MEWA’s work in public spaces occupies the territory between engineering, sculpture, play and craftsmanship.
Working in timber and steel, we collaborate with artists, architects, landscape designers and public authorities to turn unusual ideas into durable, buildable
structures. Some are intended to be climbed through or explored; others simply invite people to stop, look and engage.
Each is different. The common thread is the engineering and fabrication required to
make an unconventional idea work at full scale.
DUNG BALL AND BEETLES
Green Point Urban Park, Cape Town
A collaboration between sculptor Right Mukore and MEWA Engineering, this permanent public artwork combines large-scale timber sculpture with structural
engineering and specialist fabrication.
Right Mukore sculpted the two monumental dung beetles from a single mature Sugar Gum tree. MEWA was responsible for the conceptualisation, design, engineering and fabrication of the 3.2-metre dung ball and for developing the structural and assembly systems required to bring the complete installation together.
The dung ball combines laminated timber, stainless-steel reinforcement and thousands of individually placed timber elements to create its apparently random
woven surface. Hidden within the sculpture is a further practical requirement: the structure houses part of the water-feature pump infrastructure for Green Point Urban Park.
The completed work is therefore both sculpture and engineered structure – an example of what becomes possible when an artist’s work and specialist engineering
are allowed to develop together.
CHILDREN’S NESTS
Green Point Urban Park, Cape Town
Designed as structures to be entered, climbed through and explored, the children’s nests combine sculpture, structure and play.
Their apparently random woven surfaces are carried by carefully fabricated curved timber ribs and structural platforms manufactured by MEWA. The result deliberately conceals much of the engineering: children encounter an organic object to explore rather than a conventional piece of playground equipment.
The nests form part of MEWA’s continuing work at Green Point Urban Park, where
engineering, natural materials and public interaction are brought together in
structures designed for everyday use.
DARLING WELDED STEEL SCULPTURE
Built from discarded steel, machinery components and found objects, this sculpture explores another side of the MEWA workshop – the ability to see useful form in
materials that have finished their original working lives.
Springs, blades, sections, tubes and mechanical components are assembled into a single sculptural structure, while retaining enough of their original identity for the
viewer to discover individual pieces within the whole.
The work also demonstrates that MEWA’s public structures are not defined by a single material. Timber, steel and hybrid construction are selected according to the
character and engineering requirements of each project.
