Van Mynkamp tot Metropolis: Die boukuns van Johannesburg 1886-1940

Published by Pretoria Chris van Rensburg Publikasies, 1986, hardcover, Afrikaans text, illustrated, A4 format, index, 267 pages, condition: as new.

 Architecture styles, old buildings and places, outlay of the city and social economic useage of the spacious inner and outer building. Indepth descriptions of the historical development of Johannesburg.In Afrikaans.

The author, Dr. Gerhard-Mark van der Waal, interested in the interaction of people and their historical built environment, started listing Victorian buildings in Parktown, Johannesburg in 1970. He trained as an architectural historian and was one of the pioneers of a systematic approach to conservation, more particularly the study of local historical buildings.

After teaching History of Architecture at the Rand Afrikaans University for ten years (and obtaining his PhD) he moved to the Human Sciences Research Council. Here he pursued his interest in documentation of South African architecture by establishing a Documentation Centre for the Arts. In addition, he published widely on architecture and the perception of the built environment. During the 1990s his efforts were directed at the involvement of township cultural groups in heritage conservation, both in developing policy and creating viable community projects around the theme of heritage. During these years he started his own consultancy and co-ordinated several heritage projects, many of them in conjunction with community groups.