interstuhl supports student construction project in Cape Town

Company donates a 'container full of chairs' for children and young people

Meßstetten-Tieringen, 02 September 2013. Social commitment and responsible conduct have for years and years been right at the heart of interstuhl?s company philosophy. By giving practical support to the student charity project "Design.Develop.Build Cape Town 2013", our third-generation family-owned company is once again demonstrating its social responsibility. The "container full of chairs" will in the future make a small contribution to ensuring that children and young people will have a place in the "Guga S'Thebe" arts and cultural centre where they can learn together, make music, be creative, and enjoy meals together, in a supportive and educational environment. "I am delighted," says Helmut Link, Managing Partner of interstuhl, "that we are one of the select group of partners who have been able to support this project."

In July 2013, the green light was given for the construction of the "Arts, Cultural and Care Centre" in the Langa Township, Cape Town. The centre is to be built by university students from PBSA Düsseldorf and RWTH Aachen in Germany, and GaTech Atlanta, USA, as well as the South African architect Carin Smuts, and furnished with interstuhl chairs. This is to be a multifunctional building - an extension to the existing "Guga S'Thebe" cultural centre. The charity project originated with an initiative of the architecture journal AIT, which organised a workshop in Cape Town during the FIFA World Cup. The artworks created in collaboration with the inhabitants of the Langa Township were subsequently sold at auction. At the same time, a calendar was created, and the idea developed that people should take things into their own hands and be active. All this culminated in the "Pimp up your chair" campaign, which involved European architects transforming chairs into objects of art, and then selling them to the highest bidder. This constituted the initial financial basis, albeit a modest one, for the "Design.Develop.Build Cape Town 2013" project. In April 2013 the students learned how a township functions, and what part a cultural centre should be expected to play there. The idea took shape. The project is supported by the city of Cape Town, which provided the land for building, and by a whole range of industrial companies and foundations, including interstuhl and the renowned STO Foundation. Perhaps the new "Arts, Cultural and Care Centre" will be finished by 2014 when Cape Town takes its place as World Design Capital. Of course, the project welcomes with open arms any amount of enthusiastic support or financial contribution.

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