Chris Buchanan finds a building of exception and of which the owners, the architect and the city of Johannesburg can be extremely proud.

The word circa is used in an approximate context relating to historical events, particularly in the paleontological world where no exact dates are possible. So it is fitting that patrons of the palaeontological world name their building CIRCA to represent an approximation, or something that is undefined as a space but versatile in its ability to serve as function.

CIRCA is essentially an extension or annex of the Everard Read Gallery in Rosebank. It’s on a highly prominent corner of Jan Smuts and Jellicoe Avenues, so a real expectation of a bold architectural statement could well have influenced both the client, Mark and Christine Read, and the architect, Pierre Swanepoel of studioMAS. As it turned out, a bold statement never entered their minds, it was always about the most efficient and innovative solution to a gallery space on a small site.

Watching the construction process was fascinating. I wandered how the building would connect with the existing gallery across the road and how the strange forms emerging from the foundations would become what I envisaged the building to be. I was fascinated by the external ramp, all the time wandering how it would be enclosed and what influence Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim might have had on the incorporation of the ramp into the design. As far as the architect is concerned it didn’t.

Once the scrim went up I understood that CIRCA was about transparency; textural diversity on precise geometry; a sculptural veil that conceals inner mystery.

In plan the building is celestial in form, true to Kepler’s planetary movement models of an elongated orbit. As you ascend the structure on the external ramp, you circle the centre as a planet would the sun and then become enveloped within the building as the ramp becomes the inner gallery space in an unconscious metamorphosis.

The space is organic in shape and completely flexible, dispelling any pre conceived ideas of galley architecture – in fact the Reads weren’t sure that it should be limited to a gallery space and herein lies the rub. It’s a unique internal space in the context of the building – a pause for a look, a lecture, an exhibition, a piece of theatre, a brief reflection – before you continue your journey around the core, on and upward to the top.

The final destination takes you by surprise. It’s an open space extending off the Darwin Lounge – a private room, encapsulating Christine Read’s private collection of furniture and archaeological artefacts, including replica casts of the famous Taung and Mrs Ples’s skull. The scrim encloses the space in a ‘kraal’ like surround which is sculpted at the western end to form a balustrade and opens up the finest view of Johannesburg’s green canopy that you’ll see.

The sensual perception of the rooftop is rings within rings, convex forms that surround and envelope. You’re open to the skies and to the view before you – vulnerable yet comfortably secure. I could sit up there for hours. The external form of CIRCA is extraordinary in its inconsistency and changing façade. It is mysterious as much as it is open and its soul gradually reveals itself as you make your way through its core. Christine Read says they wanted to give something beautiful back to the city of Johannesburg. That they certainly have done with aplomb.

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