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Internationally renowned, Peter Rich's career represents a lifelong attempt to find a contemporary, yet uniquely African mode of design. This book follows the chronology of his work which emerges from a fascination with African tribal settlements, including his documentation, publication, and exhibition of Ndebele art and architecture, and his friendship with sculptor Jackson Hlungwani. It explores what Rich calls "African Space Making" and its forms of complex symmetry; various collaborative community oriented designs of the Apartheid and post-Apartheid period, especially Mandela's Yard in Alexandra township; and finally, his more recent timbrel vaulted structures, constructed from low-tech hand-pressed soil tiles derived from his highly innovative and award-winning work at Mapungubwe. The book shows how Rich combines these rich African influences, his sensitivity to the local context, and his environmental awareness with Modernist principles.
List of contents
1. An Artist, a Dreamer and a Clown; 2. Learning from the Ndebele; 3. Forming an Architectural Language: Westridge house & garden; 4. The Implied Diagonal: early residential projects; 5. Mandela’s Yard: social architecture; 6. The Golden Rhino: commemorating Mapungubwe; 7. Cairns with Tentacles: organic architecture
About the author
Jonathan Noble is Professor of Architecture at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He is author of 'African Identity in Post-Apartheid Public Architecture: White Skin, Black Masks', 2011, Ashgate.
Summary
Internationally renowned, Peter Rich’s career represents a lifelong attempt to find a contemporary, yet uniquely African mode of design. This book follows the chronology of his work which emerges from a fascination with African indigenous settlements, including his documentation, publication and exhibition of Ndebele art and architecture, and his friendship with sculptor Jackson Hlungwani. It explores what Rich calls 'African Space Making' and its forms of complex symmetry; various collaborative community oriented designs of the Apartheid and post-Apartheid period, especially Mandela's Yard in Alexandra township; and finally, his more recent timbrel vaulted structures, constructed from low-tech hand-pressed soil tiles derived from his highly innovative and award winning work at Mapungubwe. The book shows how Rich combines African influences with an environmental awareness aligned to Modernist principles.
