Tag Archives: building
Abandoned
An abandoned building in Newlands Forest
Cape Technikon – CPUT
I have many fond memories of this building. :)
The Wooltru mystery
They have no Wikipedia page and their www.wooltru.co.za site doesn't work and hasn't been indexed by Google. With the exception of a handful of financial articles on fin24.com there really doesn't seem to be much information that someone like myself (who is largely ignorant when it comes to cash shells, reverse takeovers, and other business strategies) would find useful.
Please, if you know more than I do, would you mind leaving a comment to explain what Wooltru is about and how this all works?
Cape Town City Hall – a different perspective
The last time I was in the City Hall was during the mid '90s. At that time it house the Central Library, and I remember spending time in a slightly stuffy, very cramped, slightly dark room that reminded me of a library that you'd be more likely to be visiting if your name were Harry Potter.
I never realised this before now, but on closer investigation I've just learned that in 2008 the library moved to a building located just to the left of this one (if you were facing it's front). Kerry-Anne hasn't read this article yet - but I imagine that on reading she'll be insisting that we soon pay the "new" library a visit. :)
The BoE Building at the Waterfront
I found this awesome photo taken of the building at night. Wow!
Grand Central shopping centre
Nelson Mandela’s first public speech
Don't you just love that he's released from prison and on that same day addresses the public, opening with:
Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans.
I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.
I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.
An uncommon perspective in the city
Cape Town CBD
I took the photo above only a couple of meters away from the previous one, so if you're familiar with Cape Town, I'm sure you'll work it out quickly.
If you do, please take a moment to leave a comment with your guess. :)
Skyscraper City
Compared to other cities, Cape Town doesn't have a huge number of skyscraper-type buildings, so especially for residents, this shouldn't be such a tough question. :)
Stained glass windows
The new clear glass windows looked awesome - they let in so much light, and made the building appear welcoming from the outside. I think my aversion to stained glass may simply be because (even though some would not say) I love minimalist décor, and stained glass is perhaps simply too busy for my brain to make sense of. :D
Jameson Memorial Hall and the pillars of colonial society
Jameson Memorial Hall on the University of Cape Town's (UCT) campus is an impressive structure that has as its backdrop the towering Devil's Peak and Table Mountain mountain range. When I first saw the building and that it was a memorial to one Leander Jameson I wondered to myself what he'd done to have his name etched into the fibre of one of South Africa's most prestigious universities.
The story basically goes that he was Scottish and practised as a doctor in South Africa. Jameson befriended Cecil John Rhodes and ran several missions for him to help establish Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Leander Jameson disobeyed the British High Commissioner and spear-headed the famous Jameson Raid on the Boer government. He was captured and forced to return to England where he was tried and spent over a year in jail.
On his release he returned to Cape Town where he was elected to Cape Parliament in 1900 and became Prime Minister in 1904!
Perhaps I don't fully understand the history and story of Leander Jameson, but to me it would seem as though the British Cape Colony started off on a bit of a wobbly foot around the turn of the 20th century! :)
Read more about Leander Jameson's story here.
2010 Football World Cup – loads to get done
So, in my previous photo I showed a view of the Cape Town Stadium in all its majesty. I zoomed in from the same vantage point (just above the highest road in Green Point) to capture this photo (and this one) of workmen furiously putting the final touches on the 68,000-seater grand structure.
There were many South Africans (around the time of the announcement that the 2010 Football World Cup was to be hosted here) that were negative and said things like there's no way that we'd be ready to host the World Cup. They said that there was no way that we'd be able to build the stadiums required to host such a large event.
Since the announcement we've seen several new roads, bridges and stadiums spring up out of the earth. With the World Cup only a few months away, there's still a lot to get done and time will tell whether or not our country was able to host such a large event successfully, and whether or not we'll end the month proud to be African.
If I were to put my money on it, I'd say June's going to be a good one.
The Cape Town Stadium – a prime location
The predecessor to the Cape Town Stadium was known as Green Point Stadium. The old stadium was somewhat underwhelming when compared to the new one that you can see in this picture.
I remember a few years back going to watch bands like Metallica and singers like Robbie Williams performing at Green Point Stadium. I even remember having a school athletics competition there many years ago. The old Green Point Stadium holds many memories for many South Africans, but even so, I can't say that I'm sad to see it replaced with a sparkling-white shiny new stadium. :)
Guesthouses and B&Bs
Everyone has a holiday style. Paul and I aren't much into camping (I'm scared of spiders - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it), and we've never stayed at a backpackers' lodge (although I've heard that that can be a pretty awesome experience). We tend to go for comfort, but not indulgent luxury - although, if someone else is paying, then hey, we'll take it. :)
I'm generally most comfortable in a B&B with friendly (but not intrusive) proprietors (and nice linen!). A pretty garden or lovely view is likely to seal the deal. What's your preference when it comes to holiday accommodation?
The Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock
While I'll not rehash what's special about the renovated mill (see their website, or my old article), in my next post I'll explain what was special about this evening and why I visited.
Let the party begin!
Tomorrow is a beeeeg day in Cape Town. Just in case you didn't know, South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup next year. Yes... of course you knew that. :) Have a look at the banner on the building to the left - it's one of a number of banners put up by Cape Town Tourism to promote Cape Town as one of the 2010 World Cup host cities.
Anyhow, tomorrow is when we'll have our first glimpse of what we can expect come June next year. The final draw to determine the tournament groupings is taking place tomorrow in Cape Town, and the city is gearing up for quite a party. People have been hearing helicopters and fighter jets overhead for a few days now; someone spotted David Beckham having dinner at the One & Only Hotel this evening; and apparently Charlize Theron is in town. I don't think it would be melodramatic to say that there's a real sense of excitement and expectation hanging in the air.
Tomorrow evening a whole lot of VIPs and media will be gathering at the Convention Centre for the official draw, while the rest of the plebs party it up at the special party venue being prepared in Long Street. An estimated 700 million people are expected to watch the draw live on television tomorrow, in 200 countries all across the world. If you're one of them, keep an eye out for us. We'll be in Long Street with all the other plebs. :D
Bendy-man at Renault
Sticking with the French theme of the past two posts, let me present Renault, a genuine French icon, and Bendy-Man, who I don't think is much of a French icon.
The yellow man in the photo consists of few tubes of plastic with a high-powered fan below. The fan blows air through the tubes, keeping the guy standing. It's helluva amusing to watch him in the wind, because as much as the fan blows to keep him standing, the wind kinks the tube causing him to bend in all directions. Click here to see another photo.
I can imagine that if someone were to make an evil bendy-man with a terrifying scowl on his face and lights that cause his eyes to glow it would it eerily scary - especially on a dark, cloudy and windy evening. You need only to have stood and watched one of these for a while to know what I mean. :)
Longkloof: a mystery no more
After reading what Paul had written about Longkloof in the previous post, my immediate thought was, "Pah! How hard can it be to find some information about this historical building? Must be all over the web, surely... he couldn't have googled very well..."
I had to eat my words, of course, after paying a visit to Google. Plenty has been written about Longkloof the area, but I couldn't find anything about this building. I couldn't even find a photograph of it online, which surprised me, because I thought it was a fairly obvious subject for a photo shoot. I'm not one to give up when faced with a mystery, though, so I kept on hunting.
I found this set of notes by Anne Lehmkuhl (definitely worth a read if history fascinates you), from which I was able to deduce that the building was once the wine cellar of the farm Groot Moddergat, and was built somewhere around 1841.
But I wanted to know what the building is NOW. Not content, I kept going, trying a bunch of different search terms, until eventually I struck gold. Or rather... clay. Because, as it turns out, the building now houses... drum roll, please... A POTTERY STUDIO.
It was no easy job to figure that out, let me tell you. And even once I'd worked it out using my superior powers of observation, I still couldn't find a single website to actually verify this information. So how did I know? Well, while Paul was taking photos of the building, I happened to notice the unusual fence adjoining the house, just off to the right of this shot. And when I saw this photo on the Longkloof Pottery site, I recognised the fence and wall immediately.
Now, please don't go knocking on the door and demanding to see the pottery - judging by the lack of information on the web and the lack of signage outside the property, I'm guessing that the talented resident potter, Yogi, would prefer to keep his studio a sanctuary. (And a pretty awesome sanctuary it must be too!) Visit his website to see more of his remarkable work and find out how to contact him.
Longkloof in Hout Bay
I don't know for certain what this building is, but to me it looks like a homestead built many, many years ago. We discovered it almost by chance while driving down Hout Bay Main Road, from the circle next to Constantia Nek Restaurant towards Hout Bay.
The particular road on which it's located is kinda narrow and there's so much to see that, even though it's right on the roadside, it's easy to miss. I didn't want to scratch around too much, and there didn't seem to be any clues as to what the building was, or had been. Please be so kind as to leave a comment if you know something more about the building, other than that it's found in Longkloof, Hout Bay.
A building with great lines
Aren't old buildings just awesome? They tend to have such great lines for vertical close-up photos. I sometimes wonder whether or not in 30 or 40 years we'll have similar thoughts about today's modern structures. Fortunately for us, Cape Town has many buildings just like this one, and it seems that they'll still be around for quite some time. As long as they're still in perfectly good condition there's really no way to justify ripping them down to erect newfangled ones. :)
A doctor, an ambulance, and a trauma unit
A few people who commented on the photo posted yesterday were correct in guessing that the shot was taken in a hospital - a government hospital, Karl Bremer, to be exact. As I walked the corridors on Friday afternoon, I recalled that the last time I'd been in the hospital was when my sister was born, about 30 years ago. I was very young at the time, but I remember sitting in the waiting room while my dad visited my mom, who'd just given birth.
There was less excitement associated with this visit though. My 70-year-old dad suffered a heart attack at about 12h00 while he was doing some hard labour trying to find an underground water leak at his home. My mom took him through to the doctor, who immediately called an ambulance, realising that my dad's condition was life-threatening. Upon arrival at the hospital his heart in fact stopped, but fortunately the doctor attending to him in the trauma unit managed to massage his heart back to life. The next few hours were tense as we waited for the drugs to take effect; and by the grace of God he managed to pull through.
In closing, I thought I'd provide a point-form commentary on my experience of Karl Bremer Hospital:
- Admission to the trauma unit (from the ambulance) is fast.
- The process to follow at reception is confusing and slow.
- The trauma doctor on duty was knowledgeable, courteous, and professional.
- The sisters in the trauma unit were firm, yet lenient enough, and professional.
- The sisters in the ICU were well-organised and paid close attention to their patients.
- The building was neat, but old and in need of renewal.
- The security staff were friendly and helpful.
A long long corridor
Okay, so I'm now catching up, and this photo leads into my post for tomorrow. So pray do tell, if you're able to guess, where do you suppose this photo was taken? A school hallway? A prison?
Somewhat bitter; somewhat dry; but never sweet
Looking at this photo, I'm not really surprised that the Castle Hotel is for sale. But perhaps I'm being a tiny bit harsh - it's possible that this location was once (many, many years ago) a wonderful place to stay. I wait in anticipation for someone who remembers to leave a comment and let us know. :)
I found this building in Zonnebloem, just outside the CBD, and right next to Charly's Bakery. What caught my attention was the hotel's apparent affiliation with with Castle Lager (a widely loved South African beer for which I sincerely have little taste, but that my father-in-law loves).
What gave this affiliation away was the lettering's font, the insignia on the windows, and the huge "Castle Beers" sign on the front of the building. Must say, I find it strange that a brewery would have their own hotel... After googling the name I discovered that not only is this building for sale, but the old Castle Brewery in Woodstock (on the fringes of the city) is also for sale.
What's up Charles, need a loan? ;-)