Building History

WHAT DOES THE ARCHITECTURE OF A PLACE SAY ABOUT ITS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE, ASKS MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLER MALIBONGWE TYILO

Growing up in the Eastern Cape between Dimbaza, King William’s Town, Bhisho, Alice and East London, I imagined towns and cities on other continents to be exotic. I thought the soil in these places, collectively known to me as ‘overseas’, would feel different; even the leaves on the trees would be different. As for the buildings, I expected to step off the plane into super-futuristic cities.

Admittedly, my logic was a bit dodgy. Like many South Africans, I grew up on a diet of local as well as US and British TV shows, and I don’t recall seeing exotic leaves in any of those shows. Nor did the New York neighbourhoods in my favourite sitcoms look particularly futuristic. Yet the fantastical ‘overseas’ remained in my imagination.