DIE GESKIEDENIS VAN BOUKUNS "The History of Architecture" (1935) - author was the architect of the Voortrekker Monument

Publisher's hardcover binding.

103pp. Binding has edge wear. Internally clean. A scarce title by the architect of the famous Voortrekker Monument. Text in Afrikaans.

Gerard Moerdyk was born in 1890 in the Waterberg district of the Transvaal. During the Anglo-Boer War he was taken prisoner with his family and sent to the Standerton concentration camp. After the war he received his education at Pretoria and then went abroad for further training in London, Paris and, finally, the Archaeological School in Rome. In 1918 he went to Johannesburg and started his own firm but settled a few years later in Pretoria. Moerdyk was a prolific architect and his portfolio of buildings boasts over 80 churches, the Johannesburg Station, several university buildings, the African Life Building in Bloemfontein and the New Census Offices in Pretoria. His Magnum Opus, however, is undeniably the great Voortrekker Monument at Pretoria, a beacon for the city. It was designed in its entirety by Moerdyk and during the 12 years of its construction he acted as supervisor. It is a South African Art Deco masterpiece. He was the first architect to be awarded the Golden Medal by South Africa's Academy of Arts and Science. The publication date of this book precedes the construction of the Voortrekker Monument.