An Architect’s South African Digs Borrow the Stripped-Down Look of Parking Garages

For architect Greg Katz, the design of several family homes in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs has served as a testing ground for his maturing practice. These projects demonstrate the innovative ways in which he tends to select and assemble the materials for his buildings. His own brand-new home represents the most recent example of this attitude.

At House Katz, on a balmy late-summer afternoon, Greg relayed an uncommon aesthetic preference: "I love the raw, pared-down visual quality of generic parking garages." There’s a wry irony in this statement, considering that he houses his family in a dwelling with "parking garage" ceilings, perfect for cars, but does not house his and his wife Caryn’s cars in the typically suburban garage. 

Greg and Caryn’s home commands a self-assured yet unassuming presence. Its street-facing facade presents a restrained palette of materials, colors, and textures. Concrete gray and the soft, pinkish red of its expressive brickwork inform the home’s overall character. A Mediterranean blue announces the slender front door and a punchy yellow emphasizes carefully placed door and window openings. Greg’s affinity for concrete was honed over a decade ago in the family’s first purpose-built house. Three kids later, this home is softer and more nuanced than its predecessor. It’s a fine example of the versatility permitted by a concrete skeleton. The Katzes’ house sits comfortably in the lineage of structural concrete-frame potential that Le Corbusier stimulated over a century ago, with the 1914 launch of his famous Dom-Ino concrete frame.