News broke recently that work on Africa’s tallest building has commenced (click here for details). Assuming it will be completed as designed, the Pinnacle in Nairobi Kenya will be 300m tall eclipsing the Carlton Centre by quite a margin. The fact that the Carlton has managed to hold the record of Africa’s tallest building for over four decades is remarkable. It got me thinking about the context of the late 1960s and early 1970s that led to an explosion of towers across Johannesburg. In the short article below, I will highlight a combination of factors that contributed to the surge in height that transformed the Johannesburg skyline into the one we know today.
Looking up Fox Street towards the Carlton Centre (The Heritage Portal)
Arguably the most important factor was the stellar performance of the South African economy during the 1960s and early 1970s. Various sources state that the country achieved growth rates exceeding 7% for a prolonged period. The stock exchange boomed, new companies were formed and an overall mood of confidence and swagger developed. Johannesburg was awash with money and, with the property sector booming, much of it found a home in ambitious CBD projects. A fellow...
