Union Buildings
Union Buildings | |
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Sir Herbert Baker |
The Union Buildings (
The Buildings are one of the centres of political life in South Africa; "The Buildings" and "Arcadia" have become metonyms for the South African government. It has become an iconic landmark of Pretoria and South Africa in general, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city and an emblem of democracy.
The Buildings are the location of presidential inaugurations.
Architecture
These buildings, built from light
The building was sited on a disused quarry, which now makes up the amphitheatre. The matching statues on top of the domed towers are Atlas, holding up the world, sculpted by Abraham Broadbent. The statue on the domed rostrum in the amphitheatre between the wings is Mercury, a mythic Roman messenger and a god of trade, sculpted by George Ness. The closest suburb to the Union Buildings is Arcadia, which means "Playground of Gods". Pretoria has the second largest number of embassies in the world, after Washington, D.C., most of which are located in or near Arcadia.
The design of each level differs, and therefore each stone had to be individually cut. The Architectural styles of the building ranges from the lower levels' Edwardian style to the top levels' Cape Dutch design with shutters on the windows. The windows from bottom to top are elongated and become shorter towards the top floor. This is to give the illusion of height.
The Union Buildings are the site of presidential inaugurations. The official offices of the president are on the left-hand side of the Union Buildings, and the South African national flag is flown on the left-hand side if the president is in office.[11]
The Buildings are divided into three sections; the left offices, amphitheatre, and right offices. All are 95 metres in length. Each offices block contains three inner courtyards providing light and air to the offices. Each block has a basement and three floors above ground. The central curved building behind the colonnade houses the committee rooms, a library and conference rooms while the basement contains the kitchen, dining rooms and lounges.
The interior is treated in the Cape Dutch style: carved teak fanlights, heavy doors, dark ceiling beams contrasting with white plaster walls and heavy wood furniture.[12]
History
The
In 1909 Herbert Baker was commissioned to design the Government Building of the Union of South Africa (which was formed on 31 May 1910) in Pretoria. Pretoria was to become the administrative centre for the new government. In November 1910 the cornerstone of the Union Building was laid.
Lord Selborne and Henry Charles Hull, a member of the first Union Cabinet, chose Meintjieskop as the site for Baker's design.[13] The site was that of a disused quarry and the existing excavations were used to create the amphitheatre, which was set about with ornamental pools, fountains, sculptures, balustrades, and trees.
The design consisted of two identical wings, joined by a semi-circular colonnade forming the backdrop of the amphitheatre. The colonnade was terminated on either side by a tower. Each wing had a basement and three floors above ground. The interiors were created in the Cape Dutch style with carved teak fanlights, heavy doors, dark ceiling beams contrasting with white plaster walls and heavy wood furniture. Baker used indigenous materials as far as possible. The granite was quarried on site while Buiskop sandstone was used for the courtyards. Stinkwood and Rhodesian teak were used for timber and wood panelling. The roof tiles and quarry tiles for the floors were made in Vereeniging.
The cornerstone was laid in November 1910, shortly after the Union of South Africa – for which the buildings are named – was formed. Taking 1,265 workers over three years to build, the structure was completed in 1913 at a total cost of £1,310,640 for the building and £350,000 for the site.
Designed by
Originally built to house the entire Public Service for the Union of South Africa, it was then the largest building in the country and possibly the largest building work undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere at that time.
Several other sites were considered, including Muckleneuk Ridge, on the opposite side of the city, and Pretorius Square, in the centre of Pretoria, where the City Hall now stands. However, Herbert Baker was strongly in favour of Meintjieskop, which was within a mile of the centre of Pretoria and reminded him strongly of some of the acropolises of Greece and Asia Minor, where he had studied Mediterranean architecture.
The concept of an acropolis and a building that agreed with renowned British Architect
The British high commissioner at the time, Lord Selborne, remarked;
People will come from all over the world to wonder at the beauty of the site and to admire the forethought and courage of the men who selected it.
The design of the buildings was largely determined by the nature of the site. Baker envisaged identical wings of rectangular office blocks, each representing one of the two official languages. They were to be linked by a semicircular wing, and the space in-between the two wings was levelled to bring form an amphitheatre as in the Greek fashion for gatherings of national and ceremonial importance.
Baker wanted the buildings to be built of imported granite, but any idea of using anything but South African stone for the most important government building of the new state was unthinkable to those who commissioned it, as a result, the terraces and retaining walls in the grounds are built predominantly of mountain stone quarried on site, the foundation of the building is of granite, while freestone was used for the exterior walls, the amphitheatre and major courtyards.
For the overall design of the building, Baker chose the neo-classic architecture of the Italian Renaissance, and also combined an idiom of the English Renaissance, as well as significant elements of Cape Dutch detail, such as in the carved main doorways and fanlights and in much of the wrought-iron brass work and balustrades of the smaller areas.
Historical events
On 9 August 1956, 20,000 women marched to the doors of the Union Buildings, chanting "Wathint' Abafazi, wathint' imbokodo!" which means "strike the women, strike the rock", to protest against the
Wilma Cruise and Marcus Holmes were approached to design a memorial to commemorate the Women's March. They made use of the "imbokodo". The imbokodo is a grinding stone used by the women to grind maize. Cruise and Holmes, rested the imbokodo, representing nurture and sustenance, on bronze plates, representing the earth and fire. There are two sets of stairs leading to the memorial. On each step, raised in bronze letters are the words from 'The Demand of the Women of South Africa for the Withdrawal of Passes for Women and Repeal of the Pass Laws.' On approaching the imbokodo, visitors trigger infrared beams, which activates history's "whispered voices", echoed in all 11 official languages, the rally cry, repeated softly.[14]
In 1986, significant restoration of the Union Buildings was undertaken by Johan de Ridder and T.W. Baker as the appointed architects.[15]
On 10 May 1994, the inauguration of
Part of Nelson Mandela's inaugural address:
"Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty.
Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.
All this we owe both to ourselves and to the peoples of the world who are so well represented here today. ....... We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom.
We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success.
We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world.
Let there be justice for all.
Let there be peace for all.
Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.
Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.
Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.
Let freedom reign.
The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!
Let us as a Rainbow nation keep this in focus and move forward!"
On 31 December 1999 the South African flagship
On 10 December 2013, the Union Buildings Amphitheatre was renamed the Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre.[17]
On 16 December 2013, a 9-metre high bronze statue of Mandela was unveiled at the Union Buildings.[18]
Gardens and grounds
The building is surrounded by beautifully terraced gardens of indigenous plants. Various monuments adorn the expansive lawns, including the Delville Wood War Memorial and a statue of the country's first
Notable are the
Statues and memorials
Within the grounds are various monuments, statues and memorials. Starting at the bottom of the gardens, a large statue of
Two levels above that is a
The South African Police Memorial is located at the top right of the gardens.
The South African National Film, Video and Sound Archives is also located in the grounds of the Union Buildings, adjacent to the Police Memorial.
Laws governing the buildings
Because of the significance of the Voortrekker Monument and the Union Buildings in the national consciousness, a law in Pretoria limits the height of any building between the Voortrekker Monument and the Union Buildings such that the view between them remains unobstructed.[20]
Powers and duties
The Union Buildings share duties with
The official seats of the President are the Union Buildings in Pretoria and the Tuynhuys in Cape Town.
Gallery
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Zebras in Pretoria with Union Buildings seen in the background.
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Jacaranda trees in Pretoria which covers Pretoria in a purple blanket during October.
See also
- Pretoria
- Sir Herbert Baker
- Houses of Parliament, Cape Town
- Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
- Rashtrapati Bhavan
References
- ^ From back of amphitheatre to front
- ^ From street level to top of towers
- ^ "Union Buildings". Google Maps. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Union Buildings Meintjieskop Pretoria". South African Heritage Resources Agency. Archived from the original on 29 May 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
- ^ "Union Buildings Declared a National Heritage Site". Eyewitness News. 16 December 2013. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Offices". The Presidency. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- hdl:2263/546.
- ^ "Union Buildings in Pretoria". Southafrica.to. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "Union Building in Pretoria (South Africa)". southafrica-travel.net. Archived from the original on 23 August 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ "About Riviera". SA-Venues. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "South Africa – Pretoria and Surrounding". Sunset Africa Tours. Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ "The Union Building". ibiblio.org. Archived from the original on 16 August 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ a b Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa. Vol. 7. Cape Town: Nasou. 1972.
- ^ "Union Building – Governmental Nucleus of South Africa". Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ "Johan de Ridder Architect". Artefacts.co.za. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ^ "1994: Mandela Becomes SA's First Black President". BBC. 10 May 1994. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ Mataboge, Mmanaledi (10 December 2013). "Zuma Renames Union Buildings Amphitheatre to Honour Madiba". Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Zuma Unveils Bronze Statue of Madiba in Pretoria". Mail & Guardian. SAPA. 16 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Union Building". WhereToStay.co.za. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ The City of Pretoria and Districts: An Official Handbook Describing the Social, Official, Farming, Mining, and General Progress and Possibilities of the Administrative Capital and Surrounding Districts. Johannesburg: Publicity Department, South African Railways. 1913 – via Internet Archive.