Gereformeerde Kerk. Edenvale. Transvaal, 28 December 1983

Physical description

A black and white photograph of a modernist brick church.

Place of Origin

Edenvale, Transvaal, South Africa (photographed)

Date

1983 (photographed)

Artist/maker

Goldblatt, David, born 1930 (photographer)

Materials and Techniques

gelatin silver print

Marks and inscriptions

Copyright by David Goldblatt Box 1464, Johannesburg, South Africa
titled, dated, signed
various annotations

Dimensions

Height: 35 cm image, Width: 27.6 cm image, Height: 40.2 cm sheet, Width: 30.1 cm sheet

Descriptive line

'Dutch Reformed Church, Edenvale, Transvaal', gelatin silver print by David Goldblatt, 1983.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Goldblatt, David. South Africa. The Structure of Things Then. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Illustrated p. 155, text p. 243.
Text reads: The architect Vos Naude explained that the Edenvale congregation did not have the money for a church as well as a hall but needed both. He therefore designed a dual purpose building in which the pulpit slid out of the way to allow conversion of the space into a theatre. Air conditioning and controlled lighting dispensed with the need for windows, so he was able to build unpierced outer walls, which made it unnecessary to black out the hall when using it as a theatre. The church was inaugurated in February 1976. Vos's plan called for a bell at the top of the tower, which was not installed.
During the 1970s and 80s most of the new Afrikaner Protestant churches were designed with few windows in their outer walls. The reason, in my opinion, were both practical and ideological.

Subjects depicted

Churches; Apartheid; Edenvale, Transvaal

Categories

Africa; Photographs

Collection code

PDP