When it opened, the Court caused something of a stir in the architectural fraternity. It was, at the very least, an unorthodox building, but despite the debates stirred up by such features as the angled columns in the Foyer and the incorporation of old bricks from the demolished Awaiting Trail Block, the warmth and openness of the building were undeniable. It was a court building for the people, expressing a range of cultural expectations of the concepts of justice and democracy. But in addition to its enormous symbolic import, the new Constitutional Court would help to articulate elements of South Africa’s architectural vernacular and would become the building around which questions of architectural identity would circulate. It was to become an iconic building, celebrated for its daring, its combination of dignity and accessibility, its warmth and light and its embodiment of the hopes of a young country.
Bronwyn Law-Viljoen (2006), Light on a Hill, David Krut Publishing