Learning curve.

Jo Noero's recent additions to Soweto's Funda Centre continue a tradition of civic dignity amid great privation.

The Funda Centre has its origins in the 1976 Sowetan student revolt which catalysed a long and bitter struggle against the iniquitous South African educational system. Established in 1984, Funda's mission has been to engage the Soweto community in innovative and sustainable programmes of educational and cultural development. During the 1980s, Funda gave succour to a community traumatised by violence and the collapse of social systems by providing facilities for alternative education, as well as political meetings and cultural events. The original centre was designed by Leon van Schylk, now Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

The most recent stage in Funda Centre's evolution is the Funda Community College. The College aims to provide education and training facilities from adult basic through to post-secondary levels, based on the principles of open access, flexible entry and exit, and focused student development. On a wider level, it also seeks curriculum and organisational partnerships with educational institutes, local government and the private sector.

At the end of last year, the first two phases in the Community College were formally opened. Designed by Jo Noero Architects, the new lecture block and administration centre are the latest buildings by a practice justly reputed for its humane and responsive work in Soweto. The Funda site is adjacent to the Soweto Careers Centre (AR July 1994), on the eastern edge of the township. Despite its massive population (over 1.5 million), Soweto still resembles a dormitory town, its scale predominantly single storey. Few buildings are endowed with any kind of urban presence, so the two-storey cylindrical volume of the administration centre acts as a civic beacon amid the township's undifferentiated sprawl. A lightweight steel framed upper level rests on a rusticated brick base which is punctuated at regular intervals by narrow slots of glazing. Dark sun control screens breezily articulate the upper level like inflated gills and a canopied entrance portico extends out of the main volume to greet visitors.

Internal organisation hinges on the intersecting geometry of the circular plan and a square lightwell in the centre of the building. Noero's earlier Anglican church in Soweto (1984) also exploited a strong circular form to make a cogent civic and political statement. A large segment of open plan offices, together with cellular archive and print rooms occupy the ground floor. A centrally positioned spiral staircase leads to the upper level containing more offices and a boardroom. The spatial drama is simply but convincingly orchestrated. Although a world apart from the temperate gentility of English Modernism, the new building, with its roof terrace, crisp lines and civic optimism has unmistakable overtones of a 1930s seaside pavilion.

The neighbouring lecture block displays a more reticent public countenance, although the same rational formality of organisation is evident. Here the generating principle is a square, open air court, around which radiate classrooms of various sizes. The scale is intimate, yet with a formal clarity appropriate to such an important institution. Twin lecture halls containing stepped seating, are partially sunk below ground. These larger volumes frame and define the main stair leading up to the internal courtyard. Materials and detailing are essentially simple with an ascetic refinement that embodies a culturally neutral yet architecturally engaging functionalism. Noero is adamant that architects should not compromise on technical aspects because of an inexperienced workforce - only through being challenged to produce higher standards of workmanship can new skills evolve.

At Funda's opening in 1984, its first and present chairman Professor Es'kia Mphahlele observed of the crisis in education 'We are looking at a landscape that is marred by huge craters, ruins and vast stretches of barren, eroded soil'. Within this desolate landscape Funda has been a literal oasis. And it is out of initiatives such as the new Community College that South Africans can begin to rebuild an education system that serves both the country and its people.