Thireshen Govender
Thireshen Govender is an architect, urbanist and researcher practicing in Johannesburg, South Africa. Following extensive travels, he founded UrbanWorks in 2008, a design-research studio concerning itself with the design and implementation of transformative infrastructures in post-traumatic sites. He is the co-author of Township Economies: People, Spaces, Practices (2020), which brings new insights into how frontier territories are being established through rampant informal practices.
Thireshen Govender is an architect, urban designer, and researcher who considers himself a curious creative. Based in Johannesburg, Govender is the founder of Urban Works, an interdisciplinary design and research studio, and he also leads a research Unit at the University of Johannesburg. His work focuses on the role of architecture and urban design in bringing about necessary transformation to some of our most wicked challenges. Following an architecture degree at the University of Cape Town in 2001, Govender worked for Noero Wolff Architects in Cape Town and with Paragon Architects in Johannesburg. He was awarded the Chevening Scholarship to further his studies in Urban Design at the Bartlett, University College of London in 2005-2006. He has been involved in architectural and urban projects of political, cultural and heritage significance across South Africa: Vilakazi Street, Constitution Hill, Chinatown, Chancellor House (Nelson Mandela and Oliver Thambo's legal offices). He has presented his work at numerous international institutions and events including Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland, USA, Canada, UK, Namibia. Govender’s obsession with space as an instrument for change forms the basis for much of his work.In 2022, Govender participated in an experimental residency at the David Krut Workshop where he was introduced to printmaking techniques.
- Listen to Thireshen's podcast with Britt Lawton.
