A Cape Town University of the Western Cape tagged image from photographer – mallix as published on Flickr.
Werdmuller Center – View of the Ramp
Image by mallix
This is the most popular and photogenic point of view of the Werdmuller
Center. Here you can see the complex design and multi-level structure that
has made it so famous. It is comparable it to Frank Lloyd Wright¹s Guggenheim Museum in New York.
A tribute to the Werdmuller Center on Main Road, Claremont, designed by
Roelof Uytenbogaardt and completed in 1974. Uytenbogaardt was an
award-winning architect and professor of urban and regional planning based
at the University of Cape Town in the 1970s. Another incredible building he
designed is the Sports Complex that stands at the entrance of UCT, completed
in 1981. My dad worked at this center in the 1980’s and I spent a lot of
time exploring the building as a child. The center (owned by Old Mutual) is
due to be demolished as the land that it occupies (erf 54472, in the middle
of Claremont) is worth more than its current letting value. DHK Architects
have been appointed to the project. Many deem the center as a national
heritage site and have planned proposals to save the building. The site is
still accessible and we managed to shoot some pics after negotiations with
security guards. The abandoned upper levels have been fenced off and can
only be accessed with permission from Old Mutual. We found the building
squalid and neglected, although people still use the ramps and passages to
access the Main Road, as was originally intended. Some popular long-term
residents at the center are Paul Bothner
Music, the Cafda Bookshop and Radio
CCFM.
More information can be found here and here. A PDF
file of the proposed re-development.
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