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206 Pages·2014·9.09 MB·English

T HK T R A N S I T I O N B E T W E E N T H E
L A T E V I C T O R I A N A N D E D W A R D I A N
S P E C U L A T I V E H O U S E
I N J O H A N N E S B U R G F R O M 1 8 9 0 - 1 9 2 0
Nirk Richard Hindaun
*
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V O L U M E O N E
(of two volumea)
A Ditiaerltition Submitted to tie Faculty of Architecture
University of the Witwutersrand, Jolunnesburg
for the Degree of Master of Architecture
Johannesburg 1987
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This study examines the pattern and nature of speculative housing in
Johannesburg between the years 1890 to 1920. Essentially embracing the
various forms of jm 11 mass housing provide i for the middle-classes, thiree
broad catererie5 to'ise types including ietached houses -at the top end,
thcough semi-^leLichx-j to terraced houses a t the lower end of the
speculative market, w ill be identified and scrutinised. Since the time
period is relatively wide for as newly an established and flourishing town
as Johannesburg -(the centre of attraction for the w orld's gold production
a t the time), and covers the South African War, the effect of the resulting
fluctuating social and political circumstances, which were to inex itably
interrupt and alter the course of speculative practice in the region, w ill
be examined. The intention tiure is to imp t ie preference in domestic habit
before tne 1899-1901 war, and to explore the new and imposed changes
wrought upon the speculative house thereafter.
e I
IV
C O N T E N T S
ABSTRACT . . . .
ACKNCAVLEtJGEMENIS
INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................
Chapter
1. BACKGROUND TO SPECULATIVE HOUSING IN JOHANNESBURG .............................. 10
A. The speculator -raison d 'tre andp ersonality. . . 10
B. The speculator -influences..................................................13
C. The speculative house............................................................27
D. The speculative environment- suburban texture.". . 41
2. JOHANNESBURG BEFORE THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR..................................................63
3. THE LATEV ICTORIAN SPECULATIVE DWELLING......................................................69
3.1 PART ONE -background to Victorian ptoference
A. S ty le .......................................................................................................70
B. Lite Victorian elements (internal and external) . 77
C. Internal accommodation......................................................................104
3.2 PART WO -Realisation
A. The detached house.....................................................................116
B. Thx? terrace house ................................................ 136
C. The aemi-detachied house......................................................145
D. The corner sh o p ..........................................................................157
4. JOHANNESBURG AFTER THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR......................................................
5. THE EDWARDIAN SPECULATIVE DWELLING.....................................................................
5.1 PART ONE -Background to Edwardian preference
A. From sty listic embellishment to space .........................
B. Edwardian elements (internal and external). . . .
C. Internal accommodation................................................................
5.2 PART TWO -Realisation
A. The detached house....................
B. The terrace house......................................................
C. The semi-detached house . . . .
6. EDWARDIAN HYBRIDS ...................................................................
6.1 PART ONE -Background
A. Hybrid d e t a i l . . . . ....................
6.2 PART TWO -Realisation
A. The 'Tentativv Revolutionaries'
B. The 'Cosm eticians'..............................
7. CONCLUSION...................................................................................
A. Speculative progression . . . .
B. Today's perspective.........................
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................
My special thinks to the nxmy people who were instrumental in the
realisation of this study:
Professor Dennis Radford tor his interest and luidance in all aspects
of this dissertation.
The staff of the Afrikaner Museum Office (Johannesburg), whose
assistance in retrieving the many hundreds of architectural drawings
contributed greatly to the illu strativ e content of the dissertation.
David 'Jim' Bullard (taxinon supreme) for driving me up and down the
remaining streets of Johannesburg's late Victorian and tdvardian
speculative suburbia.
Mr. Price-Hughes of the Building Survey branch of the Johannesburg City
Council, for permission to scrutin' se plans held within the record
rooms.
tand Afrikaans University -Mr.Van der Walt, for allowing access to tix?
architectural drawing collection contained within the Art History
library.
Christos Daskalakos, for revealing vital information long lost in the
store rooms of the Johannesburg City Council.
Major van Jaare"eld of the South African Defence Force Archive, for
assistance in obtaining the early aerial coverage of Johannesburg.
Lionel Itorrington for the hours spent retracing drawings that were too
bad to reproduce in this tome, and for laying out the many pages
contained within ttv? illu strativ e volimu.
Joan Hindson for correcting spelling and granrutical errors.
For the support and advice rendered by my parents and friends -Adrian
Maserow, Elizabeth Heard, Anne W illiam s-Fitchett, Helen Ludlow and John
Stephen.
D E C L A R A T I O N
I declare that this dissertation is my own work. It is being submitted for
the degree of Master of Architecture in the University of the
Witwatersrand, Johinnesburg. It has not been submitted before for any
degree or examination in any other University.
Mark Richard Hindson
August 1987
*
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' to describe an object well enough for its historic and geographic
connections to be accurately and completely revealed, any material
ob>>ct must be broken down into its components: fundamentally, it w ill
ha'e form, construction, and use. Of these basic parts the nost
important is form. The typological and cross-cultural classification of
Material culture must be based on form only... Any object's form can be
separated into primary characteristics (those used to define the type
into which the example fits), and secondary characteristics (other
attrib u tes of the form which, though they may be culturally
significant, are not of use in the definition of the type). The primary
characteristics of a usual American folk house type, for example, would
be heigh*- and floor plan; stylish trim and appendages, such as porches
and add’ .ions, would be secondary characteristics.
'Form is of utmost importance because it is the most persistent,
the least changing of an object's components...' (1)
The speculative house during Johannesburg's first and formative years
-between 1690 and 1920- was not restricted to a few favor red patterns thut
underwent slight evolutionary refinement. Although already established
housing patterns were exploited almost unchallenged in the period befote
the South African War, the introduction of a host of radical new ideas
shortly thereafter, resulted in almost wholly new patterns and -due to
conservative client/developer attitudes- also in nuny mutations. With these
radical aesthetic injections, the rapidity with which new speculative
patterns were devised or amended -either hinging around or alluding to
these- typifies domestic speculation during this period.
The fact that Johannesburg's population rose from about 3000 diggers in
tte original mining camp to over quarter of a m illion by 1914, and that its
boundaries were stretched to embrace an eighty two square mile area in 1903
(-just 17 years after its establishment) suggests that the town hid little
other clear option but to rely upon pattern, to fu lfil the consequent
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derand for housing.
The primary characteristic or form -which Glassie referred to in the
opening quotation- of Johannesburg's firs t hiouses, rested largely on local
domestic practice (evident in the several developing urban centres in
Southern A frica), and on the impetus of foreign architectural sources (most
notably from England) (see note (2)). As a consequence of this, in this
study, an examination of contemporary architectural language and its effect
both internally and externally on house form, precedes the detailed
description of an appropriate series of local house patterns.
If the form of the houses depended to a large degree (in itially ) on
local precedent, the sty listic content was more thoroughly flavoured by a
strong contemporary anglo-saxon influence. The sty listic embellia.vnent
which adorned most speculative houses was subject to rapid change and
capricious mixing -a factor pertaining thus to the secondary
characteristics mentioned by Glassie. The earlier mid-nineteenth century
battle of thie styles and the later search for relevant expression as was
debated in the foreign schools of architectural theory was however, not of
great concern in Johannesburg. The majority o* . %al designers who were
deeply involved in the speculative market between 1886-1920 rarely
displayed much insight or originality, or were indeed w illing. The luxury
of the time required tor cultivating a design of particular relevance and
v itality in the context of a tight economic discipline, such as typifies
speculative housing, was obviously as constricting then as it is now.
Tie time period for this study is contained by tie years 1890 to 1920,
although it w ill be found tin t those few examples referred to which fall
outside this period s till bear the semantic stamp of tiie era. Tie chosen
terminology ought to be clarified at this juncture: That which was b u ilt
after 1886 and before 1901 w ill tx? referred to as 'late V ictorian', which
it was in both character and in real time, since the Queen Empress reigned
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from 1837 to 1901. Almost a ll of the late Victorian examples illustrated
and examined here# cfate from after 1893 —the reason being that mu.h of the
housing in Jotennesliurg before this date was of a temporary and rudimentary
nature. Ttet which is termed 'Kdwardian' will include examples b u ilt right
up to 1922, even though King Edward VII died in 1910 -as the
characteristics popularised during the period of his reign, lingered on
until long after his death (a ready and mass-adaptable form for the new
•modern' aesthetic born early this century being s till a little way off).
By the late twenties however, the traditional domestic fr.m either became
infused with alien modern ideas, which tes partially responsible for the
loss of some of its clear aesthetic purpose (the desecration of the
•charming rural cottage'), or the vocabulary, through repeated use, lost
its v ita lity . It is also not accidental that the South African War
(1899-1902) is the dividing line of social and architectural change here.
The fact that building activity in Johannesburg was completely suspended
during this period, is significant, in that it broke the late Victorian
rhythm, and with the subsequent declaration of peace and ensuing
prosperity, allowed ' fresh blood' into the field -had the uar not occurred
it is doubtful whether the break would have been as swift and clean. (3)
Having briefly alluded to the speculative house's dependence upon
pattern within a specific tine period, the question as to wlc the clients
were and how their aspirations were manifested within the fabric of their
homes, can best be discerned by examining that which constituted and
therefore typified the bulk of houses b u ilt. Whilst describing the nany
'average specimens' is one of the principal bisks of this study, the
adoption of a broader perspective of this mass provision would clarify this
•middle ground'. The extremes within domestic buildings wete typified by
either large# tailor rode houses by architects -for the wealthier or ruling
lasses- and therefore beyond thte scope of speculative housing, o l by a so
*
from 1337 to 1901. Almost a ll of the late Victorian examples illustrated
and examined here, date from after 1893 -the reason being that much of the
housing in Johannesburg before this cfite vbs of a temporary and rudimentary
nature. That which is termed 'Edwardian' w ill include examples b u ilt right
up to 1922, even though King Edward VII died in 191V, -as the
characteristics popularised during the period of his reign# lingered on
until long after his death (a ready and mass-adaptable form for the new
'modern' aesthetic born early this century being s till a little way off).
By the late twenties however, the traditional domestic form either became
infused with alien modern ideas, which was partially responsible for the
loss of some of its clear aesthetic purpose (the desecration of the
'charming rural cottage'), or tlie vocabulary, through repeated use, lost
its v ita lity . It is also not accidental thnt the Jouth African War
(1899-1^02) is the dividing line of social and architectural change here.
The fact that building activity in Johannesburg was completely suspended
during this period, is significant, in that it broke the late Victorian
rhythm, and with the subsequent declaration of peace and ensuing
prosperity, allowed 'fresh blood' into the field -had the war not occurred
it is doubtful whether the break would nave been as swift and clean. (3)
Having briefly alluded to the speculative house's dependence upon
pattern within a specific time period, the question as to who the clients
were and how their aspirations were manifested within the fabric gl their
homes, can beat be discerned by examining that which constituted and
therefore typified the bulk of tiouscs b u ilt. Whilst describing the many
'average specimens' is one of the principal tasks of this study, ttie
adoption of a broader perspective of this mass provision would clarify this
'middle ground'. The extremes within domestic buildings were typified by
either large, tailor made houses by architects -for the wealthier or ruling
classes- and therefore beyond the scope of speculative housing, or by a so
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