Priyan is an artist, designer, filmmaker and Bachelor of Architectural Studies graduate. His work is focussed on temporality and the sense of place. It explores materiality and phenomenology through an intricate process of hand-drawing, model making and storytelling. The Newtown Beacon Museum was designed in response to a consideration of identity in relation to placemaking in an always turbulent South African context. Conceptually the building forgoes the paradigm of the museum as a pristine object, meant to be maintained to an impeccable standard. Instead it suffers damage like a canvas, becoming weathered, and changing along with the people and the environment surrounding it. The copper beacon sits atop a hill of brick and concrete that the people of Newtown may relate to. This interaction might well be in a form of protest or might simply reflect a need to leave one’s mark; the concrete surfaces invite graffiti artists and rebels alike. All the while, the copper beacon with its patina, reflects the passage of time in the ever-changing city.