here are few African architects who don’t
count the late Portugal-born, South
African-trained artist, sculptor and
architect Amâncio d’Alpoim Miranda
Guedes – more commonly known as
Pancho Guedes – as an important design
influence. Guedes’ Coleman House in
Forest Town, Johannesburg, is one of
a handful of homes designed and built by
him in the city, resulting in it being regarded
as a treasure of South African Modernist architecture.
The multilevel property was commissioned in 1984 by struggle
veterans Audrey and Dr Max Coleman after their youngest son
had studied architecture under Guedes’ tenure at the University
of the Witwatersrand’s School of Architecture. Audrey recalls
Guedes’ famously stubborn attitude, saying that she and Max
had asked him for an earthen retirement house with no stairs
to ease the way into their golden years. What they got instead
was a completely white home, ‘with stairs everywhere,’ she says.
Laughing, Audrey adds that a friend down the road from their new
home asked Guedes, around the same time, for a white house – andT
THIS SPREAD, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT
Guedes’ buildings are well known for their sculptural flourishes, as
seen in the home’s three geometric chimneys; a skylight illuminates
a large Cecil Skotnes artwork in the stairwell; internal and external
portal windows are present throughout the home, providing
natural light to highlight its custom slate floors and the owners’
collection of South African contemporary art; an assortment of
Afghan cushions take pride of place in the central living room,
which is connected to the outdoor patios and dining areas.