Bettie Lambrecht

Craft has finally come of age in South Africa. Not only is it creating jobs with huge turnovers, but the world’s trendies are clamouring to get their hands on it.

High-tech and nature fuse into a big "Y’ello the future" as I enter MTN’s new headquarters, appropriately called the Innovation Centre, in 14th Avenue, Fairlands, Johannesburg. MTN’s new building complies with the targets for sustainable building set up by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Bettie Lambrecht pays a visit to find out what this means.

Rusted sheets of corrugated iron, retro red brick, steel and cement floors set off fashionable fine works of art. Salvaged from demolished structures on site, as well as from rubbish dumps elsewhere, these recycled materials are shaped into funky patterns of living and leisure space. <i>Earthyear</i> visits two stylish renewal projects in Jo’burg that give flair to the concepts "reduce, re-use and recycle".