Patrick De Mervelec
Author of Johannesburg Architecture and Heritage
Works by Patrick De Mervelec
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This meant that the high rise building , the sky scraper was an obvious and popular technical solution and in the period 1930s to 1970s the Johannesburg skyline was defined by new towers , concrete spikes and spirals ... The Carlton Centre, Ponte, Penmore Towers, the Standard Bank building, Yet old Johannesburg is also a city where the construction clock stopped in the late 1980s, Since the early 1990s older buildings went into decay, the old mine dumps were re-mined and then the old vacant land remained with promised development not materializing, Businesses moved to the suburban centers .. north to Melrose Arch, Eastgate, Sandton. old wealth stopped shopping in Johannesburg. Long distance train travel was displaced by the airlines for the affluence. Provincial government arrived and turned Johannesburg into its capital imposing a soulless bureaucracy . Office blocks were converted into apartments with a far more African feel. New heroes came to be remembered on street names . With high levels of unemployment the poor of the city scrape livings through recycling and theft of any unprotected metal that can be stolen off the fabric of the city.
This book fails to deal with the complexities of a city in transition and divided between rich and poor. instead it shows off a photographer's love of his art and shows off Johannesburg at its best in revealing its heritage and the historical investment in many fine buildings through twelve decades.… (more)