Historical view of the Old Arts Building

One of the earliest known photographs circa 1920s of the completed Old Arts Building at the University of Pretoria. In Afrikaans, it was referred to as Ou Lettere Gebou. Later, the Old Arts Building was declared a museum in June 1982. The foundation stone for this iconic landmark on Hatfield Campus was laid on 03 August 1910, and the building was officially opened by General Jan Smuts in August 1911. The designer of the Old Arts Building was the young architect Percy Eagle, a student of the iconic South African, Sir Herbert Baker, the architect of the Union Buildings (seat of the South African government) in Pretoria. This sandstone building is characterised by Cape Dutch and Neo-Romanesque architecture, with a clock tower, Oregon pine wooden floors and slate staircases. Stained glass windows feature the old TUC or Transvaal University College (later became the University of Pretoria) coat of arms. Photograph courtesy of the University of Pretoria Archives.