Dr. Gerhard-Mark van der Waal, interested in the interaction of people and their historical built environment, started listing Victorian buildings in Parktown, Johannesburg in 1970. He trained as an architectural historian and was one of the pioneers of a systematic approach to conservation, more particularly the study of local historical buildings.

After teaching History of Architecture at the Rand Afrikaans University for ten years (and obtaining his PhD) he moved to the Human Sciences Research Council. Here he pursued his interest in documentation of South African architecture by establishing a Documentation Centre for the Arts. In addition, he published widely on architecture and the perception of the built environment. During the 1990s his efforts were directed at the involvement of township cultural groups in heritage conservation, both in developing policy and creating viable community projects around the theme of heritage. During these years he started his own consultancy and co-ordinated several heritage projects, many of them in conjunction with community groups.

In 2000 Dr. Van der Waal decided to return to his roots, to the Netherlands, where he was born in 1947. Before he left, he offered his archive on South African architecture to various institutions. Part of the archive, the Pretoriana collection, was acquired by his Alma Mater, the University of Pretoria.

The collection is continously being updated, including information on Cullinan, Pretoria and Johannesburg in the book:

The gold and diamond fields, Transvaal

For more information on Pretoria, please consult the Rosa Swanepoel Collection , Pretoriana: journal of the Old Pretoria Society and Plekke en geboue van Pretoria, vol. 1, vol. 2, vol 3.

For inquiries regarding this collection or items in the collection, please contact : Oratile Mothoagae
Tel.: +27 12 420 2044