Additionally, the Martienssen Library houses one of the preeminent architectural archives in Africa, with a collection dating back to 1922, including many earlier volumes. The School has collected architectural drawings since its inception, and has built a digital catalogue of the archive available at: http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/ handle/10539/10306 The library contains a wealth of information that students are highly encouraged to exploit. We encourage and support rigorous academic research from primary sources. Utilising these resources effectively is perhaps one of the most important ways to enhance your educational experience at Wits. Guests are not allowed inside.
s’Fanakalo [we make] The s’Fanakalo makerspace is located on Level A in the John Moffat Extension
and will remain accessible from the exterior during the JME renovations. It consists of a digital lab containing a variety of 3D printers, laser cutters, printing presses and a CNC (computernumerical-controlled) milling machine, as well as a traditional woodworking and metalworking equipment. The s’Fanakalo makerspace also explores interdisciplinary research, such as the relationship between architecture, visual arts, filmmaking and open source technology. Making is integral to the teaching and learning at the School and serves as an extension to the design, construction, structures and representation studios. The aim of the makerspace is to facilitate fabrication and production as a critical thinking tool, a way of developing embodied understandings of design processes from conception to realisation, construction technologies, materials, and processes of making.
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