Jo Noero is a professor of Architecture at the University of Cape Town and principal at Noero Wolff Architects. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Natal, SA; a Masters from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; and an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Brighton, UK. He has lectured at Wits, Washington University, the University of Oregon as well as presenting numerous international seminars.
Noero Wolff Architects was established in 1985 as Jo Noero Architects, changing its name in 1998 when Heinrich Wolff became a partner in the practice. The practice has designed more than 150 buildings throughout southern Africa as well as the United States. Their work varies in scale and type, ranging from individual houses to large-scale cultural and institutional buildings such as law courts and schools.
These projects and built works have been published in journals including The Architectural Review, RIBA Journal, The Union of International Architects Journal, The Architectural Record, Harvard Design Review, Space and Society, Architectural Association Files, Swedish and Norwegian Association of Architects Journals and many others. In addition, the practice has won a number of architectural competitions including the competition for the design of the Museum of Struggle in Red Location, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Noero himself has received international and national awards for architectural design including the Lubetkin Prize from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2006, a RIBA International Award in 2006, the Dedalo Minosse Premio Internazionale 2005/2006 Award, and the Ruth and Ralph Erskine Prize from the Nordic Association of Architects in 1993; as well as 12 merit awards for Outstanding Design, six Architecture Project Awards and an Award of Excellence for the Soweto Careers Centre in 1994, all from the Institute of South African Architects.