ARUNA ARCHITECTS

A personal exploration of architecture.
By Phinola Aruna.

IDEA / FORM / PLACESELECTED UNDERGRADUATE WORKI — III

01 / SELECTED WORKTHREE CHAPTERS IN AN ONGOING EXPLORATION

A thought takes root.
A place takes shape.

I’m Phinola. My work explores the relationship between people, place and memory. These three academic projects trace that interest across different sites, scales and ways of making.

THE BRANCH INDEX

Three projects. Three points of departure.
Hover a branch, or choose from the index.

EACH PROJECT BEGINS WITH A QUESTION.

01 / THE IN(BE)TWEEN

01The In(be)tweenMakokoba, Bulawayo / Living archive↗02Spaces of Transit(ion)Brixton, Johannesburg / Student accommodation↗03The Light HouseYeoville, Johannesburg / Pavilion↗

THE PORTFOLIO / FOLLOW THE BRANCHTHREE PLACES. ONE CONTINUOUS THREAD.

01 / LIVING ARCHIVE

Memory,
made present.

The In(be)tween

An archive that brings cultural memory into the movement of everyday life.

Enter this chapter ↗Makokoba, Bulawayo / 2025

PROJECT 01 ↗

02 / STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

A journey
into belonging.

Spaces of Transit(ion)

Student housing imagined as a journey from arrival into community.

Enter this chapter ↗Brixton, Johannesburg / Academic project

Spaces of Transit(ion) architectural proposal

PROJECT 02 ↗

03 / PAVILION

A place to
carry light.

The Light House

A small gathering place that holds a market’s history in its material fabric.

Enter this chapter ↗Yeoville, Johannesburg / Academic project

PROJECT 03 ↗

02 / THE WAY I WORKBETWEEN IDEA AND ASSEMBLY

What makes a place
feel like ours?

I keep returning to this question. A market stall, a quiet courtyard, a familiar material: small everyday moments become ways into a larger architectural idea.

A little about me ↗