An aspiring interior designer from the Durban University of Technology (DUT), Zwelibanzi Nzuza was recently crowned the winner of the Samsung Bespoke Home Challenge that ran from October 2022. He took home a cash prize of R100 000 to help him kick-start his interior design career.
Nzuza (25) from Newcastle is grateful to Samsung for granting him the opportunity to be part of this challenge which encouraged young interior designers to create an integrated kitchen and living room space, using the Bespoke Refrigerator as the centrepiece of their space. He found this challenge exciting as he is passionate about design, architecture, technology and innovation.
“I found out about the competition during one of my afternoon design lectures. My lecturer, Mr Siyanda Mbele, who is also a renowned designer, presented the competition to us. He told us all about it and I remember how I was so intrigued about the whole idea, so I decided to enter the challenge. It was my first time entering this challenge and it was also the first competition I have ever entered and won,” explained Nzuza.
Zwelibanzi Nzuza’s winning design.
Sharing the idea behind his winning concept, Nzuza said he had two major concepts for his space and both of them were very personal and dear to him. The first concept which was the foundation of his design was through colour, Nzuza indicated that he was inspired by the Hindu tradition and their Chakra system.
“Basically, chakras are various energy focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices. Since I was designing a kitchen which is known to be the heart of the home, I used the heart chakra, which, when in healthy alignment makes us feel surrounded by love, compassion, joy and gratitude and is represented by a green colour. I opted to use green colour cabinets in my space to transfer the same emotions to the people using the space,” shared Nzuza.
Giving insight on the second major concept in his space, Nzuza said it was the gold accents, which was inspired by his first visit to Johannesburg.
“I have always known Johannesburg as the city of gold and always translated that to the gold mining until my perspective changed when I went there for the first time. I witnessed how kind and welcoming the people of the city were, how vibrant, energetic and cultural the city was. That experience made me realise that the real gold was the people of the city, and I transferred that energy and love into my design to give it more soul,” added Nzuza.
According to Nzuza, winning the competition against three amazing designers motivates him to work even harder on becoming a better designer. He shared that it’s amazing that for him see his dreams and vision come to life, he needed to accept his failure. Apparently, he failed the first year of his studies in 2019 and he repeated first-year in 2020, which motivated him to work hard every day and night.
Nzuza plans to use the money he won to invest into better design equipment and tools to kickstart his career and business as an interior designer. He also plans to go on a holiday with his family.
Passing her congratulatory message, the Executive Dean: Faculty of Arts and Design at DUT, Professor Runette Kruger said: “The Faculty is immensely proud of Zweli. This award is testimony to his talent and also the knowledge and skills he acquired through commitment to his studies. I also commend him for seizing the opportunity to participate in the competition. Zweli, you are an excellent role model for our students and other graduates-well done! Congratulations also to the Interior Design lecturers for investing so much in our students. This is what it looks like when we improve the lives and livelihoods of our people through our collective efforts.”
Pictured: Zwelibanzi Nzuza when he won the Samsung Bespoke Home Challenge.
Pictured: Zwelibanzi Nzuza’s winning design.
Simangele Zuma
