Jhono Bennett
University College London, Bartlett School of Architecture
Jhono Bennett is an architectural urbanist based in Johannesburg. He is a co-founder of 1to1 – Agency of Engagement, a design based social enterprise that has been developed to support the re-development of South African cities through addressing systemic spatial inequality post-Apartheid.
In addition to this role, Jhono has held research and teaching and research positions in both the University of Johannesburg’s Design for Social Development Desis Lab and the Graduate School of Architecture; where he has been developing a focus on the inter-sectional role of design in how South African cities are seen, made and managed. Through his research he aims to explore the various contested imaginaries-in-action carried within the enforcement of urban policy in South African public space with a particular focus on the effect these value-based forces have in everyday city-making practices. Jhono holds a life-long fellowship with the Ashoka Global Changemakers Network as well as a place in the Alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative’s (YALI) Mandela Washington Fellowship.