Dr Carin Combrinck

Staff Profile

Qualifications BArch(UP) MArch(Pratt, USA) PhD(UP)

Director: Unit for Urban Citizenship

Contact no: +27 (0)12 420 6536

Office: 2-18, Building Sciences, UP Hatfield Campus

Bio

Dr Carin Combrinck is a senior lecturer at the Department of Architecture in the Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology faculty at the University of Pretoria. She is the director of the Unit for Urban Citizenship. The Unit's mission is to establish an interdisciplinary network of collaboration towards horizontal integration of interfaculty engagement with specific stakeholders and vertical alignment of curricular engagement to embed a culture of participation in graduates. Dr Combrinck's field of research is rooted in the role of architecture in community development, with an interdisciplinary view towards social innovation and urban citizenship. Engagement with stakeholders ranging from informal settlement leadership structures to City Improvement Districts has shaped her approach since 2010, becoming inclusive of curricular engagement, participatory research, and social impact. She has consulted with the City of Tshwane Safety Promotion through the Urban Upgrading programme, has served on the Hatfield Precinct Plan Advisory Committee, the Mamelodi Community Learning Collaborative, the Department of Higher Education University Staff Doctoral Programme in Community Development, as well as the Moreleta Development Forum. In all these capacities, the university's role as an embedded social actor is promoted and supported through a scholarship of engagement. Dr Combrinck was the 2019 recipient of the University of Pretoria's Community Engagement Award, the joint winner of the 2022 EBIT faculty Teaching and Learning award, and the University of Pretoria Laureate Award for Teaching and Learning in 2023.

Course involvement and teaching philosophy.

List modules

Citizen Design Course in ONT 300

RFP 711/2/3

RFP 721/2/3

RFP 710

RFS 701

DPD 801

DIT 801

CPD 801

Teaching Philosophy

Dr Carin Combrinck is responsible for several courses that collectively contribute to teaching Urban Citizenship within the UP Department of Architecture. Over more than a decade of teaching, she has intended to embed critical thinking in her students that aims to transform the architectural profession to be more responsive to South Africa's socio-spatial legacies of segregation and injustice. Her

teaching methods synthesise philosophies of cognitive transfer, reflection and transformation according to the appropriate levels of moral and ethical development in the different year groups, ensuing in a scaffolded approach in which epistemic shifts may occur. These methods rely on seminars, embedded

community engagement, collaborative group work, peer evaluation, regular reflection, and facilitated discussion. Her research interests consider both the role that the profession should play in the urban challenges faced in our country and how to position our educational processes to prepare architectural graduates for this challenge. Dr Combrinck values integrating research and pedagogy with intentional and impactful community engagement.

Research profile

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0003-0501

Research focus areas:
URBAN CITIZENSHIP: Public Interest Design

Within the ambit of Urban Citizenship, Dr Combrinck's research is concerned with spatial agency and how this informs Public Interest Design as a practice direction in the architectural profession. By embracing methods of community engagement inscribed in Participatory Action Research, Community Action Planning, Design Activism, CoDesign and Architect-as-facilitator, her research aims to contribute to improved integration of spatial policies and practice and develop alternative models for young architectural practitioners. A deep focus has evolved into the role that Public Interest Design practices may have on the South African Educational Ecosystem and on designing for health and well-being. Through this scholarship of engagement, Dr Combrinck aspires to serve society through her teaching and research.

Research interests: Public Interest Design; Informal Settlement upgrade; CoDesign; Participatory Action Research

Research projects

Co-creating wellness and human dignity
NRF/SAASTA Research Grant
Role: Principal Investigator
How can fine-grained data collected using the ukuDoba method contribute to the development of Community Action Plans to address immediate challenges of health, dignity, safety and education faced by communities living in the informal settlements of Plastic View, Cemetery View and Melusi in the City Of Tshwane?

Stitching the City
NRF Grant 112634; STINT Grant: STNT170904261590
Role: Co-investigator
The project is aimed at establishing a transdisciplinary collaboration between the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden and the University of Pretoria, South Africa, to develop a methodological framework and digital platform for the collection and sharing of non-traditional types of spatial economic data at a street- and precinct level. This project will develop and adapt a global framework for data collection, storage and analysis to local Global South and Global North conditions. The framework and platform will be tested in two study areas: Mamelodi-East in the City of Tshwane and Hammerkullen in Gothenburg, Sweden. These areas have been at the centre of investigation by different faculties in both institutions and represent marginalised economic conditions that exist in parallel with contested socio-spatial legacies.

Recent publications

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES

Combrinck, C. & Porter, C.J. 2021. Co-design in the architectural process. Archnet-International Journal ofArchitectural Research. (Electronic publication 27 Feb 2021: ARCH-06-2020-0105)

Combrinck, C. & Venter, M.A. 2020. Embedded participation in the architectural curriculum towards engenderingurban citizenship in graduates. Image and Text (34) 01-29. ISSN 2617-3255.DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2617-3255/2020/n34a2

Combrinck, C. & Nortje, T-L. 2020. Activating the Edge: The university campus as anchor institution. Development Southern Africa. DOI: 10.1080/0376835X.2020.1760083

PEER-REVIEWED BOOKS AND BOOK CHAPTERS

Oberholster, JO, Combrinck, C & Schonfeldt, HC, 2023. Learning from architects who engage in the upgrading of informal settlements in South Africa. Book chapter in Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities - Osman, A, Nagle, J &Tripathi, S (Editors), Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Combrinck, C, Muller, G & Du Bois, M. 2022.Toward and Architecture of Civil Disobedience in the Upgrade of Informal Settlements. Book chapter in Informality and the City: Theories, Actions and Interventions - Marinic, G & Meninato, P (Editors). Chicago: Springer.

Ogude, NAO, Combrinck, C, Mathabathe, K, Mthethwa, N. 2022. Building Strong Educational Pathways from Early Childhood Development to University: A Case Study of Mamelodi Township. Book chapter in Community Engagement Research In South Africa: Methods, Theories, Histories And Practice. Editors - Prof Elize S vanEeden (NWU), Prof Irma Eloff (UP), Dr Hanlie Dippenaar (CUT).

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLISHED CONFERENCE PAPERS

Thuvander, L, Green, C, Adelfio, M, Brandao, E, Combrinck, C, Billger, M, Rautenbach, V, Coetzee, S and du Plessis, C. 2020. Piloting a collaborative data library of fine-grained data to support knowledge facilitation in architectural courses. Proceedings: BEYOND 2020 – World Sustainable Built Environment conference. IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 588 (2020) 052042. IOP Publishing. https://doi:10.1088/1755-1315/588/5/052042

NON-REFEREED PUBLICATIONS, PRESENTATIONS OR POPULAR ARTICLES

Combrinck, C. 2023. Listen to the People. UP Re.Search Matters. University of Pretoria 6:14-15. Available at:
https://indd.adobe.com/view/9cb1660d-2fc4-41ed-8e42-2e43ec469ec0

Combrinck, C. 2021. Is SACAP ready for Public Interest Design? Architecture South Africa 100: 40-41. Available at: https://saia.org.za/assets/docs/archsa/ASA_issue_100.pdf

Combrinck, C. 2021. Reaching out beyond our borders. Lentsu la Sechaba vol 10.

Combrinck, C. 2020. Staying in touch. Lentsu la Sechaba vol 8.

Combrinck, C. 2020. Adding a feminine touch for soundurban citizenship. UP expert opinion:https://www.up.ac.za/news/news/post_2360946-message-from-the-vice-chancellor-and-principal-of-the-university-of-pretoria&zpage=26

Students currently supervising

PHD (most recent first)

Dr Anika van Aswegen: Disruption by dissociation : exploring human-centred design through transformative
engagement in the spatial design studio Co-supervisor: Prof Hennie Reynders (School of the Art Institute Chicago) PhD (Interior Architecture)

MASTERS BY RESEARCH

Maxine Levy: The Art of Urban Generativity: an analytical case study documenting the process and Impact of a-formality in Mamelodi East, Gauteng MArch (Research)

PROFESSIONAL/COURSEWORK MASTERS

Annique Haese: Research-led design activism towards negotiating change through placemaking and propagating dignity for the urban citizen MArch(Prof)

Ingrid Schmutz: An Innovative Learning Facility - Geared Towards Basic Service Provision MArch(Prof)

Nicholas Hudson: Co-creating an Approach to The In- situ Upgrading of The Informal Dwelling & The Role of The Architect. MArch(Prof)

Naseera Goga: Plasti(city): Urban waste as ephemeral building blocks MArch(Prof)

Ryan Meij: Narrated Emergence MLArch(Prof)

Alexia Katranas: The architecture of scarcity: Towards spatial healing in polarising contexts of gated
communities and informal settlements in Pretoria East
MArch(Prof)

Delanie Kriek: Negotiating the future city: cataloguing consequential spontaneity in the static city MArch(Prof)

Alexander Mbedzi: Going Circular: Uncovering the Spatial Potential of Circular Economic Theories
Inspired by Urban Vernacular Environments
MArch(Prof)

Nicholas Ramsey: Anticipated informality: The incremental development of resilience in the marginalised
community of Plastic View

Dale Rosser: Collective emergence: An architecture for cultivating entrepreneurial growth in the isolated community of Khalambazo MArch(Prof)

Dhane Herbst: Indexicality & Interiority: addressing the role of interior architecture in informal settlements through a semiotic approach to meaning-making MArch(Prof)

Aimee Simeon: Final title not yet uploaded to UP Space MArch(Prof)

Jua Greeff: CATALYTIC NEXUS: Architecture as an interconnected resilience hub towards independence and self-efficiency in a complex socio-ecological landscape MArch(Prof)

Juliana Achi: Designing with Emergence: Learning from the contemporary urban vernacular of informal settlements towards regenerative design strategies MArch(Prof)

Brentan Gouws: City Circular

MArch(Prof)

Lauren Mary Konstantinou: The Music-Maker: An Architectural Network for Exploration of Self and
Expression MArch(Prof)

Idelette Mulder: Realising the right to housing MArch(Prof)

Dipuo Matena: Assembling the socio-educational spheres within contested urban environments: The Role of a Community Learning Hub in a Contested Urban Environment MArch(Prof)

Purll Naidoo: Redefining South African Government School Typologies to Encourage Lifelong Learning
Potential MArch(Prof)

Kelsey Smith: The role of architecture in rehabilitating food sovereignty and nutritional education within
secondary schools through collaborative participation MArch(Prof)

Vitumbiko Khoswe: Upscaling resilience: Waste as a resource MArch(Prof)

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