15 Jul HANNES MEIRING
1995
HANNES MEIRING
ARCHITECTURE - THE GREAT ADVENTURE
Johannes Henricus (Hannes) Meiring was born in Potchefstroom. He spent his childhood in Stellenbosch. After graduating, Hannes entered into partnership with Gilbert Colyn. Hannes married Martie Retief. In 1962 he enrolled at the Akademie der Bildenden Künsten and the Technische Hochschule in Munich. During this time he also met another South African, Bannie Britz and his future wife Almut.
Back in South Africa the project that became the practice’s focus was the New Academic Hospital in Johannesburg (1968). Other major projects followed like the Trust Bank Centre in Cape Town (1971) and the Conservatoire of Music of the University of Stellenbosch (1973). Hannes Meiring is perhaps best known for his collections of free hand sketches that were published from 1972 onwards.
The first of these were Kruger’s Pretoria that was followed by many more up to My Country in Line and Colour that appeared in 2004. As a reviewer once put it: “His lively, quirky drawings bring to life the character and joyful individuality of each structure that he studies.”
His practice received a very public commission in 1984 in the form of the extensions to the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town. It remains one of the most visible and better examples of Post-Modernism in South Africa. The next year he was awarded by the SA Institute of Architects for House Ackermann and the restoration of the Erasmus Castle, both in Pretoria.
Born 11 October 1934; † 2 May 2010
Education 1958: Bachelor of Architecture, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape
Projects featured Extensions to the Houses of Parliament, Cape Town, Western Cape (1988); Conservatoire of Music for the University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, Western Cape (1973)
EXTENSIONS TO THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
Cape Town, Western Cape | 1988
CONSERVATOIRE OF MUSIC
University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, Western Cape | 1973
