It’s time to share my dreams with the world, says Peter Amm, who has turned his childhood fantasies into a reality so extraordinary that nothing you say or describe can fully embrace the enormity of it all.
It didn’t start out like that, he says with a hint of shyness. “It just happened. It is still happening thanks to all the artists and creative thinkers who believed in the project and are still involved.”
And it’s taken nearly half a century to get there.
If all that sounds like some esoteric voyage into eccentricity let’s first describe what you see when you enter the big doors of Peter Amm’s Ammazulu Palace in Kloof – that is, after winding your way upwards through a forest of indigenous trees and plants, and passing granite panels decorated with Zulu beads that tell you you’re in for a very different experience.
The carved doors, courtesy of Colonial Mutual’s old art deco building in West Street, are flanked by high, decorated pillars and turrets whose spiralling stonework represents a meandering river, complete with plants.
Above the front entrance are hand-crafted glass panels, courtesy of KZN enamellist and textile designer Jean Powell. Once inside, the sight is so intriguing, so incredibly beautiful and bizarre, that it takes your breath away. Before you are two-storey high columns, more than 20, each an individual art work.
Ancient Egypt, old Istanbul, Gaudi, Greece, historic Persia, an African fantasy world.
Margaret Ruxton, who knows the property backwards, is used to the wow factor. “You see newcomers half in shock, half disbelieving. It takes a bit of time to absorb it all,” she says.
Which is not surprising, seeing that at one turn you’ll find wildly decorated pillars cheek by jowl with the old Greenacres wrought-iron spiral staircase beckoning guests to the upper floor, a column decorated with old electrical transformers, an upside down tea cup and the odd sieve and tea pot.
A quilter and artist in her own right, Ruxton conducts ad hoc tours with the help of her husband, Mike, a childhood friend of Amm at Michaelhouse. His surveying skills were used in the development of the hilltop property overlooking the majestic Kloof Gorge.
She is quick to warn people that there are steps ahead and if your eyes are pointed to the roof you could fall down them.
“Peter is certainly the genius behind it all,” she says. “But he likes to remain in the background, so we’ve taken on the task of letting people know about this treasure trove.”
It began, she says, when Amm’s father gave him money to buy a small tract of land in Kloof. He was just 13 years old.
“He bought indigenous plants and trees which he grew and nurtured on the property, always with the dream of one day building his own house.”
But instead of a conservative three-bedroom house with all mod cons, Amm had other ideas. “I’ve always loved collecting things,” he says in the quiet of his office. “From an early age African art and beadwork captured my imagination. But more than that, I wanted to evolve a playful fantasy world with no barriers.”
And that’s the feeling you get. Bali, India, local artists, sculptors, quilters, beaders, metal workers, graffiti artists, the old, the young, famous, unknown, junk shops, rubbish dumps, are all represented in this raucous and joyful extravaganza.
Says Amm: “Everything, even things you throw away, has a beauty and presence of its own. I like to respect and reflect that in the work here. This is about dreams and those must never end.”
However, the journey to the present hasn’t always been smooth.
“I wanted to open a museum showcasing my lifelong collection of African art,” says Amm. “But the municipality turned me down as the area was zoned residential.”
Not put off, Amm decided instead to create a palace and luxury lodge for all to enjoy.
“You can imagine how startled people were when I first suggested the idea of massive columns, a wide marble route winding from the front to the back of the palace, vast open spaces and bridges connecting one side to the other.”
But such was Amm’s passion for something “completely, utterly and unforgettably different” that the excitement was taken up by others, including fellow architect Kevin Macgarry, engineers and craftsmen involved in the basic design.
“I was looking for a structure that had a presence of history and yet spoke of fantasy and the freedom to express creativity in whatever form.
“People ask me, how did we start? We didn’t. The ideas just evolved, almost as though it was a living space with a mind of its own. Today I don’t look upon the interior as representative of one culture or one people, but a lively conversation that crosses all barriers and speaks in many tongues.”
Architect and artist Jane du Rand was responsible for the first series of columns, inlaid with a riot of textures and colours incorporating beadwork and fabric. “Thereafter,” says Amm. “It was a true voyage of discovery.”
It saw a light fixture made out of grass rakes, another made from an explosion of wooden spoons mounted on the back of a wooden fruit platter. It saw futuristic wooden statues, one sporting a shower head, a fantasy animal that spits out large wooden balls and lights up, a classic array of men’s waistcoats embroidered with Zulu beadwork.
Surrounded by all this magic don’t forget to go outside where you will find a giant steel guinea fowl, whose head is made of a supermarket trolley and two traffic lights. Oh yes. And it lights up at night.
Enough said. Go and see for yourself. - Sunday Tribune
IF You Go...
l To book a tour for 10 or more at R50 a person phone 031 764 8000. The money goes to charity.
l The building of the palace began in 1998 and it is built of local sandstone gathered from nearby Assegay. It is bordered on two sides by the Kranzkloof Nature Reserve.
l Recycled materials have been used wherever possible in the artworks, including doors “scrounged” from old buildings, and drainpipes used as part of columns.
l There are a small number of suites where visitors can stay overnight. Go to www.ammazulupalace.com or e-mail [email protected]
Some of the world’s most amazing palaces:
l The Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, located at the Bosphorus, served as the main administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire. It is composed of three parts; the men’s quarters, ceremonial halls and the apartments of the family of the Sultan. The palace is 45 000m2, and contains 285 rooms, 46 halls, six baths and 68 toilets.
l The Potala Palace, pictured, has been the winter palace of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century. Comprising the White and Red Palaces, it is built on Red Mountain in the centre of Lhasa Valley. The building measures 140 000m2, with sloping stone walls and with copper poured into the foundations to help protect it against earthquakes. It has more than 1 000 rooms, 10 000 shrines and about 200 000 statues.
l The Forbidden City, in the middle of Beijing, was the Chinese imperial palace for almost 500 years from the Ming to the end of the Qing dynasties and now houses the Palace Museum. Built from 1406 to 1420, it consists of 980 buildings and covers 720 000m2. It became a World Heritage Site in 1987.
l The Istana Nurul Iman, a few kilometres south of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei’s capital, is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, and the seat of government. It was completed in 1984 at a cost of about $1.4 billion. It’s the largest residential palace in the world with 1 788 rooms; 257 bathrooms; a banquet hall that can seat up to 5 000 guests; a mosque for 1 500 people; a 110-car garage; an air-conditioned stable for the sultan’s 200 polo ponies; and five swimming pools. It measures 200 000m², has 564 chandeliers, 51 000 light bulbs, 44 stairwells and 18 elevators.
l The Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, was the primary residence of the Ottoman sultans for 400 years. It is now a major tourist attraction and contains important holy relics of the Muslim world including the Prophet Muhammad’s cloak and sword.
l The Winter Palace in St Petersburg, Russia, was the official residence of the tsars. It was constructed to reflect the might of imperial Russia. The principal facade is 250m long and 30m high. It contains 1 786 doors, 1 945 windows, 1 500 rooms and 117 staircases.