Kingsbridge Story
“Your memories don't come from books. Your stories aren't just stories.” - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones
“This (printed book) will kill that (architecture).” - Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Kingsbridge is a fictional town in Ken Follett’s book “Pillars of the Earth”, later expanded into The Kingsbridge Series. The amazing novel tells the story of building a cathedral in Kingsbridge during the time of England’s Wars of the Roses.
Kingsbridge Estate is a gated community in Bryanston, a suburb of Greater Johannesburg, South Africa. I had the privilege of working on it early in my career.
The name of the development was inspired by the book, and in return, my career has been inspired in many ways by my work there, through interactions with clients, design of almost 50 individual homes, and the story of the builders of the Kingsbridge cathedral.
Questions remain.
What is the story behind our everyday architecture? What message are we leaving for future generations, those who may never be able to read our outdated electronic files?
What does today’s architecture say about us, our lives, our values?
Does it reflect the diversity of our cultures, as architecture of the past once did?
These are questions worth asking, not only as architects but as people building a world meant to outlive us.