Building lives at the Cape in the early VOC period

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Periodical article

Title:	Building lives at the Cape in the early VOC period
Author:	Malan, Antonia
Year:	2007
Periodical:	Kronos: Journal of Cape History
Issue:	33
Pages:	45-71
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	dwellings households architectural history social life history 1600-1699 1700-1799
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/41056581
Abstract:	Based on contemporary descriptions, images, archaeological and architectural research, and the written record, in particular room-by-room inventories of deceased estates, this paper examines the architectural framework for the years 1660 to 1740 at the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), focusing on households within the original streets of Cape Town, in an attempt to link architecture to social life. The first sections discuss the architectural context of Cape Dutch buildings and other forms to be found at the Cape, with an evaluation of inventories and images as sources of information. The middle sections analyse the external appearance and internal house layouts that are associated with the different building forms, particularly those that imply an earlier style of living in contrast to the later 'Cape Dutch' style. The final sections introduce some families who built their modest lives at the Cape, and provide glimpses into how their material world was constructed as well as the texture of individual experiences. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]