Ponte Tower
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- Mini documentary on the icon of Johannesburg Ponte Tower
As always I make these available for download to see the image better...still heavily compressed but a bit better than streaming...please watch on a nice big TV!
Shot on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. For all the info you need and the answer to probably all your questions then visit my blog post here! philipbloom.net/?p=27565
Timelapse shot on the 5Dmk3 in bracketing mode.
Music courtesy of The Music Bed. All credits at end of Video
My family and I stayed in Ponte from July to December 1982. We had emigrated from the UK and were put up there. For me, a 12 year old boy, Ponte was fantastic - especially having a freaking bowling alley, full of video games, just downstairs! There was also a cool little swimming pool at the back (I wonder if it's still there). At night, the courtyard looked so friendly and safe, with the garden lights and the plants. My brother and I and our friends (other immigrants) just used to hang out there playing pointless games, telling jokes etc. Happy times.
Almost all of the windows on the inside of the building had bars, except one on the 50th floor. We'd buy some tomatoes or similar, then one of us would take them to that window (so you could look right down), while the other would be on the rocks at the bottom, and we'd watch them splat on the ground. Funny what keeps you amused...
We lived in 1202 (second residential floor from the bottom) and so whenever I was up in the top floors, I'd marvel at the carpets and the posh doors. Truth is, I'd probably be happy to stay there again if Joburg ever cleans up its act (with particular regard to Hillbrow). Just for curiosity's sake, does anyone know what a Ponte flat goes for nowadays (monthly rent?)
they go for nothing, youre either a strung out drug addict in there or a gang lord/ member rent is free if the gangs dont know youre there
I saw in another video about $1000-$2000 (SA currency)
Ever get to learn?
It’s around 370 euros for a 3 bedroom apartment nowadays
Im almost 50 years old ,i stumbled on this story and was captivated, what an amazing building if they can renovate this building and just rent it to people who really needs a home and ask not mutch this will be awesome. A building that is awesome and so mutch potential ❤❤❤ mind blowing .so happy i stumble on this story
I lived there in 1979 on the 27th floor. the higher up you are the less street noise (I could not hear any and i was only half way up!)
Ponte had its own mini supermarket, launderette, Bowling alley as well as outside floodlit tennis courts, there was a reception desk and had security but no where near what it has now!
I have not been back to South Africa since I left late 1979 which is personally sad as loved the country and the people, black, white, coloured and the multitude of other creeds that made up the country especially Jo Burgh
Hopefully harmony will prevail.
Nice comment I am from Europe.
we were there same time hello from scotland
Probably had a bottle in the Castle or Troubadour on the same days as you.
Babyshoes itll break your heart to see Johburg now.....its a slum just like the rest of our beloved country undr cANCer egime.....😢
It seems like they need to have some kind of lighting in that core--maybe even decorative light sculptures--to lighten it up.
I remember seeing a woman take a dive from one of the windows mid way up from Ponte when I was on my way to ESP on End Street back in 96, i`ll never forget the sound that was made when she hit the pavement...horrific place back then...
You have to bribe the security to bring guests into your home. A towering icon of dystopia.
Great work! I kept seeing this building over and over while watching Chappie so I had to come and learn more about it. At first I thought it was something like the "Tower of David" at Caracas, Venezuela, which was a skyscraper that got abandoned during construction and turned completely into a slum but Ponte Tower seems like a completely different case. These types of mega buildings are really interesting to look into but I think they ultimately represent a grim future for mankind.
+VJ MACC grim future for mankind you say. No sir, that is what Africa is all about. We who stay here know what it's all about, sir. The face of the guy in the clips says it all. They expect everything for doing nothing. Make as if it's always everybody's else mistake. It's something about these people what disconnect if anything constructive is to be done. It's Africa personified. All these building invasions has been handled very low key here in SA. It will scare the daylight out of normal constructive people. That is what we have to handle. From a safe well kept country to the chaos in just 20 odd years. Check this space in another 20 years.
+Crane Walk Sorry, I don't know enough about South Africa in general or Johannesburg in particular to draw any conclusions from a social standpoint and wasn't trying to make any judgements. I was just referring that I think we'll see more and more of these massive residential buildings surfacing throughout the world and that, either occupied legally or illegally, I don't think these will make up for good standards of living. Still there are more and more "arcology" concepts being developed, completely self-sufficient buildings where you could virtually live your whole life without ever going outside, instead of exploring ways to spread out and make use of land that is currently unused. Sure, in certain countries like Japan, where construction space is really scarce, this can make sense but the obsession with building vertically is omnipresent even where there would be absolutely no need for it and could be solved by upgrading public transportation infrastructures instead which would make up for much better quality of life. I think there's a lot of megalomania involved here.
Was doing a collge project ryt now, the name vodafone came, in chappie it had a voda fone banner on top of this building, searched and came here to trigger the nostalgia.
I lived in town and Berea in the 80's (after moving from Cpt) and loved the pace and the people but moved off to the northern suburbs in 1989. I am always drawn to stories about Ponte and the surrounding areas - I couldn't even dream of living in Ponti in the 80's - it was very expensive but i could see it from where I lived on the corner of Lily and Alexandra. I have always thought the views must be the best in Africa. It boggles the mind that it turned into a slum and so quickly.
Thanks Phillip, without this mini doc, I would never have known this place existed.
i thought this was so great ! you inspired us.
im glad to know someone documented this .
would have liked to see more of what the apartments looked like inside
Great video. The building freaks me out, it's like a grand dystopian human experiment.
PB, this film is genius! The use of light, how the aspect of the building changes over the film and the simple narrative, just incredible. I like how when you are looking up at the tower the outlook is depressing and when you look down, the light makes the place look alive... It's counter-intuitive.
lol that light you see is the typical winter/spring/fall joburg overcast and the view that people without direct view of sunlight see lolol
It's like building from Dredd movie , Peach trees block
the dredd movie was shot here
It was inspired by this tower, it wasn’t shot here
@@gregpoisson6797 lots of scenes from Dred movie was shot in SA, under m1 dubble decker bridge aswell and in the tower.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dredd
Was shot in JHB and Capetown
@@bijosn yes it was, and under the dubble decker M1 bridge
Chappie brought me here.
Now, South Africa is on my list!
Ditto.
Lmao i live here
Well done superb documentary,,,,keep it high
Thank you philipbloom, for taking me out of my youtube lounge-room, and placing me into reality at somebody else's life in this big wide world....brilliant... makes me look at life through a fisheye lens..far wider than normal..
Thanks for this, I saw that building for decades and never ventured close to it.
Looks like it would make a good movie location. Brilliant building.
Wow...opened my eyes on another level. Thanks
If Ponte Tower had existed in 1971 when Kubrick shot A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell's "Alex" would have lived there FOR SURE.
So good!!!! Thank you.
Thank you, I was riveted to the article. The building is extraordinary !
Philip: a great piece of social reportage and some stunning camera work, particularly the contrast between b/w architectural shots and color rich images of people! I'll be pointing to it in a seminar on a (German) crime novel set in Ponte around 1999 in order to counter balance the clichéed portrayal of Jozy as a 24/7 killing field which the media love to keep exploiting. Thanks for making this accessible!
Brutalism at it's most brutal. Amazing building... dystopian, prison-esque, creepy - it's like something out of Judge Dredd or Robocop.
It was the inspiration and setting for peach trees in judge dread
I lived in Ponte in the 70's. That building scared me then and I only stayed about 4 months.
+Yanna Hughes I have just recently read of this building for the first time, and got fascinated in a disturbing way. It really is looking like a monument of horror. I saw they actually seperated the building for colored people living at the alwaysdark inside and white people at the outside during Apartheid, did you still get to know this?
I think it's a fail construction and should be knocked down for good - and maybe replaced by a similar building with a conical shape, that got a wider opening at the top than below, so every floor could actually get sunlight.
+Omen Frankfurt The flats had the front door on the inside and windows on the outside to provide light. There was no inner and outer flats1
True!
@@OmenFrankfurt You forgot to mention that the basement was for albino and that black applicant were in open cells at the entrance where they could be whipped for future deeds before acceptance was granted... What a load of shit and propaganda to turn people....
@@shanesampson9730 _"Albino"_ was no race under apartheid rule. What are you talking about?
Must've used some absurdly wide lenses for the to get those epic WS of the tower. Well done sir. Brilliant opening image.
amazing film. thanks ;) great atmosphere. makes me miss joburg
Miss this place. Lived there from Jan to June this year. Amazing building.
I can hear the dark knight rises's "RISE" choir playing in my mind
I'm born in Johannesburg and I can't believe that I've never been to the infamous Ponte towers
You dont want to
Been there back in the '80's. Lived in Berea.
Very nicely done Phillip. Keep up the good work and continue to be an inspiration.
As soon as I saw this I thought of Dredd, bloody awesome film
Love It!!!! I can hardly wait to be in JNB at End of this year!!!!
This video is a great documentary! I visited inside the building in 2018. Back then I couldn't believe that it had a shape of a donut until I saw it with my own eyes.
Beautiful work, I'm so glad to see my home in a far more positive light. Thank you.
That was a powerful short! Much respect.
Touching and beautiful doc. I find this as a reference point and huge inspiration for my future works.
"High-Rise" novel by J. G. Ballard (1975) is so deeply prophetic... (watch 2015 movie)
It would have been a world class building has they designed it with plants and greenery along the interiors and not allowed it to be used as a garbage shoot. I like the concept and idea of it. Does need more natural light to somehow find itself going down all the way to the lobby.
I used to go bowling here in the 8o's
From beauty to slum!!!!! Didn't take long for that to happen😕
I wonder why? Maybe the whites racist or not even took the cleanliness, law and order with them.when the moved out.
Afro-engineered
It looks scary. The entire design and concept is space conserving surely but it looks and feel so empty
Looks and feels like a modern day prison.
Great mini-doco, however it only fills me with sadness and dread. I guess it’s great for film makers because they don’t have to build sets for “post-apocalyptic” films anymore, they can just go and film in Johannesburg.
hmmm
This video makes me miss home
unbelievable. there are people living in this ! first i thought it is just some water tower or something...
I'm just learning about brutalist architecture, how people went nuts with the concrete and the huge imposing structures that nobody likes to live in. The worst part is that you can't tear these structures down because of the carbon they would release (apparently) so they just site there and decay if not properly maintained. And even if they are they are hideous to look at.
wow. a beautiful documentary
If you ever have the chance, head down to the kibera slums in Nairobi Kenya, I have a feeling you could film some powerful scenes there. Thanks for the inspiring work by the way.
When I lived at Ponte there were no black or colored people living there. This must have come later. Never saw any raids taking place, and I would have known about it. Johannesburg was a very quiet place at that time.
Yanna Hughes how racist
Khumo Rabothata Factual*
+Kumo Rabothata Why, she's stating a fact? If the Chinese/Germans/Italians/French had moved in and she were to say none of them lived there when she lived there would that also be politically incorrect? Why is everything that mentions black/coloured/pink/green etc. automatically perceived as racist? C'mon, please, shrug off the racist chip and move on ... not everyone is a racist!
Visionery1 - Beautifully stated. 🌹
Because you lived in a cocooned bubble. Johannesburg and indeed South Africa was weeping! So loud, the whole world listened. Except for those, like you, who benefitted from other people's broken backs.
reminds of the megablocks in the 2012 Dredd film. nice
stunning documentary philip, thanks for sharing!
Awesome work. I love it.
beautiful work
Stunning
Very interesting documentary
wow great film thanks!! great job Philiph. Are you getting work as a documentary maker. This was very professional! And Yes the producers of the new judge dredd obviously based the mega blocks in the movie on this!
Interesting Building?? Great work Phillip on your short doc as always.
Amazing -as always.
Almost seems like something out of a post apocalypse movie.
Best one so far!
The story of this building is so interesting on how it changed from the creme de la creme to a slum of drugs and prostitution, and now back into a building for people to live in. It's an amazing story, and amazing architecture
*clap*clap*clap* what a place and what a story
Thanks you! Good documentary review (sic!).
wow that was great. very interesting to see the rise and decline of an iconic building. So do you sell your work to television companies then or do they commission you to do them?
Lonely Feelings 🖤
love it!!!
Can't express how stoked I am!! It's about time that the playing fields were all level. Honestly hey, this country and this city have had its past but it is what it is, i believe its time that we ALL come together and claim back our city in the RIGHT way and I strongly believe that a simple act like this, is a step in the right direction! This is all of our cities man, we all deserve to enjoy it! Good Job Philip! and heck yeah!! I'm extremely jealous!! lol
Yup, Dredd came to my mind as well, especially since I knew about this building. But, I dunno, this building is wrong... and evil.
Here in South Africa this is icon of post apartheid destruction of South Africa
Speak for yourself.
Sorry didnt mean to say that
Well, in the documentary it says the decadence came years before the democracy era.
BTW, am I the only one who thinks both the Apartheid and the latter govt's are wrong?
@@capitalkingbourne8885 It's blatantly/obvious! What else do you want? The pavement, the roads, Hillbrow?
@@LautaroTessi The same goes for Hillbrow. The white people saw what was coming...
I used to live in Hillbrow 1972, what happened to Peacehaven at the bottom of
Hendon street??. It was a kind of shelter/temporary housing thing for European families.
for a little moment...i thought it's the hole from the dark knight rises :D
desMaxle exactly!
Democracy didn’t cause the downfall of ponte. It was apartheid that set the course in motion.
Don't know why but I see a giant castle 😅 random defensive positions too if I was inside 😅
Good job on this video
@philipbloom Awsome Video as always what did you find the best lens was when doing the interviews in tight situations? as you explained in the review the crop factor was quite big. Im looking at buying the blackmagic and the zeiss CP.2 18 mm/T3.6 to over compensate with the crop factor have you ever used this lens before and if you have could you give me some feedback on it? please thanks
you will be getting a lot more hits since the weather channel featured an article on this!!!
Nice!
Awesome :)
Hey guys! the 5dmark iii is coming out (April 2013) with a firmware for Uncompressed 4:2:2 8-bit from HDMI. Any thoughts?
@Alessandro Filippi sorry? Try live in absolute misery? Where did you get that from? Everyone I spoke to and you hear from loves it there!! Your obese comment is ill judged and smacks of ignorance.
Where can I find that amazing song that plays in the beginning?
All our buildings in the cbd are death traps 😊
I know all the people in this Vid
Khanye Mohlala lol
Awesome story Phillip. Only thing I don't understand is the composition of interviews?!
Poor child man 😔died
PONTE CITY..
feel like at over $3000.00 it should've been included. Other SLR's for way cheaper have that feature.
Wow
If you take Ponte building and just add water you will have Aparthied. And if you leave Aparthied out sun in the sun to dry you will then have Ponte again. The sun being democracy in this tiny analogy.
Now... Imagine if Bruce Wayne had to climb up this shit!
This is a backrooms level
"Inhabitansts of Ponte. This is judge Dredd..."
this is the place that inspired it!
and USA apartments look like this now
Thanks Africa
EndlessFunctionality Thanks USA*
EndlessFunctionality thanks Obama
I wont fall Down! 😰😫
Hell.
Racist
Trollseeder it is hell, she's not racist. What exactly did she say that's racist? "Hell"? How is that racist? Saying hell is not racist
you're too privileged to understand
Scuf;
Black & left-wing mindset: Whites are not allowed to say anything critical about places where majority of population is Black;
if you say something negative - Blacks will call you racist, to shut you up
I agree
Some scenes are like a russian post nuclear mishap
What font is that used in the beginning?
When are you going back there next?
Красивое место! Акустически мощное пространство!?