Mathews & Associates Architects

In 2016, Mathews & Associates was appointed as the curators for the South African Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia. The 15th Biennale was directed by Alejandro Aravena. The South African representation was commissioned by the South African Consul-General in Milan, Saul Kgomotso Molobi, who described the exhibition as historic in the sense that the curator did not take a few exclusive  works of architects’ or artists’, but the projects of over a 1000 South African participants, probably making this one of the most representative pavilions in the history of South Africa's involvement with the Biennale.

The South African Pavilion pavilion concept responded to the theme by exhibiting the work of hundreds of South Africans who participated in a project called Cool Capital. The 2016 was exhibition was the first South African Pavilion to feature in the official catalogue that printed and distributed by the Biennale Foundation in Venice. Cool Capital's intent was unpretentious and simple: dismantle the bureaucratic relationship between citizens and public space in order to free creativity. Citizens were encouraged to rediscover marginalized and forgotten parts of the city, to collaborate and to become active agents in the rethinking of Pretoria as home, place, destination, and capital city. Cool Capital demonstrated what can be gained when citizens are provided with an unofficial opportunity to constructively engage with issues they identify in the realm of architecture, art, and design. The pavilion becomes a call to citizens of any city to become design activists. In accordance with the uncurated, DIY nature of Cool Capital, the South African exhibition was inclusive and democratic; representing the work of hundreds of innovative participants.

Mathews' appointment as curator of the South African Pavilion in 2016 was preceded by another installation by Mathews and Associates that was exhibited in 2012 at the 13th Biennale Architettura. A lightbox installation designed by Mathews was exhibited as part of the "Traces of Centuries & Future Steps" exhibition held at the Palazzo Bembo.and organized by the GAA Foundation.

In 2013 he formed part of a study tour to visit museums and galleries in the USA, organised by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation. The tour included visits to YALE, NYU, Princeton, Penn, Rutgers, as well as the Metropolitan, MOMA and the Guggenheim Museum. This visit culminated in the design and construction of the Javett Art Gallery at the University of Pretoria, which will open its doors in 2019. Mathews was President of the Pretoria Institute for Architecture (PIA) from 2013 to 2014 and was a board member of SAIA (South African Institute of architects) in 2013.

In 2012 and 2013 Mathews was invited to join Southern Guild, for which he designed benches as part of their annual exhibitions. His design for a concrete bench (together with Santie Gouws, Grietjie Lee and Sybrand Wiechers) was included in PPC Cement's REIMAGINE CONCRETE Young Concrete Sculptor Awards Competition exhibition. In 2002 he was invited by House and Leisure magazine to design a drinks tray for Absolut Vodka. Mathews is currently the President of the Pretoria Institute for Architecture (PIA) and also the convenor for the Cool Capital Biennale. In 2012 he received the Zero Hour Credential from the University of Pretoria's Department of Architecture for his contribution to the department. Mathews was listed as one of South Africa's star architects by House and Leisure magazine in 2011. In 2008 he was included in VISI magazine's People with Vision list of architects.

Mathews & Associates Architects is an architecture firm based in Pretoria, South Africa, known for contextually relevant and graphic designs. The firm was established in 2000 by Pieter J Mathews and it has been involved in a wide variety of buildings ranging from large-scale buildings for tertiary institutions to transport architecture. Buildings designed by Mathews & Associates Architects have been published in over 130 publications and has appeared on national television over 25 times. In 2012, their design for a new bridge was exhibited as part of the “Traces of Centuries & Future Steps” exhibition in collaboration with the GAA Foundation at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. In 2016, Mathews was appointed as the curator of the South African Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in the Sale d'Armi at the Arsenale. The theme for the year was ‘Reporting from the front’ directed by Chilean Architect Alejandro Aravena. In 2018 Mathews was awarded with the Medal of Honour for Visual Arts (Architecture) by the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.

In 2000 Mathews started the architecture firm, Mathews & Associates Architects, and the firm operated from an old post office building in Waterkloof. The firm received numerous merit awards for their buildings, and has been invited to appear on various television stations. Projects by the office have been exhibited internationally in Venice and São Paulo and published in numerous publications. Mathews has written and contributed to numerous books on architecture, his first being Architexture, a book on the use of textures in buildings. It was followed by Detail Housed, after which he was the publishing manager for Construction Primer, by Hans Wegelin, and the editor for Contemporary Capital. He also writes about architecture and design for local South African magazines.

He completed his practical training in South Africa at Holm Jordaan Holm under the direction of Dieter Holm and Gerrit Jordaan. In 1994 Mathews became partner at Nel Storm Architects in Pretoria followed by a partnership with Jacques Gerber (Mathews and Gerber Architects ) from December 1995 to November 2000.

Mathews grew up in Lichtenburg and studied architecture at the University of Pretoria. He finished his BArch-degree in 1991, obtaining the Gold Fields of South Africa Scholarship for Architecture. After his third year of study he travelled abroad to gain international work experience. In 1989 he completed part of his practical training in London (Bruce Gilbreth & Triad Architects) after which he travelled to Europe, USA (New York and California), Thailand, Hong Kong and Turkey. At Bruce Gilbreth he was involved with the Centre at Capability Green in Luton and at Triad Architects, Frimley High Street office building as well as a residential project for the government of Gibraltar.

Pieter Mathews, (24 February 1967), is an architect living and working in Pretoria, South Africa. He is principal of the firm Mathews & Associates Architects.