Where Bauhaus meets beach life in a vibrant Cape Town suburb

The primary reasons to stay at 82 on Regent in Sea Point, Cape Town, are its competitive rates and brilliant location, offering direct access to the beach, restaurants, bars, and more, writes Brian Berkman.

- Brian Berkman

With The Brutalist winning three Oscars, interest in the Modernist architectural movement, as taught by the Bauhaus art school in Germany, has peaked. Bauhaus and its high-profile teachers - Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky, among others - were the leaders of this revolutionary approach. In addition, while Le Corbusier never taught at the school, his ideas were widely embraced by its students.

Many aphorisms from that period remain in common usage. Van der Rohe's “Less is more” and “God is in the details” sit alongside Le Corbusier's famous declarations that “A house is a machine for living in” and “What modern man wants is a monk's cell, well lit and heated, with a corner from which he may look at the stars.”

Many of Sea Point's buildings, most notably the SABC on Beach Road, were built in the 1950s and 1960s. The SABC's decorative facade references the Brazilian approach to Modernism, while La Perla, the upscale restaurant overlooking the sea, boasts more classic Modernist lines.

By contrast, the handsome entrance to the Sea Point Swimming Pool champions the Art Deco movement (1920s–1940s).