HANS HEYERDAHL HALLEN, Nordic Influences on Modern Architecture in South Africa

271pp., maps, b/w & colour illus., hardback, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, London, 2026

ISBN: 9781350510326

This book discusses architect Hans Heyerdahl Hallen's (1930–2022) Nordic and South African roots, his practice and studies at the London County Council and Architectural Association, and his return to South Africa with ideas that combined philosophies such as Norberg Schulz's genius loci with African traditional architecture (Zulu Kraal) to create buildings unique to local communities and topographical conditions.

"Holt, Haarhoff and Peters tell a fascinating story through the lens of one architect and his works, weaving together international ideas, regional landscapes and local specificities in the context of the fight for freedom in South Africa." Nina Berre, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Architect and strategic urban designer Kathi Holt is the founding Director of NERØ HOLT, Industry Fellow in the Faculty of Science, QUT, Australia, and currently the President of the Urban Design Alliance, Queensland.

Errol Haarhoff is Emeritus Professor of Architecture and previous Head of School at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and recipient of the South African Institute of Architects' Distinguished Research Award

Walter Peters is Emeritus Professor of Architecture of both the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. He holds both the South African Institute of Architects' Writers and Critics Award and Medal of Distinction and was elected 21st Sophia Gray laureate.