The Wooden Doors of Merensky Library, Designed Like an Open Book

Marveling at the wooden doors of Merensky Library, University of Pretoria, a building designed like an open book, seems the perfect entertainment after hearing of my Author of the Month nomination and reading about Sumedru’s Fires, a Romanian Autumn tradition.

Today’s Thursday Doors are the wooden doors of the Merensky Library from the University of Pretoria, again, courtesy of my daughter 🙂

We’ll begin with a mighty, but small burgundy door belonging to the Old Merensky Library that is today declared a national monument here in South Africa. You can still see the Jacaranda flowers carpeting the ground:

In 1933 the library of the University of Pretoria was still located in the Old Arts Building (more about this on a later blog post). Then, a decision was made to construct a separate building for the library by using the substantial contribution of £5000 donated by mining geologist Dr Hans Merensky.

A new building… with lots of steps:

The foundation stone of the new library was laid on 11 October 1937 by General Jan Smuts (more on his haunted home in a future blog post) and on 15 April 1939 the building was officially opened. (Info courtesy UP website).

In designing the building of Merensky Library, architect Gerhard Moerdyk (who also designed the Voortrekker Monument) was influenced by various styles: Art Deco, Neo-Classicism, Arts and Crafts, as well as local styles such as Cape Dutch and Regency.

Now, scroll back to the first, brownish door and take note of the zig-zag pattern above the door.

Then study the patterns around the main door of the library:

Moerdyk described the building as “a study in Persian style, with influences from Africa, including Zimbabwe, and Ancient Egyptian ruins.”
The prominent zigzag pattern you saw above the first door is taken from Great Zimbabwe and represents water and fertility.
The curving of the walls (as you see in the image we look up) symbolizes an open book.

The Merensky Library, designed like an open book:

Finally, the green, beveled glass windows were imported from Italy and helped to minimize the heat from the South African summer sun, but also protected the books’ paper from the ultraviolet light. (Info courtesy UP website)

I stood in front of Merensky Library and I looked up, in awe, because that’s what one should do before entering a place with books:

I’ll leave you with a door to open next time.

With thanks to Dan Antion, writer, blogger and father, gracious host of the Thursday Doors weekly challenge.