USD150 million for construction of 120km Bulawayo - Old Gwanda Road

The Government of Zimbabwe has given the all clear for the construction of the 120 kilometre Bulawayo-Old Gwanda Road. The project will cost USD150 million on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model. It is anticipated that the venture will be completed before the end of the year.

Chief Executive Officer of Zwane Enterprise, the company that is headlining the project, Engineer Bekithemba Mbambo, indicated that the project would commence with a four week feasibility study. This would be followed by the signing of the BOT contract and the eventual rolling in of machinery and equipment on-site.

The road project is expected to benefit people from Matabeleland South province through employment creation, domestic tourism and business opportunities. Additionally, a big bridge will be built at Mtshabezi River near Gwanda as well as the construction of supporting infrastructure.

Farewell to Paolo Portoghesi (1931-2023)

Renowned architect, theorist, academic, historian and wellregarded professor passed away on the 30th May at the age of 92.

He was the first president of the architectural section of the Venice Biennale (1979–1992). In 1980, he spearheaded the creation of the first Venice Architecture Biennale for which he presented submissions from some of the world’s most prominent architects, including Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. He was dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano university (1968–1978). Portoghesi opened an architectural practice with architect-engineer Vittorio Gigliotti in Rome in 1964.

Casa Papanice (1966 -1970), the Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre in Rome (1984-95), the Renaissance district in the Talenti Park in Rome (2001) and Politeama Theater of Catanzaro (2002) and the Strasbourg Mosque (2012) are among his most famous architectural works.

He’s been described as pioneer of Italy’s postmodernist movement drawing inspiration from the works of Victor Horta and Frank Lloyd Wright. He incorporated neorealism and the Liberty style, instilling his own architectural creations with a blend of tradition and innovation. His designs combined geometry with organic shapes to produce a remarkable and unique type of structure.