Herbert Baker, the Union Buildings, and the politics of architectural patronage

Abstract

ARTICLE ABSTRACT: In this article, the author argues that the patrons of the Union Buildings, Jan Christian Smuts and Louis Botha, commissioned this complex of buildings as part of a specific political agenda during the process of the unification of South Africa: the project was intended as a means of bolstering political support for Botha's bid to head the first Union Government. This analysis provides a framework for a consideration of how the patrons' political agenda conditioned Baker's initial work on the project.