In the 1991 edition of Restorica, significant space was dedicated to the debate over the Civic Spine project. The overview of the controversy has already been published on The Heritage Portal (click here to view). In this piece, the voice of the architects is brought to the fore. Thank you to the University of Pretoria and the Heritage Association of South Africa for giving us permission to publish.
Historical background
The architects referred to several extracts from the book From Mining Camp to Metropolis by Gerhard-Mark van der Waal. These highlight aspects of the history of the Civic Spine and the various shortcomings which the author has noted, have been addressed by the project:
Of all the squares, Market Square presented the liveliest aspect- through the daily congregation of a mass of buyers and sellers and the visual cohesion of its components -but even this square failed to become a symbol with many references, because its only had a single function. Part of the explanation for this state of affairs probably lies in the fact that Johannesburg's raison d'etre lay outside the town· - in the mining area. There was in fact no ceremonial or social focus in the town itself. Market Square remained the most important city square. Originally established as a community centre, the square gradually saw its functions scaled down to those of an administrative and service area.
Until the early 1930's the single mass of the City Hall filled the eastern portion of the square, leaving...
