STYLE IN ARCHITECTURE IN RELATION TO 

 BUILDING PROBLEAIS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



By H. Baker, F.RT.B.A. 



The origin of the Art and Craft of Architecture goes back 

 into the remote civihsation of the human race, and its history 

 is a long chapter in the history of the nations of the world. 

 It would be impossible for me to condense the very little that 

 I know even on the subject into the compass of a short lecture. 

 I propose, therefore, to select as my more limited subject, 

 " Style in Architecture in relation to our building" problems in 

 South Africa." I shall try — not exhaustively — to explain the 

 origin and the cause of the development of the better known 

 styles. of architecture and the lessons which I believe they may 

 teach us. 



The subject should be of interest. We are in a new country 

 — settled at last — and we are establishing- ourselves more or 

 less permanently in our cities and our homes. We bring our 

 traditions and customs from cold and gloomy Northern 

 Europe. How will they fit and how can they be "best adapted 

 to the warmth and brightness and the great sun-washed land- 

 scapes of South Africa ? 



We must also consider that, in addition to our own comfort 

 and enjoyment in our Inn'ldings, we are making the materials 

 for a chapter in the future history of our country. Our 

 descendants will know us by our works, and are we to be 

 recorded in history as a race which had neither the. individuality 

 nor the ideals which have characterised other great nations ? 



Great men lived before Agamemnon, and great nations also, 

 and many of these have sunk into the night of oblivion, not 

 only because they lacked the inspired poet to chronicle their 

 deeds, but also because they left no enduring architectural 

 records of their fame. 



The best known examples are those of the Egyptians and 

 the natives of Mesopotamia. The latter probaljly reached a 

 higher stage of civilisation, and had a greater infiuence, I be- 

 lieve, on the world of Art than the inhabitants of the banks 

 of the Nile. Yet, because their buildings were in brick and 

 have perished, the Egyptians, who left temples and statues of 

 everlasting granite and porphyry, often usurp their place in 

 the history of nations. 



All the great architectural styles of the world had their 

 origin in simple organic building, created to suit the primitive 

 needs of the people and their country. This must not be inter- 

 preted to mean any lowering of the dignity of the greatness of 

 architecture. The fact that the style is not the mere caprice 

 or fashion of nations, l)ut has its origin in primal facts of the 

 nature of men and things, should add rather than detract from 

 its inherent nobilitv. 



