Oratile Mothoagae is an interdisciplinary architect, researcher, farmer, and cultural practitioner based in Zeerust, South Africa. A graduate of the University of Johannesburg’s Graduate School of Architecture (MArch [Prof], 2018), Oratile began his academic career teaching design, theory, and history at both the University of Johannesburg and Tshwane University of Technology. His seminar series, “Writing the Drawing,” introduced students to alternative modes of critical practice, combining drawing, storytelling, and research.

In 2021, he co-founded the Archive of Design and Architecture (ADA) with Dr Emmanuel Nkambule—a pioneering archival initiative that documents and presents the work of Black designers and architects historically excluded from formal narratives. This led to him managing the Architectural Archives at the University of Pretoria. His practice, OMD Studios, reimagines African histories through film, architecture, and storytelling. Notable outputs include the SAFTA-winning short film Cogito Ergo Sum and the documentary on South Africa’s first Black architect, Aziz Tayob.

He has participated in the Prince Claus Building Beyond programme and the Business Arts South Africa (BASA) Cultural Producers Programme. In 2023, he joined the inaugural cohort of the Venice Biennale’s Architectural College, where he also contributed to the South African Pavilion.

He is currently pursuing an MPhil in Conservation of the Built Environment at the University of Cape Town, focusing on sites of contested memory, Indigenous knowledge systems, and trauma-informed heritage practices.

Beyond architecture, Oratile leads Molebo Agricultural Holdings, a livestock enterprise committed to rural development and food sovereignty. Whether on the farm or in the archive, his work is guided by a commitment to justice, memory, and spatial transformation.