Art Deco Architecture

The Peter Louis Award, established in 2004 by the Architectural Heritage Committee of the South African Institute of Architects – KwaZulu Natal, celebrates contributions to conserving the built environment. Named in honor of Peter Louis, a professional Quantity Surveyor, the award recognises individuals or organisations that represent the cultural and physical diversity of KwaZulu-Natal.

In 2024, the award was presented to the Durban Art Deco Society (DADS) in recognition of their 25-year commitment to preserving Durban's architectural heritage. The award ceremony took place on 14 November 2024 at the SAIA-KZN offices in Glenwood, Durban, with a hand-written Scroll of Honour created by calligrapher Ingrid Lotter Smith.

Founded in 1999 by Jean Powell and Denis Claude, with Helen Labuschagne joining soon after, DADS has been instrumental in protecting and promoting Art Deco buildings in Durban. The society's constitution emphasises encouraging the preservation of Art Deco buildings by providing design guidelines for owners, developers, and designers.

Over the past 25 years, DADS has made significant contributions:

• Providing consultancy services to building owners, helping them understand and preserve the heritage value of their properties
• Successfully intervening in potential heritage preservation challenges, such as the case of Berea Court
• Awarding Certificates of Merit to well-preserved Art Deco buildings like Berea Court and Escombe Court
• Collaborating with owners to ensure appropriate renovations and restorations

Berea Court (Alison Chadwick)...

The article below is an excerpt from the book Falling Monuments, Reluctant Ruins: The Persistence of the Past in the Architecture of Apartheid edited by Hilton Judin. Thank you to Wits University Press for sharing it with us. Click here for more information about the book.

Book Cover

The Art Deco building standing on the corner of Market and Commissioner streets, two busy thoroughfares in Krugersdorp’s CBD, was erected by the firm Kallenbach, Kennedy & Furner, an influential architectural firm in early Johannesburg. Jubilee House, as the building was once known, originally consisted of a two storey Victorian structure built in 1898. But in 1940, this was completely overhauled and remade into the Art Deco building that still stands today. This had been the wish of its owner, M. M. Dadoo, a Muslim immigrant from Kholvad who had arrived in South Africa in the 1890s, and the father of the Communist Party and Indian Congress leader Dr Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo, born in 1909, at a time when Krugersdorp was a booming mining town.

Article published in The Star, 1940

In the early twentieth century, M...

The Simon van der Stel Foundation recently expressed concern that Heritage Western Cape (HWC), the local successor to the National Monuments Council, is allowing the history of old Bantry Bay to be destroyed by permitting the demolition of structures of heritage importance. This concern was raised when permission was granted by the HWC to demolish four early 20th century buildings situated on Saunders and Bantry Roads. The Foundation’s chairperson Ian Pretorius said that these early 20th century buildings represented the very early architectural and urban-making fabric of old Bantry Bay. He added that if these tangible reminders of the neighbourhood’s past were to be wiped out, the result would be a sterile monotonous suburb that looked like any other modern one in the world.

Almost simultaneously, the Sea Point Fresnaye Bantry Bay Ratepayers’ and Residents Association (SFB) objected to a proposal to convert an apartment block on 2 Main Street into a hotel, on land currently zoned for general residential, and not for business purposes.

Developers clearly cannot wait to develop as much as they can of Cape Town’s Platinum Mile.

In the light of the above we propose to take you on a meander along the Sea Point Promenade from just below Bantry Bay to the Green Point Lighthouse, a mere three kilometers distant. Here you will encounter interesting contemporary and historical architecture, unusual street art, an important geological rock formation and of course spectacular vistas of the Atlantic seaboard, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill. Hopefully this will convince...

Last weekend my husband Keith and I spent a weekend in Durban as guests of the Durban Art Deco Society (DADS). I was there to deliver the lecture at the Annual General Meeting of the Society on the Sunday morning at the Phansi Museum but we had about 26 hours to see Durban and pleasure the pulse of the Indian Ocean city which had been Keith’s home town and my favourite teenage holiday destination. I knew Durban from my childhood sojourns and then family visits to the grandparents once we had settled in Johannesburg but in recent years our visits have dwindled so it was a pleasure to revive memories of places we knew decades ago and to gain fresh insights of a 21st century Durban.

A highlight of the weekend was the special Art Deco tour by professional tour guide, Shiney Bright and Professor Mike Mulholland of UKZN. Both are passionate about Durban’s Art Deco buildings and through the Durban Art Deco Society they are determined to promote, celebrate and save all that is Art Deco in Durban. There are more than 100 Art Deco buildings in Durban dating from the interwar period. Art Deco is such a distinctive style of angles, lines, geometry, decorative motifs in brick and plaster. Durban, because of the many apartment blocks, office blocks, homes and even simple shops, has been recognized internationally as a city where you can view Art Deco architecture with its many motifs and colours. Durban is an Art Deco city, though if you are keen on this style you will also find many buildings in Johannesburg and Springs.

Art Deco style was popular...

Killarney is one of the great historic suburbs of Johannesburg. With its majestic buildings from different eras, there is a great case for it to be declared a heritage area. The article below, written by journalist Lucille Davie, is packed with fascinating details on the people, history and architecture of a majestic neighbourhood. The piece was originally published on the City of Joburg's website on 18 January 2012. Click here to view more of Davie's work.

Running a bath in a flat in Gleneagles is more than just filling up a tub – the hot water goes via a stainless steel towel rack attached to the wall, heating it before the water reaches the bath.

Gleneagles, an art deco building in Killarney, has just been given a blue and white Egoli Heritage Foundation heritage plaque. It is one of several art deco blocks in the suburb – Mentone Court, Killarney Mansions and Daventry Court are other outstanding examples of the style.

Gleneagles Blue Plaque (The Heritage Portal)

Gleneagles (The Heritage Portal)

Besides the towel rack, Gleneagles bathrooms make bathing a stylish affair: a decorative metal laundry basket alongside the rack...

The unearthing of the programme and proposal to save the Colosseum in the early 1980s led me further into a sleuthing foray. At the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation research centre I presented the 1980s papers. Mary Boyeasse, a keen researcher, then said ‘we have that one already’ but five minutes later she reappeared with a rare original souvenir programme of the 1933 opening of the Colosseum. The 1982 prospectus takes on a new look because the design was based on this original souvenir programme. I wonder how many copies of this programme have survived in private hands?

What an exciting find this is and of course it adds to the story of the Colosseum and a connects the dots from opening to closing of the theatre, from 1933 to 1985.

Programme cover

The opening hyperbole burbles awkwardly: "A product of South African creative arts, technical skills and craftsmanship for the enjoyment of South Africans. The supreme achievement of South African theatre construction, unexcelled anywhere in the world for luxury and modernity, unapproached in our own country. A wonderland of illusion, made possible by the great assembly of marvellous devices within its walls."

The man who had the vision based on business success, expansion and progress was the American entrepreneur Isador William Schlesinger (1871-1949), the Chairman of African Theatres and the pioneer of the...

Who remembers the Colosseum in Johannesburg? This theatre belonged to the collection of theatres built for pleasure and entertainment when one went to the movies in style and cinemas attracted audiences of thousands watching a single block buster grand epic. With its orchestra pit the Colosseum was versatile; it was a large venue for movies, concerts, and stage shows. It closed in 1985 and was demolished, it transitioned to “Lost Johannesburg” in a flash.

1934 Commissioner Street Façade of the Colosseum (Cumming-George Vol 2)

I lived out my teenage fantasies in the cinemas of Johannesburg. His Masjesty’s, the Empire, the Plaza and the Colosseum were the magnets that drew me to spend my 2/6 or 4/- (shillings) for a front seat in the stalls or one high up on the raked balcony and if there were vacant seats we crept backward. Unlike theatre, cinemas charged more for distant panoramic views than close up to the screen. I adored the sense of occasion and luxury of a cinema visit and saw all of the great epics, now classic movies of the fifties and sixties in a Johannesburg cinema - The Ten Commandments, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, South Pacific, Dr Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia. I adored Audrey Hepburn, Julie Christie, Julie Andrews, Mary Martin, Omar Sheriff, Peter O’Toole and many...

Daventry Court is one of Killarney's heritage landmarks. It was built in 1934 and is located on a block surrounded by Riviera Road and 4th Street. After extensive research, Boris Gorelik published the wonderful report '80 Years of Daventry Court' in 2013. Below are a few passages from the report highlighting growth and change in Killarney and revealing the significance of this iconic building.

Daventry Court was commissioned and financed by brothers Samuel Hillel and Woolfe Jossel, who ran their property development company under the name of Jossels Mansions (also known as S W Jossel Investments Pty Ltd). It was Samuel, according to his son Brian, who masterminded the operations.

Sam Jossel was born in the Russian Empire, probably in present-day Lithuania or Poland. The family came out to South Africa in about 1902. His father spoke Yiddish and Russian but only had a smattering of English until the end of his life. Sam’s beginnings were humble but he had a considerable business talent. At an early age, he learnt bookkeeping on a farm, and this stood him in good stead later. In 1924, the Hebrew Order of David, a fraternal philanthropic Jewish society, needed to purchase a building to house its offices. Samuel Jossel was entrusted with this task. He found a suitable property, and a price of £150 was paid for it. Located in De Villiers Street in town, which soon became a sought-after area, this property proved to be an extremely valuable investment.

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The Colosseum was an iconic Art Deco Building designed by the architect Percy Rogers Cook and developed by the entertainment mogul I.W. Schlesinger. It occupied an entire city block on Commissioner Street and formed part of the ‘Great White Way’ along with His Majesty’s, Shakespeare House, the CNA Building and others. The theatre could seat over 2 500 people and its ceiling gave the illusion of a star filled night sky above walls built to resemble fairy castles. Over the decades the theatre hosted hundreds of famous productions, actors and musicians. It was also one of the few establishments to hold a multiracial permit during apartheid (this area needs further research as there are differing accounts of the Theatre’s access policy).

In 1983, five years after the historic Markhams Building was saved from demolition, contractors circled the Colosseum waiting for the go ahead to begin work. Below is a summary of the three year battle to save the building based on the work of Nigel Mandy (ex chairman of the CBD Association and manager of the Carlton Centre during its heyday).

Colosseum Theatre at Night (Seventy Golden Years)

The number of large theatres located in the city centre declined during the 1970s and by 1981 only The Colosseum remained. It was too large to be used as a cinema and...

We are honoured to publish this phenomenal article on the priceless Art Deco architecture of Springs. Thank you to the Arts, Culture and Heritage team from the Ekurhuleni Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture for sending it through. Enjoy!

The City of Springs boasts the largest number of small scale Art Deco design buildings in the world, outside of Miami, Florida USA. The design style, which has become synonymous with the coastal town of Miami, is achieving more and more attention as potential tourism money-spinner for Springs.

The Art Deco design style had its hey-days between World Wars One and Two and achieved its prevalence in Springs, as this was also the period that characterised the greatest growth in the history of the town.

By the mid 1930s Springs was one of the six largest towns in South Africa and was mentioned in the same breath as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth. Particularly in the field of architecture, Springs took the lead away from the mining architecture of its origins into an industrial age of opportunity.

Date on the Coalition Building (The Heritage Portal)

The term Art Deco had its origins with the international exhibition “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes” held in Paris...