Bakalele Chisiza is a professionally registered architect and academic whose interdisciplinary practice bridges architectural design, education, and cultural research. With a Master of Architecture from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), her career has spanned private and public sector projects across South Africa, including large-scale education, residential, and healthcare developments.

Currently a part-time lecturer at both the University of Pretoria and Tshwane University of Technology,  she leads a second-year Building Physics and Systems module, and contributes as a lecturer to first-year, third-year, and fifth-year master’s design and technical studios. Her teaching is deeply informed by her ongoing interest in African indigenous building systems, ecological design, and sustainable construction techniques. Through imaginative coursework and experimental model-making, she  places strong emphasis on reimagining ecological building systems, not just as services, but as expressive, performative elements of architecture, through an African lens, that connect climate, identity, materiality, and community.

At the core of her work is a desire to bring together local artisans, artists, and professionals in rethinking architectural practice through a lens of contextual relevance. She advocates for the integration of traditional knowledge and contemporary design to create dynamic, place-specific architecture that resonates with local identity and environmental conditions.

Beyond her academic contributions, Bakalele has served as a principal agent and project architect, leading multidisciplinary teams on transformative urban and institutional projects. Her approach merges technical precision with cultural sensitivity, consistently seeking to ground innovation in real-world social contexts.

As a moderator at AZA 2025, her experience and vision align seamlessly with the festival’s theme “Where Architecture Meets…”—bringing together people, systems, and futures into meaningful dialogue.