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Article: Capturing the South African spirit; Alan Lipman writes that our new embassy in Berlin was designed as a 'typically South African' building.(News)
- Article from:
- The Sunday Independent (South Africa)
- Article date:
- November 5, 2006
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Early in 2001 a local newspaper carried an interview with four architects who had been working on the new South African embassy in Berlin. They claimed to have designed "a typical South African building"; one that resolved the troublesome question "What is the South African spirit?" Their design of an "uniquely South African building" would, they said, "integrate different cultures and traditions to make all South Africans feel it's their building".
Given the architectural preoccupation with flabby copies of long-gone European stylisms, this was brave talk. Three internationally acclaimed designers come immediately to mind: the late Hassan Fathy of Egypt, Charles Corea in ...