West Afriq

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