Walter
Hermann Peters, born in Durban in 1948, has distinguished
himself over the full spectrum of architectural achievement:
scholarship, research, teaching, practice and dedicated
service to the profession.
A merit student at the Deutsche Schule Hermannsburg, Walter
Peters went on to study Architecture at the University of
Natal, graduating with a B Arch degree in 1972. He proceeded
to Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University to study Environmental
Conservation, graduating with the M Sc degree in 1974; and
then crowned his academic pursuit with the degree Dr-Ing
from the University of Hannover, Germany, in 1981.
As a Senior Professor of Architecture at the University
of KwaZulu-Natal, Walter Peters has maintained and advanced
the reputation set by his distinguished predecessors at
the School of Architecture in the study of architectural
history, and that of Southern Africa in particular. He has
been instrumental in the realm of architectural and urban
conservation, in which fields of study he has authored and
edited several books and numerous publications. By dedicating
himself in these spheres of architecture, he has made a
scholarly contribution to the documentation and preservation
of South African architecture.
As
general editor of the quarterly and latterly triennial KZ-NIA
Journal, Walter Peters has for over 21 years, made a prodigious
and sustained contribution to the prestige of the architectural
profession, not only in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal but
nationally and also internationally. Through the Journal
he has become an emissary for promoting South African architecture
and at the same time, he has maintained an exceptional record
of readability, topicality and editorial excellence. The
Journal reaches out to a wide readership, and its contents
has nurtured a greater appreciation of architecture in the
public domain.
By
the medium of the KZ-NIA Journal, and his involvement over
many years on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal
of the South African Institute of Architects, Walter Peters
has upheld and enhanced the standing, role and cultural
status of South African architects and their architecture.
The
Medal of Distinction of the South African Institute of Architects
is made to Walter Hermann Peters in recognition of his dedicated
and ongoing commitment to the profession to the benefit
of the members of this Institute.
