#Architecture

The giant sphere that floated atop the Hillbrow Tower (aka Telkom Tower) for the last four years – painted first like a soccer ball (for the 2010 World Cup) and later like a hot pink dot (an ad for Telkom’s 8•ta mobile phone service) – came down in September.

So here I am, back in America. I landed at Dulles Airport yesterday morning. I’m really happy to be back in Washington D.C. – much happier than I expected to be. I’d forgotten how much I like it here.

Tall buildings dominate the Joburg skyline. I visit and write about the city’s tallest buildings all the time – the Carlton Center, Ponte City, and the Hillbrow Tower are some of my favorites.

My recent tour of Ponte City, hosted by Mainstreetwalks and Dlala Nje, included a Saturday-afternoon stroll in Hillbrow. I go to Hillbrow at least a couple of times a week for boxing training but I don’t walk around the neighborhood with my camera very often, especially not on weekends when the streets are most busy. So I was excited for this opportunity.

Ponte City is a mythical place.

Ponte City, the tallest residential building in Africa.

Ponte City is the most visually striking structure in Johannesburg, and its history is as fascinating as its appearance. Ponte has 54 floors and hundreds of flats. A few decades ago it was a trendy middle-class apartment building. Later it became the city’s largest brothel and dope den, ruled by gangs, thugs, pimps, and dealers.

At long last, I got into Ponte.

I’ll write a longer post about this epic visit, which happened courtesy of Mainstreetwalks, in the next few days. In the meantime, here are a few Instagrams.