west afriq aia charlotte traveling fellowship 2009 antonio nevada martinez
contents:
west afriq a chronological account of an american student’s attempt to link the cultural and environmental context of four west african countries to the spectrum of architectural efficiency. i originally wanted to evaluate the architectural education of each country, as a contextual resource, but ghana was on break, nigeria was on strike.
so improvisation began upon arrival.
distance in miles ..................15,136 air mileage.............................12,333 road mileage............................2,803 pounds of CO2..........................5,731
earth
eastern america to western africa.
CO2 pounds by air.................................. .. 1,158 buffalo to chicago......................450 chicago to new york..................715 new york to casblanca...........3603
america
american and transatlantic mileage CO2 pounds by road.....................................474 charlotte to pittsburgh.............397 pittsburgh to buffalo.................105
CO2 pounds by air.................................. ....739 casablanca to accra.................1981
africa
african and transaharan mileage CO2 pounds by road.....................................507 accra to kumasi(x2)................ 280 kumasi to nkwantakese(x2)...100 accra to hohoe...........................150 hohoe to wli....................................9 yikpe to kpalime..........................27 kpalime to lome...........................75 lome to aneho...............................25 aneho to ouidah...........................42 ouidah to cotonou........................20 cotonou to lagos...........................75 lagos to ibadan(x2)...................152 ibadan to osogbo(x2)..................55 ibadan to oyo(x2)........................32 lagos to eredo sungbo(x2)..........28
4 days
ouidah, cotonou
3 days
mali
yikpé, kpalimé, lomé, aného
cameroon
nigeria
chad
niger
togo benin
burkina faso
seme, lagos, victoria island, ibadan, 19 days oyo, ijebu ode, osogbo, ife, abuja (+30)
ghana
côte d’ivoire
24 days
west africa
elmina, cape coast, accra, kumasi, nkwantakesi, hohoe, wli
ghana
accra kumasi, central region nkwantakese hohoe wli
kumasi
d e a t h
l i f e
b i r t h
kumasi
kumasi
ghana
paradigm shift
adum, kumasi incomplete and inhabited from the balcony of our hostel one could identify 15 projects that had been started and at least the first floor was inhabited. Even finished buildings have rebar shooting from the roof, indicative of growth expectations.
nkwantkese
ghana
paradigm shift
spanco orphanage, nkwantakese incomplete and inhabited next, we stayed in a recently completed orphanage built by an american, mike wagner, next to an incomplete campus.
nkwantkese
nkwantkese
nkwantkese
spanco orphanage, nkwantakese to the cocoa grove senior secondary school rabbit cages burn/trash holes clothes lines junior secondary school orphanage summer huts garden poly tanks (water) security shack wall
nkwantkese
nkwantkese
nkwantkese
spanco orphanage, nkwantakese, ghana august 2007 1st floor construction
photo: Mike Wagner
december 2007 second floor construction
photo: Mike Wagner
july 2009 water catchment system
nkwantkese
building roads researchand institute, fumasua, ghana Mark Bediako chemical engineer who taught me all about cement pozzolanas, and after a brief awkwardness, became our friend . the BRRI is developing solutions to the saline environment of ghana, which causes cracking in concrete. by ading a boxite byproduct or clay pozzolana, one can decrease the cost of construction, thus responding to ghana’s paradigm shift. a locally developed solution from the abundatnt ghana clay in response to the problem of imported construction methods and materials.
building roads researchand institute, clay pozzolana processing raw clay dug from BRRI site
heated to 700 degrees centigrade and tumbled
the resulting pozzolana hs the consistency of cement and replaces the lime element to reduce CO2 and cost, while making the mixture more dense . generall, CMU can be 50/50, cast on site 30/70 mix ratio to portland
STC bus shared taxi feet taxi shared taxi
togo
benin
nigeria
kumasi accra hohoe wli yikpa kpalime lome aneho ouidah cotonou lagos
on the road
ghana
g h a n a
paradigm shift
g h a n a
ghana
accra, coastal region kumasi nkwantakese hohoe wli
a c c r a
paradigm shift
on the road
wli falls
t o g o
yikpé kpalimé lomé, university (top) aného, estuary (bottom)
kpalime
l o m e
a n é h o
hotel la becca
a n ĂŠ h o
market
benin
ouidah cotonou
o u i d a h
o u i d a h
cotonou
nigeria
lagos, commercial capital ibadan oyo town osogbo ijebu ode
l a g o s
l a g o s f lashback2008
l a g o s f lashback2008
7. 2 0 0 8
7. 2 0 0 9
7. 2 0 0 8
7. 2 0 0 9
7. 2 0 0 8
7. 2 0 0 9
i l u p e j u f lashback2008
m a s a b a f lashback2008
l a g o s
u n i l a g
l a g o s f lashback2008
l a g o s
f lashback2008
l a g o s
7. 2 0 0 9
7. 2 0 0 8
f e s t a c
f e s t a c
f e s t a c
nigeria
lagos ibadan, yoruba land oyo town osogbo ijebu ode
i b a d a n
i b a d a n
i b a d a n
i b a d a n
d a o s n e wm o k
i b a d a n
i b a d a n
i b a d a n f lashback
nigeria
lagos ibadan oyo town osogbo, osun temple ijebu ode
o s o g b o
ghana
accra cape coast, coastal region elmina
cape coast
cape coast
a c c r a
a c c r a