AFRICAN STATE ARCHITECTURE

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    A timid Leviathan by Julia Gallagher
    • May 9, 2019

    A timid Leviathan by Julia Gallagher

    South Africa’s Department for International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) seems to hide from Pretoria, crouching behind a hill, with its back towards the city. The best views of it are from above on the Meintjieskop*, from where it looks like a fat beetle with a set of angled legs protruding from one side of its body. Some people have described it as a beached whale skeleton, and it certainly is a real Leviathan of a building. My main impression of the O. R. Tambo (DIRCO)
    Ou Raadsaal, Pretoria, South Africa
    • Jan 30, 2018

    Ou Raadsaal, Pretoria, South Africa

    1891 The Ou Raadsaal, or Old Council Hall, was commissioned by the first president of the Boer Transvaal republic, Paul Kruger, and was designed by the Dutch architect, Sytze Wierda. The Raadsaal was the home of the Volksraad, the republican parliament. Rumour has it that originally the building was to be two storeys high, but that Kruger, on discovering that the neighbouring hotel was to have three, commissioned an additional floor. The building is now used by the Tshwane Mu
    Union Building, Pretoria, South Africa
    • Jan 29, 2018

    Union Building, Pretoria, South Africa

    1909 - 1913 Designed by Herbert Baker, one of Britain's most famous colonial architects, the Union Building became the seat of South African government after the South African War (1899-1901). Designed to emulate European classicism, Baker wanted his building to represent the 'attributes of the eternal' - stating that it would embody rational, civilised, colonial government. The two wings, joined by a curved lobby, are designed to represent the union of two 'races', Afrikaans
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