South Africa – Global Art Deco

Devonshire Court, Durban

Global Art Deco is pleased to have another excellent guest post from the Durban Art Deco Society. Durban is South Africa’s third largest city and has many fine Art Deco buildings.

Devonshire Court is located on the former Victoria Embankment, now known as Margaret Mncadi Avenue. It received a fresh coat of paint over the last year and now has a bright green and yellow colour scheme suitable for an Art Deco apartment tower. Constructed in 1938, the building was designed by William Barboure, who also helped design the 1934 Surrey Mansions together with WE Langton. One unique feature of Devonshire Court is a tunnel for motor vehicles under the south side of the building, which leads through to Devonshire Place. In the tunnel and at the rear of the building is a motor vehicle service workshop. The workshop is no longer in operation but the signage “Carburettors” and “Servicing” is still painted on the pillars of the tunnel. The entrance to the building is original, complete with terrazzo flooring.

Photos and text © Durban Art Deco Society

Chevron forms at the sides of the main entrance

Cheviot Court, Durban

Global Art Deco is pleased to have another guest post from the Durban Art Deco Society. Durban is South Africa’s third largest city and has many fine Art Deco buildings, including this one.

Cheviot Court, Durban
This is a striking six-storey apartment building in a prime location on the Berea Ridge, overlooking the city of Durban. Located at 676 Musgrave Road at the corner of Poynton Place, it was designed by architects W S Payne & E O Payne and constructed in 1934. The Streamline Moderne styling is evocative of the fast ocean liners, cars and aeroplanes so admired as the machine age took root in the 1930’s. The building is asymmetric, with large bay windows at right angles at the ends of each floor. A tower rises above the entrance canopy to a decorated flagpole on the skyline. Horizontal lines are created by window sills and eyeshades running the full length of the building on each floor. The entrance canopy is supported on curved-brick pillars, and leads to a simple foyer with zig-zag parquet flooring.

Photos and text © Durban Art Deco Society

Berea Court, Durban

We are fortunate to have another guest post from the Durban Art Deco Society. Durban is South Africa’s third largest city and has many fine Art Deco buildings, including this one.

Berea Court

This is a multi-storey 41-apartment building with excellent detailing, designed for the Langton family by Alfred Arthur Ritchie McKinlay around 1930 and located at 399 Berea Road. The stucco finish has good mouldings in authentic Art Deco style. A stylised theme of wings is evident in the design, with geometric string courses. The central balcony at high level is richly decorated with a sunburst pattern and forms a high level focus to Berea Road.

Fluted pilasters rise through the façade to a crenellated parapet with lion features. The entrance below has an African feel to the surround mouldings. There is a well-designed rear elevation with cantilevered walkways and an amusing range of stained glass windows to the lift shaft, and flat entrances, which have original milk-bottle alcoves. The top floor is open for water tanks and the lift shaft.

The building is used for student accommodation and is well maintained by the owner.

The superb, African styling of the main entrance

An original stained glass window at Berea Court

Photos and text © Durban Art Deco Society

Enterprise Building, Durban

Griffons and zig-zags on the Enterprise Building.

We are pleased to have another guest post for this blog from the Durban Art Deco Society. Durban is South Africa’s third largest city and has many Art Deco buildings.

Enterprise Building, Durban
This eight-storey, 1931 apartment building, designed by A A Ritchie McKinley, has a classic Art Deco design. It is located at 47 Samora Machel (Aliwal) Street. The distinctive elevational treatment is in the form of a rich range of stylised geometric animal and abstract figures. Griffons and zig-zag forms at high level with Mayan type heads and a superb eagle form over the entrance. The “fasces” motifs (bundle of rods, often tied, with an axe as an emblem of power, which were carried by lictors, ancient Roman officials, before the superior magistrates) might indicate sympathy with the advent of Mussolini on the part of the architect or client.

Photos and text © Durban Art Deco Society

The fasces, and another view of the eagle.

Victoria Mansions, Durban

A diverse yet harmonious collection of decorative elements.

We are pleased to have a second guest post for this blog from the Durban Art Deco Society. Durban is South Africa’s third largest city and has many Art Deco buildings.

Situated at 124 Margaret Mncadi Avenue, Durban’s 1933 Victoria Mansions were designed by E S Cornelius. Victoria Mansions is an apartment building facing the bay across the Victoria Embankment. It has vertical pilasters with fluting which rise through an arcuated first floor. The facade is richly decorated with geometric patterns and an array of fantastical animal figures. Apart from dolphins and winged lions, it also has a vulture feature on the side panel of the entrance. The glazed tile panel over the entrance is a nostalgic memento of the days of the great Union Castle mail ships that called at Durban for so many years.

Surrey Mansions, Durban

We are privileged to have a guest post for this blog from the Durban Art Deco Society. Durban is South Africa’s third largest city and has many Art Deco buildings.

The Surrey Mansions is one of the great Art Deco buildings of Durban. Located at 323 Currie Road, it was designed by W E Langton & W B Barboure, and completed in 1934. It is an eight-storey apartment building with detailing of imagination and sensitivity. Block like ground and first floors, rounded corners up to a squared off top floor and with fluted giant order pilasters rising up the entire height. Richly varied stucco reliefs with winged lions high up. Excellent resolution of geometry in the use of rectangular and curved forms.