MUTUAL BUILDING, 14 DARLING STREET, CAPE TOWN - PHOTOGRAPHS

There is more to ART DECO than ugly buildings

It was January 2011 when my husband to be and I first moved to Observatory, Cape Town. It felt a little like moving into the bundus. We both used public transport to commute to work and back in town. We would occasionally share the bus trip, which meant we could cuddle and talk a little longer. Through the window, Marshall would point out the art deco buildings along the way and I would sigh, glance, and remark how ugly they were. They were all so ugly, worsened by the various states of disrepair. So dreary, I could not even pretend to share his enthusiasm about ART DECO. Sometimes I would ask what the appeal was, but do not remember ever waiting to hear the reply.

This pattern continued on and off over the years as we moved deeper and deeper into the Southern Suburbs. Then earlier this year we moved to our current home in Claremont, which is slightly off the beaten track, suburban one could say. It was while out on my daily walks during the autumn and winter months that I began to notice the art deco structures around me. Marshall was away at sea at the time, and I missed him so much. One morning while walking and talking to Jenny about the various trees, shrubs, flowers and anything else around us, I told her of Marshall’s love of art deco architecture and pointed out some of the buildings to show her what I meant. Not too much later, we discussed possibly photographing them as a record as I wasn't sure I would be able to find them again and thought Marshall may enjoy the photographs when he returned in a few months’ time. I was vaguely aware that Jenny had been an amateur photographer for years and was itching for a reason to get back into her photography again.  

Suddenly our walks had more purpose as we carefully planned our routes.  We snapped away regardless of whether we were certain if we the building qualified as art deco or not. Soon thereafter, the idea of contributing to an art deco blog on the Cape Town buildings piqued my interest. Within days, I realized that a vague enthusiasm for the era was developing into a full-blown passion. I kept re-assuring Jenny as well as myself that it would soon pass.

Over the almost year of searching and researching and digging around, I gathered immense  amounts of data which now needed to sorted into some sort of order. It appears that there isn't any written comprehensive recording of our wonderful art deco architecture in Cape Town. We need to protect our heritage and do so with sensitivity. This got me thinking about whether a book would be me appropriate, and it seems to be heading that way, but for now, I am happy to have started a blog as well as a Facebook page, which will certainly help to gauge public interest.  

Who would have guessed?

About Art Deco Book

This blog is inspired by a book I am researching to write at the moment and I just thought I would tell you a little more about myself and why I am doing this. 

It was when we moved to the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town that I first began to notice the art deco buildings along the main road from town to the suburbs. When my husband started pointing out specific buildings to me and commenting on their features, my unwavering comment was of a disparaging nature, usually in disgust at the ugliness of the building. This has continued for many years, and the further south we've moved, the more art deco buildings there seem to be in every area I've since lived in. So much so that it's hard not to notice the influence art deco has had on architecture in this city. 

I recently relocated to Claremont, Cape Town, and have started walking with a friend. Our walks are interspersed between luscious green hiking trails, and the streets of suburbia. Being a new area I've taken a keen interest in the houses and gardens around me, and began to notice with increased regularity how many houses and buildings bore strong elements of art deco design. This was the turning point in me no longer hating it, and suddenly loving it. 

At this point, and more particularly since my husband is often away for long periods working at sea, I thought that perhaps some sort of photo-documentary log or blog specifically may be interesting, and this blog could augment any formal documentation of these buildings. I started searching, and researching, to no avail as it appears there never has been any book written on this important and influential period of architecture locally. 

Even more disconcerting, I have subsequently come across several articles that claim another town in this country, Springs in Gauteng to be precise, to be the town with the second most art deco buildings after Miami, Florida, United States. Noting the amount of buildings in this style in Cape Town, I still find this an inaccurate statement, and this was part of what motivated me to provide photo-documentary proof of their existence.

I was a bit disturbed as well that almost any other type of architecture in Cape Town has been covered in book form, but not art deco. This elevated my idea to exploring covering the topic in book form instead. 

At this stage I am developing the book idea slowly, still finding my way about and learning as I go, but hopefully it will come to fruition soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the journey with me.

If you do have anything to add, anything that may be of some help along the way, I would greatly appreciate it if you could comment or contact me via email artdecobook@gmail.com

Thank you.