Making Memory Space: Recollection and Reconciliation in Post ...

uilding type that has traditionally been recognised as the only architecture of worth in South Africa. 74
Farms and homesteads constructed in this manner still form iconic representations of the Cape area
and highlight a historical claim to the land of southern Africa. The Cape Dutch style signifies the Dutch
rule of the Cape, which lasted from Jan Van Riebeck’s arrival in 1652 until around 1795. Under
Apartheid it was considered the most ‘authentic’ form of architectural heritage, an attitude which
complicates the continued emphasis placed on Cape Dutch architecture as a valued representative of
South African past. Cape Dutch architecture represents a time of subjugation for black South Africans,
while simultaneously embodying values of heritage, culture and refinement for Afrikaner South
Africans. 75 In fact many of the original Cape Dutch homesteads along the wine region of the Southern
Cape are based on a silent history of slavery, a historical narrative largely absent from their popular
identity. 76 In international terms, the white gabled forms of the Cape are widely recognised as iconic
South African forms, an identity often synonymous with touristic notions of South Africa.
Colonisation
The impact of the British occupation and colonisation has also left a shadow on the urbanscape of
South Africa. It follows a pattern of spatial production not unlike that experienced in other colonial
outposts around the world: the imposition of the cartographic grid on the cityscape, the construction of
parks, botanical gardens and buildings and the erection of monuments and memorials to significant
figures such as Queen Victoria. Architectural form was grand and imposing, alluding to a classical
tradition of antiquity and mastery of the natural environment. In many respects this mode of production
forms the basis for the emergence of the rudimentary city as it exists in South Africa, particularly in the
Cape, and many of the significant icons of the city are resultant from the attitudes to spatial production
at this time. 77
Heritage and nationalistic form
This method of building practice began to change after the Union of South Africa (established in
1910), saw the development of newly-forged productions of nationalistic architectural narratives. At
this time, there was an emergence of interest in notions of ‘heritage’ under the particular guidance of
Jan Smuts. This preoccupation was crystallised in the form of the ‘Declaration of Monuments’ by the
newly established Commission for the Preservation of Natural and Historic Monuments, Relics and
Antiques. 78 This legislation employed selective heritage practice in the realm of nation building and
74 Noeleen Murray and Nick Shepherd, ‘Space, Memory and Identity in the Post-Apartheid City,’ Noeleen Murray, Nick
Shepherd, and Martin Hall (eds.), Desire Lines: Space, Memory and Identity in the Post Apartheid City (Oxon: Routledge, 2007),
p.3.
75 For an examination of heritage, experience and Cape Dutch Architecture refer to Martin Hall and Pia Bombarella, ‘Paths of
Nostalgia and Desire through Heritage destinations at the Cape of Good Hope’, Noeleen Murray, Nick Shepherd, and Martin
Hall (eds.) Op cit.
76 Kerry Ward and Nigel Worden, Op cit, p.203.
77 Noeleen Murray and Nick Shepherd, Op cit, p.4.
78 Ibid.
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