Interslab: Two Young Talented Designers Need Your Support

In identifying the lack of diversity in the design industry in Africa, Infinity Surfaces has committed to actively engineering and contributing to the change. As such, they recently launched the Future Designers Fund, which aims to identify young, talented, potential designers and offer the most appropriate action to ensure meaningful and tangible results for Africa’s future designers.

There are countless barriers to entry into tertiary courses for Interior Design and Architecture. These stretch far further than the simple annual fees. The Future Designers Fund aims to research and strategize, to implement a funded initiative that will best impact potential design students of that year. The aim is not simply to throw money at the problem but to offer a holistic and tailor-made solution to each selected student. Apart from tertiary fees, this could include mentorship, devices, life-coaching and emotional support, lunch money, curriculum enhancement and business acumen to name but a few.

Meet the first recipients

The first recipients of the fund are Poloko and Tiheli, two incredible young architects from Lesotho who are currently studying in Italy. Tiheli is a firm believer in architecture’s power to transform people’s lives, environments, and societies while Poloko is interested in the relationship between design, history, and technology.

Their architectural journey began in 2012 at Lerotholi Polytechnic (Lesotho), where they later graduated top of their class winning best performing student awards in Architectural Technology. In 2017 they were accepted at the University of Cape Town for a Bachelor of Architectural Studies. In 2020, they graduated from The University of Cape Town winning the Corobrick award for best use of clay brick and the Reuben Stubbs awards for the best project in Structure and Design respectively.

They need your support

As Poloko and Tiheli represent the African continent, they are currently studying for their master’s in Architectural Design and History at Politecnico di Milano Italy. Despite the support received, they still lack the funding needed to complete their academic year abroad.

“It’s been a privilege and an honour studying at one of the most iconic universities in Europe after leaving Lesotho with close to no financial support but a dream to become excellent architects in the near future. To our financial situation and coming from one of the poor countries in Africa, we don’t have enough funds to support ourselves until the end of the academic year as we believe that this is a good opportunity to show the world what we can do and how many lives we can inspire. We are also going to be the first people in Lesotho to have this qualification (Masters of Architectural Design & History).”

As top achievers, we feel that both of these talented students have much to learn and offer the world at large. We encourage you to show your support by checking out their Support Page Here.

“We’re determined to do our best to overcome any challenges which come our way. We feel certain that our experience will inspire other young children who are currently in rural areas in underdeveloped countries to work hard and reach for their dreams to achieve better education and to help lift their communities in the process. We kindly ask for funding or donations to be able to support ourselves in Italy. Our current target is R150 000 (8 909.55 Euros). The funding or donations will be highly appreciated and will be a good investment for the future.”