Alain Proust Author

Johan Swart holds a master’s degree in architecture and heritage studies. At the University of Pretoria, he teaches architectural history and leads a heritage-focused design studio for post-graduate students. As curator of the architecture archives at the university, he is responsible for the safeguarding and interpretation of significant historical drawing collections. Johan writes about architectural history with a specific interest in the interpretation of archives. His academic interests include the history of design, archival practice, cultural landscapes and adaptive re-use. Alain Proust has been photographing buildings for decades. In Hidden Pretoria his understanding of architectural space enables him to capture the essence of a building in a single frame, while his ingenuity and resourcefulness gained him access to spaces that are not open to the public, often photographing them with just natural light and a minimum of equipment. Alain also photographed the companion titles, Hidden Cape Town and Hidden Johannesburg, both by Struik Lifestyle.