommodate latecomers or unregistered guests.✨ #StudioForm #FormInDialogue #DesignWeekSouthAfrica #CapeTownDesign #ExhibitionDesign #CulturalHeritage #Afrosynth #DesignWeekSA #CreativeCapeTown

✨ Form In Dialogue | Cape Town Design Week ✨ Our debut Form In Dialogue event is officially sold out — before we’ve even shared it here! 💫 Thank you for the incredible response and excitement. We’ve added a waiting list and will do our best to accommodate! As part of Cape Town Design Week, we’re hosting a Museum + Gallery Walk showcasing Studio Form’s exhibition design and installation work across three iconic Iziko institutions — the South African Museum, Slave Lodge, and Old Town House — culminating in rooftop sundowners and an Afrosynth Records listening session of test pressings for new releases, at the soon-to-be launched Black Brick Gardens. Huge thanks to our collaborators and partners, Design Week Africa Afrosynth Records, Minimalist Wines, and Black Brick Gardens hotel for bringing this cross-disciplinary experience to life. This marks the first of many in our Form+Dialogue series — creating spaces where design, art, and conversation meet. 🖤 #StudioForm #CapeTownDesignWeek #FormInDialogue #DesignCulture #ExhibitionDesign #CulturalPlacemaking #AfrosynthRecords #BlackBrickGardens #IzikoMuseums

THE CENTRE FOR THE LESS GOOD IDEA IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY INCUBATOR SPACE FOR THE ARTS BASED IN MABONENG, JOHANNESBURG THE HIGHWAY NOTICE PROJECT JESSICA WEBSTER | UPILE CHISALA On the 1st of October 2020, The Centre for the Less Good Idea launched a 6 months project titled The Highway Notice Project. The Highway Notice Project was created in response to the Corona crisis and the need for continued physical distancing. Two billboards on the M1 and M2 highway in Johannesburg were identified to hold a series of newly commissioned monthly artworks. In this final video, curator of the project, Bronwyn Lace invited performer, writer and musician Bongile Lecoge-Zulu to respond to the series. Participating and collaborating artists, writers and poets | Frank Meintjies, Oratile Konopi, Jessica Webster, Koleka Putuma & Manyano Media, Linda Rademan, Oupa Sibeko, Sindiso Nyoni, Upile Chisala, Wezile Mgibe, William Kentridge, Faith XLVII / Liberty Du and African Ginger / Seth Pimentel Prose and Voice | Bongile Lecoge-Zulu Curator | Bronwyn Lace Production Manager | Shruthi Nair Cinematographers | Noah Cohen, Kutlwano Makgalemele, Jarryd Kleinhans and Keya Tama Cinematography Intern | Bukhosibakhe Kelvin Khoza Drone Footage | Chris-Waldo de Wet Photographer | Zivanai Matangi Sound Designer & Engineer | Zain Vally Editors | Noah Cohen, Jarryd Kleinhans and Keya Tama Assistance & Transportation | Boss Lekhoaba PRODUCTION FOR THE CENTRE FOUNDER | William Kentridge ANIMATEUR | Phala O. Phala CO-DIRECTOR | Bronwyn Lace DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY & EDITOR | Noah Cohen SOUND DESIGNER & ENGINEER | Zain Vally ADMINISTRATOR & STAGE MANAGER | Dimakatso Motholo PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS LIAISON | Hayleigh Evans HOUSEKEEPING & SPACE MANAGER | Gracious Dube PHOTOGRAPHER | Zivanai Matangi