Archistori

Koelkap Farm, Piketberg. Sketch by JC Poortermans, 1849. (Africana Museum 6364) Contextual Timeline Overview Land use and ownership have long reflected the lifestyle and basic needs of communities. When land is developed through effort and expense to yield greater future harvests, it leads to more settled communities and associated land ownership. Various systems of land use and ownership have been implemented since 1652.  Documentation was issued to individuals specifying conditions, which could vary. Over time, documents were issued for three types: grazing rights, loan farms, and freehold farms. In 1813, this was replaced by the perpetual quitrent system, which is still in use today. F rom 1652, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) considered itself the owner of all land under its control, except for freehold farms and plots. Successive governments continued this view. As early as 1655, specific Cape Town residents were permitted to establish gardens and keep animals. Permits were...

Location: Hanover St, District Six, Cape Town Architect: Unknown Date: c1911 Status: Demolished (late 1960's) Isaac Ochberg Hall in Hanover Street, District Six (Unidentified photographer, n.d.) Approximate map location Notes The Isaac Ochberg Hall was a community hall located in District Six, Cape Town, on Hanover Street. The hall itself served as an important community venue in the vibrant, multicultural District Six (a historically mixed-race area later destroyed under apartheid's Group Areas Act in the 1960s–1970s, leading to forced removals and demolition). It was an early base and performance/rehearsal space for the EOAN Group (a non-profit cultural organization focused on opera, drama, music, and arts, primarily serving the Coloured community). The EOAN Group started using it around the 1930s–1940s, with their central offices there. In 1938, the hall was donated to EOAN via Ochberg's bequest after his death. They held rehearsals, community performances,...

This post discusses the general farm price fluctuations as noted by Eric Rosenthal in his 1959 book, Other Men's Millions . The various booms and slumps are quite complex and varied from area to area. It is not a comprehensive analysis, but merely a discussion of Chapter 22 - Farm price frenzy . Map of the Cape fof Good Hope by Johannes Nieuhof (1672-82)   Contextual timeline Jan van Riebeeck sells Boschheuvel - 1665  (high prices) Shortly after Jan van Riebeeck departed from the Cape, public notices were posted on November 24, 1665, at the Fort, in the town, and across the countryside. These announcements stated that the agents acting for the former Commander planned to sell his land - located below Boschheuvel - to the highest bidder on the following Saturday. The auction would be held in the large hall of the Fort. Van Riebeeck's property consisted of 101 morgen of cultivated land, complete with a barn (schuur), and is widely believed to have encompassed the area that later...

Location:  Albertus St, Cape Town Architects:     Hendrick & Stander (based in Parow in c1949) Date: 1949 (date on drawings) - 1957 Status: Extant Map Notes There was originally a garage on the site.  The location formed part of District Six which suffered forced removals in 1968. The neighbouring Victorian leather harness manufacturing building (1910) to the north-west burnt down in 2020 and was subsequently demolished. The warehouse facade was eventually designed to compliment the facade of the 1910 Victorian building (unlike the 1949 drawings). There were factories to the south-east that were demolished during the forced removals. Both vacant areas are currently used for parking. Drawings Plans Elevations Street view (2022).  Source: Katie Thomas Warehouse with matching facade on the right, with the burnt-down factory on the left. Source: Katie Thomas Sources Luana Mae de Sousa Teixeira Manhiça. 2022. Architecture for Performance. (UCT thesis) Tho...

  Architect:   Lindsay Falck Images Source: Cape Institute for Architecture Source: Cape Institute for Architecture

Location:  22 Thistle St, Newlands, Cape Town Architect:   Lindsay Falck Date:  1956-58 Status:  Extant Style: Modernist Map Notes "Before Lindsay reached age 25, he had married, had three children (two of whom were conceived before he completed his thesis), and built – to his design and largely by his own labor – a modern house located at 22 Thistle Street in Newlands, Cape Town (1956-58). More than a few contractors involved in the construction of the Centlivres Building at UCT found themselves working on the Falck House. “We had wonderful times in that house,” Lindsay recalled in 2013, “always with a lot of the neighborhood children in and out. Cars and go-carts were built and rebuilt, and surfboards were made in the basement workshop…” (William Whitaker) Images Source: Cape Institute for Architecture Source: DocomomoSA Fiche by Jean Nuttal Source: DocomomoSA Fiche by Jean Nuttal Source: DocomomoSA Fiche by Jean Nuttal Source: DocomomoSA Fiche by Jean Nuttal Sour...