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Aegis Building - Second
Johannesburg, Gauteng

EMLEY and WILLIAMSON: Architect
Frederick WILLIAMSON: Design Architect

Date:1934-1936
Type:Offices with shops to street
Status:Extant
Street:Loveday St

 


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Coordinates:
26°12'20.61" S 28°02'29.48" E Alt: 1766m

(SAB Apr 1935 suppl:vii ill; SAB Nov 1937:17)

PEARSE's obituary for Williamson lists this work as being among the most important buildings in Johannesburg.

The building was designed in 1934 by Emily & Williamson for an International insurance company which used the “aegis”, the shield of Jupiter (Father of the Roman Gods) and Minerva (Goddess of Wisdom and War.) The storeys rise higher and higher until almost out of sight, and draw the eyes upward to the stepped roof line and the sky, the abode of the Gods. The facade lacks all decoration but the simplest geometric motif. (TEXT, accessed 2022 08 17)

All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.


Writings about this entry

van der Waal, Gerhard-Mark. 1987. From Mining Camp to Metropolis - The buildings of Johannesburg 1886-1940. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. pg 200 ill, 201