Mick Pearce (born 2 June 1938) is a Zimbabwean architect.

Biography

Pearce was born on June 2 1938, in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its ...

.Architects of Change
Biography
/ref> He received his diploma with distinction at the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1962. He has undertaken projects in the UK,

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

, Zimbabwe, Australia and China as well as

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. In the last 20 years Pearce has focused on sustainable

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

and has explored the principles of

biomimicry Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...

, which is the imitation of natural processes and the use of natural materials. One of the goals of his architecture style is to minimise damage to the environment. He prefers to use local materials and traditional technologies such as

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in so ...

s.Architects for Peace. Excerpt from th
jury report
of the 2003 Prince Claus Award, presented to Mick Pearce on 10 Dec 2003

Notable projects

One of his most well-known buildings is the Eastgate Shopping Centre in Harare. For the system of temperature control in the building, Pearce was inspired by the construction of

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...

mounds. By using this system he combined energy saving and used natural ventilation and air conditioning. The building uses about 10% of the energy used for ventilation by buildings of a comparable size.Prince Claus Fund
Profile
/ref> Pearce left Zimbabwe in 2000 as a result of the conflict in his home country and worked in Australia, where he co-designed

Council House 2 Council House 2 (also known as CH2), is an office building located at 240 Little Collins Street in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. It is used by the City of Melbourne council, and in April 2005, became the first purpose-buil ...

(CH₂) in Melbourne, among other buildings. After three years working with Vanke in China, he returned to Zimbabwe in 2012. In 2003, Pearce was honored for his innovations in the field of ecological and

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

with a

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. File:Eastgate Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe.jpg, Eastgate Centre File:Zimbabwe Harare Eastgate Shopping Mall.jpg, Eastgate Shopping Mall

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Mick Zimbabwean architects Living people 1938 births People from Harare