21 Cool Things In Joburg!
Mindful Design #21
Image: Heather Mason
Bonus: A peek inside an architect’s graphic novel
For our first newsletter of 2026, we’ve teamed up with 2Summers (a.k.a. Heather Mason, who is also my girlfriend). Heather is one of Joburg’s most attentive storytellers and helped me make a list of 21 things we love about Johannesburg. Why 21? Because we’re celebrating 21 years of architecting in a city we’re named after!
The 26’10 south latitude and our name. Image: Thorsten Deckler
Regardless of whether you’re from Joburg or not, these 21 things, people, buildings, and places give you a subjective view of what makes this city great. Despite its troubles, this city has energy, kind people, a multitude of cultures, amazing foods, beautiful landscapes, some seriously good architecture, and exudes wild, inventive joy.
So here’s the list with links to the 2Summers blog for further reading, photography, and some sketches.
1. Brixton
It's where we live and work – a colourful, diverse place where we know neighbours, walk to work, the gym, the park, or Breezeblock, our local coffee shop. Brixton is where Heather and I met and have created our home: the Flamingo Palace. Read about our home renovation here and come for a walk with us here.
The Flamingo Palace, Brixton. image: Thorsten Deckler
2. Sentech Croozers
These local youngsters, often spotted in Brixton and beyond, are inventing a fresh, beautiful subculture. Keep an eye out for them croozing around town, on their self-built custom bikes, looking extremely cool. Read more about the Sentech Croozers here.
Some croozers in Pimville, Soweto. Image: Heather Mason
3. Linksfield Ridge
For a city with no river, harbour, or lake, the ridges running east-west through Joburg give the city its identity and structure. These formations are super old, the result of a meteor impact two billion years ago which ultimately led to the discovery of the world’s biggest gold deposits and the beginnings of Joburg in 1886. Linksfield Ridge is one of the city’s lesser-known ridges, offering a different perspective on the city. Read more about it here and about the Vredefort Dome (meteor) here.
Looking west along Linksfield Ridge. Image: Thorsten Deckler
4. Bev’s Burgers
We talk a lot about food in the office, and we would be remiss not to include food on this list. Bev’s Burgers was voted second-best burger in Joburg (in a 94.7 FM round-up), but we think Bev’s is the best. Originally located at the Irish Club in Linden, Bev’s now occupies a larger, somewhat hidden space at the Roosevelt Park Bowls Club. Read more on 2Summers.
Bevan Visser, creator of Bev’s Burgers used to work as an audio engineer before COVID, and took up burger-making to cover the bills. Image: Heather Mason
5. Fordsburg
There’s not enough space here to talk about all the amazing places to visit, shop, and eat in one of Joburg’s most bustling neighbourhoods. So, here are some tips on where to find masala coffee, great Syrian food, and a hidden dive bar.
Syrian Rose by night. Image: Heather Mason
6. Roadhouses
A few years ago, 2Summers did a survey of roadhouses around the city, and I got to tag along. From a romantic Valentine's date at the Fireplace in Boksburg (watching Dirty Dancing on a big screen with the sound playing through our radio), to trekking way past Joburg’s far limits to Uncle Harry’s in Randfontein. This is a unique way to drive and eat your way through the city.
The Fireplace, Boksburg. Image: Heather Mason
Jacaranda lined street Image: Heather Mason
8. Louis Botha Ave
Look past the grit, and you’ll discover some truly awesome, inventive buildings from Joburg’s heydays. Pop into Super Sconto to stock up on Italian foods (read about their cheese section at the end of this post), or go for pizza and beer at the iconic Radium Beer Hall
Everyday Art Deco on Louis Botha Avenue. Image: Thorsten Deckler
9. Salvage yards
Heather and I have traversed the city from east to west to north in the process of doing our home renovations and have made significant savings buying second-hand doors, windows, and lights. Salvaged items are not just cheaper; they’re more sustainable and tell a story. Read about one of our favourite salvage yards here (as part of Heather’s list of 5 quirky places in Johannesburg).
Independent Traders in North Riding. Image: Heather Mason
10. Eduardo Villa House
This is one of our all-time favourite houses in Joburg. It captures a no-nonsense kind of modernism from the 1960s and 1970s, characterized by simple materials, great proportions, and a laid-back attitude that evokes holiday-in-the-city vibes. Here’s a bloggers take and an architect’s take.
The entrance to the Eduardo Villa House. Image: Thorsten Deckler
11. Delta Park
Once a sewerage treatment plant, this park is huge and has great views back towards the city. Delta Park is also one of the best places in the country to photograph the fields of pink and white cosmos flowers that bloom across the South African highveld in early autumn. Here’s the 2summers low-down with loads of photos.
Delta Park with cosmos in bloom. Image: Heather Mason
12. Soweto Book Cafe
For a bookstore experience like no other, head to the Soweto Book Cafe in Zondi, Soweto. On the first floor of his house, Thami Mazibuko stocks thousands of books across a wide range of topics and South African languages. It's not just a bookshop but a library, book distributor, book club venue, study hall, and event space for the surrounding community. Read more here.
The Soweto Book Café’s event space. Image: Heather Mason
13. Hadedas (and sirens)
Joburg people are not quiet people, and neither are hadedas quiet birds. While these birds occur in other parts of the country, there is something iconic about hearing their cries mixed with the sounds of the city, perfectly captured in the ‘Hadeda Dub’ by Brendan Jury and Israel Matseke Zulu for the movie iNumber Number: Jozi Gold. Listen here.
Movie poster for iNumber Number: Jozi Gold – story of a gold heist with nutty cast of characters and a great soundtrack. Image source: WatchPlexTV
14. Downtown
We could have made a list of 21 cool things to find on a single block in downtown Joburg! But here is a post by Heather about a great walking tour you can do with Joburg Places.
Downtown Jozi, corner of Troye Street and Rahima Moosa Street. Image: Heather Mason
15. Joburg Fashion
Joburg people have mad fashion sense, and one of our favourite ways to experience fashion in the city is a walk through the fashion district with Sebo Marobela, founder of the Caraci Clothing brand.
One of the many incredible fabric stores in downtown Joburg. Image: Heather Mason
16. Immink Drive, Soweto
Introduced to us by our friend and fellow architect Tebogo Ramatlo, this is a non-touristy, easily accessible strip where locals hang out and everyone is welcome to eat great food, buy local fashion, and become part of the carnivalesque atmosphere – especially on weekends.
Saturday night at the Chilli Pepper on Immink Drive. Image: Heather Mason
17. Eating out in Alexandra Township
Most Joburgers are intimidated to visit Alexandra (Alex), but there is some amazing culture and food to discover in this historic township, which is older than Soweto. One of our favorite shisa nyama experiences in town is at Joe’s Butchery, which we last visited on an epic food tour in Alex.
Joe’s Butchery, Alexandra. Image Heather Mason
18. Yola Minnar
We could probably create a list of 2.1 million cool people in Joburg, but if we have to choose one it would be Yola Minnaar, who not only makes the best Cape Malay koesisters, but also who spends most of her time feeding the hungry, liaising with Joburg city government to keep her community’s electricity and water on, and generally helping people in need.
Yola in her kitchen where she makes koesuster. Image: Heather Mason
19. 14th Street, Fietas
Just down the street from Yola is the famous 14th Street. This street might not look like much, but this is where we started our practice 21 years ago - in one of two remaining shops from when it was a world-famous bazaar-cum-street attracting shoppers from all around the country. Fietas was largely demolished during Apartheid, and most of the shops are now at the Oriental Plaza a few blocks away. Our office pictured here is now a museum that can be visited on appointment
Our old office, which used to be a famous fashion store. Image: Thorsten Deckler
20. Dennis Dlomo’s Fitness Club
If you’re looking for a fun workout out in the open, accompanied by music and cheers from fellow gymgoers, come for a session with Dennis Dlomo, our fitness coach in Brixton. He trains all shapes and sizes Monday to Saturday in Kingston Frost Park. Read all about it here and listen to one of our favourite workout tunes here.
The boisterous crew at the Dennis Dlomo Fitness Club. Image: Heather Mason
21. The Parks
We love ‘The Parks’ - older suburbs of Johannesburg - with their character homes, large stands and huge trees. These neighbourhoods offer massive value and are a great alternative to the cookie-cutter hellscapes created by developers. With Joburg’s recently revised by-laws, people are now able to build additional dwelling units (within limits) but without rezoning. These neighbourhoods now offer more flexibility, even income streams, and best of all: you can live like a boss in one of the biggest urban forests on the planet!
View from the Four Seasons in Westcliffe. Image: Thorsten Deckler
Love what you got
We hope you enjoyed this list as much as we did putting it together. It reminds us of the words of author Arundathi Roy: “To encourage what we love instead of destroying what we don't. To see the beauty in a brutal, damaged world, hidden, fierce, immense. Beauty that is uniquely our own. We have to seek it out, nurture it, love it.”
Sketch from the Fishbird Villa’s backyard, Kensington. Image: Thorsten Deckler
For the Joburg lovers!
Living in this beautiful monster of a city is not for everyone, and Joburg is going through some tough times, but if you love it here, we want to help you create a home like no other - a refuge in the city - where you can feel safe and at ease.
If you don’t live in Joburg but need help building your dream with clarity, this is for you too.
Love,
Thorsten
Sketching on Melville Koppies. Image: Heather Mason
Thorsten was born in Namibia and moved to Johannesburg as a young child. The city seemed like the opposite of the desert he came from – crazy, way too busy, and chaotic. Since training as an architect and visiting cities around the world, he has come to love Joburg. But he has also learned about what happened in the “desert idyll” he comes from, and is putting these stories together in a graphic novel. You can track his progress here.
Two pages from ‘Aus’ - graphic novel in the making. Image: Thorsten Deckler
