Mutual Building. Darling Street I went on a tour of the Mutual Building in Darling Street, Cape Town, near the City Hall. It is a very handsome building – the frescos in the Assembly Room are highly regarded with aficionados coming to see them. I knew the building but had never paid any attention to it. The frieze around the outside is what most of us are aware of.
The tour was organised by the Andy Bytheway of the Vernacular Architecture Society who has a flat there. Andy has made a wonderful entry in Wikipedia where some of these pictures come from.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_Building
It is a lovely art deco building. Right after the Great Depression when things were still pretty desperate they decided to build it. It was completed in 1939 after the start of WW2. Where they got stainless steel I will show you I don’t know.
Here is one of the frescos. They were done by Le Roux Smith Le Roux. This is ‘
The Great Trek
I will show you some of the details I liked. These are pictures I took.
In the Great Trek picture there is a gabled building representing what they were leaving behind. The aloe represents the Eastern Cape where most of the trekkers came from.
At the bottom of Great Trek picture is this Geometric Tortoise. It shows the detail when you get up close.
These kalkoentjies I was pleased to see as they grew wild in Vlottenburg when I lived there as a child. Very special to me; should be more orange coloured.
A Meerkat. Frescos are painted directly onto the wall.
Flame Lilies. A national symbol of Rhodesia when I lived there. Not a pleasant memory for me.
Some mielies drying. One of the things I really liked about the pictures is they were about South Africa and were not packaging it as some part of Europe.
This detail amused me. My first job was tyre vulcanising & I specialised in tractor and earthmoving tyres. Those tyres are fitted back to front on the tractor – the ‘arrows’ should point upwards.
There is a hidden message in this picture which was pointed out by one of the group. Le Roux was a communist (this was 1939). In this picture you can see the red flag, hammer & sickle.
In the Directors Room is this carved stinkwood dado rail by Ivan Mitford-Barberton.
Above the dado is a fresco painted on wood panelling representing Cape Town as ‘
The Tavern of the Seas It is done humorously as you see in this fish. Artist was Joyce Ord-Browne
This detail made me laugh. Two mermaids with two penguins. Very difficult taking pictures as there was a lot of reflection.
Picture from Wiki of the stainless steel lift doors (remember this was during WW2). The granite surround comes from Paarl – the whole entrance stairway is of this granite. Each lift door has a design etched deeply into it.
This is the Gemsbok. Every door is different – they are all shown much better in Wiki.
Other stainless doors. Notice the lovely handle & the jiggurat profile of the building etched onto the glass.
I particularly liked this stainless steel volute ending to the banisters of the entrance stairway. Again black Paarl granite cladding.
It is a lovely building and I am very pleased that it has been preserved and recycled as flats.
These carvings of tribal figures are way up the building. Picture from Wiki.
Topic: Old buildings and interesting Architecture (Read 6829 times)
