The Influencers’ Influences ANTHONY ORELOWITZ

Ever wondered who inspired our current generation of architects? ANTHONY ORELOWITZ, a founding director of Paragon Architects, counts encounters with sculptures among some of the most moving and influential moments in forming his sensibility.

- GRAHAM WOOD

IT STARTS TO MAKE SENSE that some of architect Anthony Orelowitz’s most profound experiences of “form in space”, a phrase he uses often, were sculptures, when you consider the corporate buildings his firm Paragon Architects is known for. From early breakthroughs (for the firm, and the Sandton skyline) like 15 Alice Lane, to landmarks such as Sasol Place, Alexander Forbes and 140 West Street, he’s added strong, sculptural forms to Joburg’s richest square mile. They’re often large and powerful, and they command the space around them.

To take half a step back, though, he knew he wanted to be an architect when his parents built a house when he was just six or seven years old. He remembers that the architect was Michael Challis, a significant figure in local architecture in his time. “In those days, it was quite a beautiful house,” says Anthony. “Even at that age, I could understand what the architect had done spatially, and it stuck with me. “From [then on], I wanted to do nothing else.”

(The late architectural historian Clive Chipkin lavishes significant attention on Challis’s own house, which he notes was “engaged with the landscape [and] responsive to the site”. He also comments on its “strong regional factor” – all of which is interesting when considering the house Anthony designed for himself recently. But more on that later.)