DIRECTOR: Adriaan De La Rey & J.P. Kotzé | South Africa | 2014 | 76min
In the ‘burial tomb’ which is today’s Pretoria, the buildings of architect Norman Eaton are time machines to another world: a forgotten city of elegance and refinement in the heart of apartheid. The subtle grandeur, harmony of line and space, as well as Eaton’s signature, exquisitely detailed patterning can still be seen in his best known structures, from suburban houses designed for Pierneef and Alexis Preller, to the Netherlands Bank, the UNISA Kleinteater and Polly’s Arcade in Central Pretoria – some of which are neglected and crumbling, yet others have passed into obscurity, overtaken by the vicissitudes of modern tastes. Eaton the man remains somewhat of an enigma, but in this documentary tribute friends, critics and fellow-architects gather to pick through his legacy, finding a place for his memory in contemporary South Africa.
Screenings at Encounters 2015
CT: Mon 8 6.30pm Labia
Jozi: Wed 10 6.30pm Bio