Abstract:

During the late colonial period and in the wake of Ghana’s independence, architecture and the construction industry were assigned a central role in the economic, social, and cultural modernisation and emancipation of the country. The “Africanisation" of actors and institutions in charge of architecture and construction was both a tool and an aim in these processes. This debate will revisit their dilemmas and tensions as conditioned by decolonisation and the Cold War, and reflect upon professional practices today, defined by uneven and unequal globalisation processes. While focusing on the continuities and ruptures in the development of architectural education, professional regulations, and the construction industry in Ghana during the last 70 years, we will also discuss the changing understanding of the concept of Africanisation and interrogate its pertinence today. 

Panellists:

Emmanuel Oko Adjetey, managing consultant at Planarchitects Architects, Urban Planners & Housing Consultants in Tema, and former Chairman of the Tema Development Board.

Kojo Derban, architect, principal at Ethnik International Ltd, and architectural critic based in Accra.

Ruth-Anne Richardson, architect, principal of STUDIORED in Accra, educator, and publishing editor of The Architect’s Newsletterbased in Accra.

Łukasz Stanek, Professor of Architectural History at the University of Manchester, UK, and Senior Fellow at MIASA, University of Ghana at Legon.