Dutch presence
The Fort of Good Hope in Cape Town is the oldest witness of the Dutch colonization. This pentagonal fortress, entirely clad in yellow - a color that does not absorb heat - was built in place of the one built by Jan van Riebeeck, which was then made only of clay and wood. Don't miss the Kat Balcony, a staircase with a marquise designed by the Frenchman Louis Michel Thibault, who was also responsible for many public buildings such as the Cape Town Masonic Lodge and the drostdy (residence for the governor's representative), including the one in Graaf-Reinet. He is also responsible for the renovation of the Groot Constantia estate in the pure Cape Dutch style. Houses in this style are usually long horizontal structures with one or two floors, large rounded and often ornate gables, whitewashed walls, thatched roofs, large sash windows with small panes, wooden shutters and green decorations. The most beautiful examples of this style can be seen in Stellenbosch, notably at the Village Museum , which has a beautiful collection of houses from the 17th to the 19th century. The Afrikaners created many cities from scratch, using very particular urbanistic forms. Inspired by the old laager, the camps of the first Dutch settlers formed by carts arranged in a circle to protect themselves from hostile tribes, these towns are folded in on themselves, unfolding according to a perfectly geometric layout, itself elaborated around the flagship element of the town: the church. The buildings of the Dutch Reformed Church are usually immaculately white, with a powerful steeple imposing its verticality on the houses, which are often on one level. Most of these boomtowns can be found in the Karoo Desert and the Transvaal. In Beaufort West, the Voortrekkers Museum is even housed in the town's former Reformed Church. It was also during the "Dutch period" that the first Malays arrived in South Africa. Their presence has left a unique heritage. In Cape Town, the superb kramat, or tombs of the first Muslim missionaries, form a protective arc around the city. A white square topped by a green dome at the foot of the mountain, the tomb of Shah al-Qadri does not go unnoticed. We find this clever use of colors in the heart of Cape Town, in the district of Bo-Kaap. Cobbled streets, mosques and small low houses built around a patio testify to the richness of the Muslim heritage, but what is most noticeable are the bright colors that cover the houses: during apartheid, the descendants of Malay slaves repainted their houses as a sign of opposition to the regime - or color as a weapon of resistance.
English influence
The English presence has left a heritage of eclectic style inspired by Victorian fashion. Most of these buildings were built and pre-assembled in England before being transported by boat to South Africa. Mixing neo-Gothic styles, Victorian architecture made great use of brick, and many brick factories were built directly on site. Functional, this architecture is no less grandiloquent... the English want to impress. The Durban town hall is a recreation of the one in Belfast with its corner towers, its large enclosed courtyard and above all its large dome. The Rand Club, the gentlemen's club of Johannesburg, is a striking mix of styles, between Edwardian neo-baroque and Italian Renaissance. The great architect of the time was Herbert Baker, who designed the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The central dome of these monumental sandstone buildings dominates the whole city. Baker was also responsible for another famous building: St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, a beautiful example of neo-Gothic architecture. The English presence is also inseparable from the development of the mining industry. The Gold Reef City in Johannesburg is an amusement park and a mining museum that allows visitors to visit a mining camp and, above all, to descend 226 meters underground to understand how the famous gold mines were built. It is this gold that led to the almost unbridled growth of Johannesburg and its satellite: the township of Soweto. The townships, living symbols of apartheid, border all of the country's major cities and have in turn become cities in their own right. They are recognizable by their matchbox cottages, houses shaped like matchboxes with a small fenced yard in front. Sheet metal and makeshift materials dominate, yet some houses reflect a higher standard of living. The presence of trees and decorative elements on the facade are found in the houses of "Beverly Hills", the "chic" district of Soweto. The township also has a hospital and a university. The English presence is also inseparable from the "imported" workforce that brought with them traditions and heritage that give the country a superb mix. Don't miss the Indian quarter of Durban and its Hindu temples, one of the most famous of which is the Temple of Understanding with its gold and Carrara marble prayer hall and its spindly towers, which almost seem to answer to the golden domed minarets of the Juma mosque on the other side of town.
Aboriginal Habitat
The country reveals another side of its identity in more remote areas where indigenous people live with their rich heritage. The Xhosa people are known for their vibrantly colored huts with richly carved doors. Often round, they are made of sticks and mud and are topped with a thatched roof, although today sheet metal is increasingly used. The Nama huts are amazing creations of reed mats placed on a wooden skeleton. The use of reed is not insignificant, its properties allow the absorption of rainwater and therefore a protection of the house. The Zulus, for their part, are famous for their circular huts whose shape is reminiscent of a beehive. Topped with a thatched roof, these huts also consist of a wooden structure covered with an assembly of woven reeds and grasses, with a strong tree trunk acting as a central pillar. The particularity of these huts is their ground. Composed of a mixture of hardened earth and manure, the floor is polished to an almost mirror-like surface. The colors and shapes of the Ndebele habitat have inspired artists from around the world. The men are in charge of the construction: wooden frame, thatched roof and walls of clay and mud. The house is most often rectangular with a courtyard in front and a protective surrounding wall. An outside room, a sort of small pavilion, is reserved for cooking and washing. The women were responsible for the decoration, i.e. the identity of the house. Before the 1960s, women worked mainly with natural pigments, resulting in rather ochre colors. With the discovery of acrylic and vinyl paints, homes were adorned with vibrant colors. At the beginning, only geometric patterns were favored, then gradually the women incorporated figurative elements, a know-how that has been passed on from mother to daughter for generations. The villages of Mapoch and Mpumalanga in KwaZulu-Natal have superb examples of this unique architecture.
From modernity to the future
The country has also become a land of modernity, preserving many examples of Art Deco with its bold colors, astonishing geometric shapes and, above all, its wealth of ornamentation. The most famous representative of this style is Cape Town's Mutual Building. This 96 m-high architectural feat, composed of a concrete structure coated with a layer of granite, impresses by its decorative richness. Don't miss the tall marble columns in the banking room and the frescoes in the assembly hall, which depict the country's history. In the 1970s, Johannesburg became a land of innovation, with some of the country's most famous towers: the De Beers Tower, cut like a 58-faceted diamond; the Marble Towers, all in concrete and marble; the Ponte City Apartments, with their astonishing cylindrical structure open at the center to create a skylight; and, above all, the Carlton Centre, designed by the famous SOM agency and, at 223 m, the tallest building in Africa. The 2000s were also a decade of architectural effervescence, as the country prepared to host the 2010 Football World Cup. In addition to large-scale renovations, the cities were equipped with architecturally stunning stadiums. Among the most famous are Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium , with its 105 m-high, 350 m-long arch; Johannesburg's FNB Stadium, with its facade inspired by an African calabash and its slabs of various colors and textures punctuated by glass panels; and, of course, Cape Town Stadium, one of the greenest in the world. But contemporary design is not limited to stadiums, quite the contrary. Among the most beautiful contemporary creations, don't miss the chapel on the Bosjes estate, with its undulating shape, theEverard Read Gallery in Johannesburg, an astonishing spiral structure that seems to levitate, and above all the magnificent Zeitz Mocaa museum in Cape Town. Symbolizing the revival of the Victoria & Albert Waterfront, the museum is housed in a former concrete grain silo, whose astonishing honeycomb and tubular structure has been preserved, creating almost 80 galleries on 9 levels. An architectural feat that symbolizes the country's creative vitality, a vitality that is reflected in its many sustainable architecture initiatives. Eco-lodges, including the beautiful Lembombo Lodge, are the most obvious forms of this "green" architecture, with their use of natural materials. But sustainable architecture can also take more unusual forms, such as containers. In rural areas, these tiny houses of a new kind make it possible to free themselves from the constraints of the terrain and thus avoid costly foundations, while in cities, they make it possible to offer rapidly accessible housing to an ever-growing population, all by recycling goods containers. South Africa never ceases to surprise us!
