Tracing tectonic wilhelmiens: Dutch-South African heritage and modernity

The newly created Union of South Africa attracted over seventy Dutch-born architects and civil engineers who migrated to practice their profession there, when the country was still part of the British Commonwealth (1910-1961). These Hollanders brought with them knowledge on both modern technologies and global values of modernity, but they also struggled with the special conditions of a deeply divided society. Their legacy is subject of a transcontinental research and dissemination project, 'Tectonic ZA Wilhelmiens'. This explores their hitherto unrecognised contribution to the globalisation of the Modern Movement, their built residue and its local relevance for today and the future in a vastly changed environment. This paper presents the legacy of two Dutch modernists in South Africa, Henk Niegeman and Jaap van Niftrik. Their oeuvres present not only a geographic translocation and assimilation of ideas, but have also survived into a new South African era.