The Architecture of Peter Rich: Conversations with Africa [Hardcover]

Internationally renowned, Peter Richs career represents a lifelong attempt to find a contemporary, yet uniquely African mode of design. This book follows the chronology of his work which emerges from a fascination with African indigenous settlements, including his documentation, publication and exhibition of Ndebele art and architecture, and his friendship with sculptor Jackson Hlungwani. It explores what Rich calls 'African Space Making' and its forms of complex symmetry; various collaborative community oriented designs of the Apartheid and post-Apartheid period, especially Mandela's Yard in Alexandra township; and finally, his more recent timbrel vaulted structures, constructed from low-tech hand-pressed soil tiles derived from his highly innovative and award winning work at Mapungubwe. The book shows how Rich combines African influences with an environmental awareness aligned to Modernist principles.Peter Rich has a unique, contemporary, yet uniquely African architecture. This book shows how his work emerges from a fascination with indigenous settlements and their forms of complex symmetry and examines various community oriented designs of the Apartheid and post-Apartheid period.Jonathan Noble is Professor of Architecture at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He is author of 'African Identity in Post-Apartheid Public Architecture: White Skin, Black Masks', 2011, Ashgate.1. An Artist, a Dreamer and a Clown; 2. Learning from the Ndebele; 3. Forming an Architectural Language: Westridge house & garden; 4. The Implied Diagonal: early residential projects; 5. Mandelas Yard: social architecture; 6. The Golden Rhino: commemorating Mapungubwe; 7. Cairns with Tentacles: organic architectureThe only book available on Peter Rich - the author has had unprecedented access to the architect, with over 20 hours of in-depth interview, as well as numerous site visits and informal discussions