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.
