Jack Barnett
Jack Barnett was a South African architect who died in 1996, leaving a handful of projects around Cape Town. He designed the
Baxter Theatre Complex at the University of Cape Town, which is a disturbingly good building. Barnett was a master of brick, and the Baxter is basically a dramatic set of brick ramparts organically arranged under a long-span roof of orange fibreglass dome-lights. Yes, orange.
It's interesting to note that Barnett was unlike most architects, in that his vision of politics included actual political action. Unlike many notable modernists who either had suspiciously adaptable politics (Corb/Mies), or believed that beautiful architecture was somehow a transcendent political act (Kahn), Barnett actually organized directly against the Nationalist government. He was arrested and spent time in prison, where he was tortured for information.
* joshua, 4/06/2004 08:52:36 PM
