Jhono Bennett

I’m the co-founder of 1to1 – Agency of Engagement, a design-led social enterprise based in Johannesburg. 1to1 was initiated in 2010 in support of the multi-scalar work being done to re-develop post-Apartheid South African cities in the face of systemic spatial inequality.

I’m currently enrolled at the Bartlett School of Architecture as a doctoral candidate in the TACK / Communities of Tacit Knowledge: Architecture its Ways of Knowing network. My practice-led research interests are driven by issues of inclusive design approaches, spatial justice, critical positionality, and urban planning in South African cities.

My practice work with 1to1, in conjunction with teaching and research work in the Faculty of Design, Art and Architecture (FADA) at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa), has given me the opportunity to work with various departments of the South African government, key local and international research institutes as well as international universities that include Harvard’s GSD (USA), CEPT’s Faculty of Architecture (India) and the Urban Design programme at the University of Sheffield (UK).

I was recently selected for the Mail&Gaurdian Top 200 Young South Africans Award (Civic Sector) and in 2015 was nominated as an Ashoka Social Entrepreneurship Fellow as well as an Alumni of the Mandela Washington Young (MWF) African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Fellowship. More details of my work can be seen here: www.jhonobennett.co.za