Pictured: Nina Saunders, outgoing President of the KZN Institute for Architecture inducts Kevin Bingham as incoming President of the KZNIA

Kevin Bingham of FGG Architects in Durban was inducted as president of the KwaZulu-Natal Institute for Architecture (KZNIA) at the KZNSA Gallery in Glenwood on May 16, 2013.

He was congratulated by outgoing president, Durban City Architect Nina Saunders, who said that she was comforted to be leaving the organisation in good hands and was assured that it would continue to grow and flourish under his leadership.

The inauguration ceremony, sponsored by Corobrik, was combined with the official opening of the KZNIA publiCITY Exhibition in honour of the new president, which offered members the opportunity to present a favourite project of theirs for the public to view at the KZNSA Gallery until May 19.

“Members were given a free rein to feature models, travel sketch diaries, 3D presentations, posters or any material they felt was relevant, resulting in a diverse exhibition which expresses all the versatility and creativity one would expect of this dynamic profession,” said Dirk Meyer of sponsor, Corobrik. “We value our longstanding association with the KZNIA and wish it continued success under its new president.”

The publiCity exhibition will run concurrently with an exhibition of the work undertaken in Haiti by ARCHIVE Global, an international non-profit organisation using housing and environmental design to combat disease among the most disadvantaged. Peter Williams, the founder and executive director of Archive Global, was the guest speaker at the presidential inauguration ceremony.

The KZNIA, founded in 1901, is one of the oldest architectural institutes in South Africa. Its aim is to connect and enrich the local architectural community, to foster a working environment in which they can pursue excellence and to provide a professional support system.

The KZNIA presidency is ordinarily a two-year term of office and Bingham was elected to the position in October last year after many years of involvement with the organisation.

He began serving on the Natal Institute of Architects (NIA) committee in 1992 and over the years has chaired or served on the institute’s youth, education and marketing committees before becoming a  member of the KZNIA Executive Committee last year.

“Our current focus is the International Union of Architects (UIA) 2014 conference which is being hosted by South Africa in Durban in August next year,” Bingham said. “This event will see thousands of architects from across the globe visiting our region and is an opportunity for architects from KZN and the whole of South Africa to showcase their work and to learn from others.”

The UIA has a membership of 1.3 million architects globally and holds the largest architectural congress tri-annually. The theme for the Durban event is ‘architecture otherwhere’.

Commenting on other key projects he will be driving during his presidential term, Bingham said: “The KZNIA is also spearheading the development of an office-based on-line education unit aimed at enabling architectural professionals to continue their advanced architectural studies while in employment. This will assist the existing resource-strapped universities and promote the positive transformation of our profession.”

“We also have a number of task teams striving for excellence in matters of professional practice, heritage, habitat and education.”

Bingham, a Northlands Old Boy, completed his Bachelor of Architecture degree at Natal University and his Master of Architecture degree at UKZN. His career has spanned the academic and private sector, taking him to many different countries and involving him in a variety of architectural projects.

The relationship between AIDS and architecture, designing medical facilities and building for rural communities are strong interests of his and he has presented numerous papers and published articles on these subjects.

Bingham has worked for a number of architectural firms in Durban and established his own practice in 1997. His current position is as director of FGG Architects.

n the academic world he has been a lecturer at Durban’s two universities in subjects ranging from design, architectural acoustics, to building technology and was external examiner at the University of the Free State.

On the international front he has taught architecture and interior design at Liverpool University in the UK and Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

Married with two university-going sons, Bingham is a dedicated family man. Out of office hours he can be found at Durban’s Point Yacht Club where he is the Vice-Commodore or on the treadmill wondering how he can build on his tally of five Comrades marathon medals.