Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		University of the Witwatersrand, Sutton Close Johannesburg, Gauteng Amancio d’Alpoim Miranda (Pancho) GUEDES: Architect

Date: 1979 Type: Public Space Status: Extant   Click to view map Coordinates: 26°11'33.38" S 28°01'47.27" E Alt: 1752m

The most significant feature of the design of Sutton Close was the monument to Prof Sutton - a large circular steel disc with a line portrait of Prof Sutton created and defined using hundreds of circular holes drilled through the disc. The portrait was placed obliquely to the rectilinear confines of Sutton Close, and was not only visible from the northern approach but also from within the precinct itself. Cut out of three separate sheets of steel plate, the monumental disc was fabricated in the University's engineering workshops. It was supported in an elevated position on two steel poles projecting out of a high circular plinth formed with a large diameter precast concrete pipe. An engraved brass plaque was mounted on the curved face of the plinth with the following inscription: SUTTON CLOSE IS NAMED IN HONOUR OF PROFESSOR WILLIAM GODFREY SUTTON, WHO WAS PROFESSOR OF CIVIL ENGINEERING FROM 1926 TO 1953 AND PRINCIPAL AND VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY FROM 1954 TO 1962. Regretfully the University subsequently took a decision to remove the circular perforated steel plate portrait. The component parts of the steel portrait were then cut up into many squares of roughly 300 x 300 mm - presumably by the University's Estate Management department - and used as heavy bases for directional signage around campus. Prof Guedes once spent an afternoon collecting the various signs to photograph Sutton's head in its 'cut up' state. W MartinsonMartinson December 2022