Thomas Chapman is a South African architect and urbanist whose professional and academic careers span architectural practice, scholarly research and higher education. He holds master’s degrees in architecture and urban design from the University of the Witwatersrand and is currently concluding his doctoral research at ETH Zurich. His PhD explores civic centres in South Africa between 1940 and 1980, focusing on their role as intersections of apartheid policies and progressive urban design principles.

As director of Local Studio, a Johannesburg-based practice he founded and led for over a decade, Thomas developed an influential portfolio of socially engaged projects. Under his leadership, the practice garnered numerous prestigious awards, including the international Architectural Record Vanguard Award, recognition in the Wallpaper Architects Directory, and several local SAIA Awards of Merit and Excellence.

Thomas’s architectural approach consistently emphasises the transformative potential of urban design in fostering social equity and civic engagement. He has a particular interest in developing rigorous impact measurement methodologies as a means to attract greater investment into social infrastructure projects across sub-Saharan Africa. His innovative practice has attracted international recognition, leading to invited lectures at prominent global forums such as the Columbia GSAPP Constructing Practice Symposia in New York, the Kuala Lumpur Architectural Festival, and the Democratic Spaces Symposium at the Architekturzentrum Wien.

In parallel with his professional practice, Thomas is actively engaged in architectural education. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town, where he convenes the Advanced Building Technologies honours course, which centres on material research and innovation, including the ongoing establishment of UCT’s first dedicated materials library. His ongoing research integrates rigorous archival analysis with critical examination of historical urban planning and architectural practice, positioning him as a prominent voice on architecture’s role within complex socio-political contexts.