Enrico Deysel
Tshwane University of Technology
why did you choose to study architecture?
When I was twelve, I visited a friend whose parents were architects with a home studio. While searching for the bathroom, I took a wrong turn and accidentally walked into the studio. I found myself surrounded by architectural models from projects in progress, small buildings representing real places yet to exist. The rest of the house suddenly felt ordinary, but this room felt alive with ideas. Seeing a future building expressed at a small scale immediately excited me. That unexpected moment stayed with me. What began as an accident became the spark that led me to study architecture.
PROJECT
CONSERVING THE SUCCULENT KAROO REGION: The design of an ecological research centre for cultivation and seed banking.
PROJECT SUMMARY
This thesis positions architecture as an active tool in biodiversity conservation through the design of an ecological research centre for cultivation and seed banking within the Succulent Karoo biome. As one of only two arid biodiversity hotspots globally, the Succulent Karoo contains exceptional plant diversity and endemism, yet faces escalating threats from climate change, overgrazing, habitat degradation and the illegal succulent trade. With only 3–5 percent of the biome formally protected and limited dedicated research infrastructure, many endemic species face extinction, placing entire ecological systems at risk of collapse.
The project responds by establishing a conservation and research facility that consolidates ecological study, seed preservation and plant propagation to support proactive, long-term intervention. It enables sustained monitoring of ecological change, species vulnerability and landscape degradation, strengthening regional restoration capacity. Rather than operating in isolation, the facility forms the core of a decentralised research network, supported by satellite stations distributed across priority conservation areas throughout the biome. These stations facilitate field monitoring, seed collection and data gathering at a biome-wide scale, feeding material and knowledge back into the central hub in Worcester.
Architecturally, the project is conceived as an extension of the landscape, integrating public and private interfaces to make conservation processes visible and accessible. Typically hidden research, cultivation and seed banking operations are revealed to foster curiosity, awareness and stewardship. The building responds directly to its environment through passive design strategies, the use of locally sourced stone for thermal mass, and organic roof forms that follow the land’s contours, minimising visual impact while enhancing environmental performance.
Grounded in ecological theory and systems thinking, the project frames architecture as a mediator between research, landscape and society, demonstrating how built form can support biodiversity protection, ecological resilience and long-term environmental stewardship.