
5 minute read
The world of building design
By Peter Lombo
The South Africa Study Tour, this September, will be Design Matters National’s 10th international Study Tour. Here, DMN Chair Peter Lombo shares his architectural, cultural and bucket-list highlights from the past nine tours to North and South America, Asia and Europe between 2015 and 2024.
2023 Turkey
Turkey is a melting pot of many cultures in one place, and that place is where Asia meets Europe, the Orient meets the Occident, and the East meets the West.
What stood out to me was the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul’s district of Fatih. It was built in 537 CE and designed by architect Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. Once a church, then a mosque, then a museum, and now a mosque again, it is famous for its massive dome and mosaics. I also loved the Ephesus library of Celsius in the city of Selçuk. It is an example of ancient culture, designed by Roman architects, and built in 135 CE, and is one of the best-preserved ancient Roman libraries.
Anitkabir, designed by architect Emin Onat and Orhan Arda, in the city of Ankara’s district of Çankaya, was also memorable as it was built in 1953 as the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Turkey.
2024 Mexico
The trip started in HOT HOT HOT Palm Springs California, with tours of the local mid-century modern Architecture in a late-summer heatwave.
Flying south to Mexico, our first stop was Mexico City. This leg provided a lesson in how to design a city in the desert. It also showed our tour group that there is a lot more to this country than tequila and tacos!
I also I ticked off one of my bucket list items: seeing Nacho Libre wrestling in the flesh.
Architecturally, the Teotihuacan pyramids were fascinating as they were built between 100 BCE and 250 CE near Mexico City and are home to the pyramid of the sun and the pyramid of the moon. The city’s a modern futuristic museum, Muso Soumaya, designed by architect Fernando Romero and built in 2011, enthralled the tour group with its vast art collection.

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is definitely something not to miss. It is one of the world’s oldest and largest covered markets and was commissioned and built in 1445 by Mehmed the Conqueror.
Above all, pun intended, was the bucket-list experience of hot air ballooning over the Capadocia Cave Dwellings, the ancient Anatolian civilisation.
2022 Vietnam
Notable places we visited included the Perfume Pagoda, built in the 15th Century outside the city of Hanoi, was designed by Vietnamese monks and is a Buddhist complex inside limestone caves; and also, the Imperial city of Hue – the former imperial capital of Vietnam, built in 1804 and designed by Nguyẽn dynasty architects.
Ben Thanh Market, an iconic marketplace with Vietnamese street food in Ho Chi Minh City, was built in French colonial times and did not fail to impress.
Architecturally, the modern highlights included the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum built in Hanoi in 1975 and designed by Soviet architects as the final resting place of Vietnam’s revolutionary leader. The Bitexco Financial Tower designed by Carlos Zapata and built in 2010 in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1, is one of Vietnam’s tallest skyscrapers.
For me, Chi-Chu Tunnels were the most memorable experience of Vietnam. What stays with me most from this tour are the beautiful smiles on the faces of the locals, and the rich tapestry of cultural rituals that we observed during the two short weeks of the DMN Study Tour to Vietnam.

2019 Brazil
I will never forget seeing in person, the 30m-tall Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro – one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It was designed by Heitor da Silva Costa and Paul Landowski.
Another high point was visiting the Bugeja de São Francisco de Assis, a modernist church with stunning blue tile work by Portinari in Belo Horizonte, designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1943.

2019 Argentina and Peru
Casa Rosada, designed by Francisco Tamburini and built in 1898 in Montserrat in Buenos Aires, is a Presidential palace famous for its pink colour and the balcony where Eva Perón addressed crowds. Another of his works is Teatro Colón is one of the world’s best opera houses known for its acoustics, in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires.
The most iconic monument in Argentina is in Plaza de la República: the Obelisco de Buenos Aires. Designed by Alberto Prebisch, it was built in 1936 in the district of San Nicolás.
Puente de la Mujer in Buenos Aires is a modern rotating footbridge inspired by a couple Tango dancing designed by Santiago Calatrava and built in 2001.
Machu Picchu was my highlight of the whole tour of Argentina and Peru but also coming to realise that there is more to Argentina than soccer, and one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Diego Maradonna!
The MASP (São Paulo Museum of Art) an iconic floating red building housing a vast art collection was a must-see. It was designed by Lina Bo Bardi and built in 1968.
I had on my bucket list the goal of taking a boat trip under the Iguazu Falls, and I ticked this one off on this Study Tour. I returned with an unexpected realisation that, believe it or not, there are a lot of similarities between Australia and Brazil and a lot of them good!
