Yonder lies your hinterland : Rhodes, Baker, and the twisted strands of the South African architectural tradition
Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch University, Department of Ancient Studies
Abstract
This article considers the various strands that make up the classical architectural
tradition in South Africa. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the
beginning of the twentieth, under British rule the tradition of the Palladian style
for civic buildings and of Graeco-Roman building styles for institutions of
higher learning reflected the imperial ideals of South Africa’s political overlords.
This was the tradition in which Sir Herbert Baker had been trained and which he
encountered when he reached South Africa late in the nineteenth century. South
African architecture would have been less rich without the strong influence of
Cecil John Rhodes’ admiration for indigenous Cape Dutch architecture on
Baker’s architectural taste. This architecture was strongly rooted in another
aspect of the classical tradition. During Dutch economic and imperial rule, the
northern European style of classicistic or baroque gabling on perpendicular
buildings had at the Cape been translated into the gables of sprawling low
buildings. Illustrations show earlier examples of classical styles at the Cape,
including examples of the second classical strain (via Holland and Germany) in
South African architecture, so much admired by Rhodes. The article continues
with an examination of some of Baker’s best known buildings that show a
blending of these two strands. It ends with some thoughts on the durability of the
Classical tradition and neo-classical vestiges in post-colonial (and postapartheid)
South Africa.
Description
CITATION: Claassen, J. M. 2009. Yonder lies your hinterland : Rhodes, Baker, and the twisted strands of the South African architectural tradition. Akroterion, 54:69-86, doi:10.7445/54-0-28.
The original publication is available at http://akroterion.journals.ac.za
The original publication is available at http://akroterion.journals.ac.za
Keywords
Classical architecture -- South Africa, Architectural tradition -- South Africa, Baker, Herbert, Sir, 1862-1946, Rhodes, Cecil, 1853-1902, South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1836-1909, Historic buildings -- South Africa
Citation
Claassen, J. M. 2009. Yonder lies your hinterland : Rhodes, Baker, and the twisted strands of the South African architectural tradition. Akroterion, 54:69-86, doi:10.7445/54-0-28