Archiafrika april magazine english final by DEREK Asamoah

ArchiAfrika M A G A Z I N E

hugh

MASAKELA APRIL 2013

54 CAIRO URBANISM - trash becomes cash By Zeina Elcheikh

table of CONTENTS 4 6

EDITORIAL By Tuuli Saarela, Editor of ArchiAfrika Magazine

CHAIRMAN’S CORNER

- All Roads Lead to Lagos via Mumbai and Accra By Joe Osae-Addo, Chairman of ArchiAfrika Foundation

AFRICA FLOATS TO MILAN

iNTERVIEW WITH HUGH MASAKELA

By Nat Nuno-Amarteifio

Interview with Hugh Masakela

THE ROAD TO HERITAGE competition By Hugh Masakela

GREEN & YELLOW DIVIDES ADDIS ABABA

By RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholar, Thomas Aquilina

IN SEARCH OF THE ORIGIN By Jurriaan van Stigt

62 THE REAL ECONOMY

- informal housing, work and the future a look at Accra and Lagos By Gilbert Nii-Okai Addy

74 BUILDINGS TELL A STORY - 20th century architecture in Kenya By Janfrans van der Eerden MSc Arch Architect MAAK

ACCRA’S 84 PRESERVING ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE - the need for restoration and preservation

Excerpts from a discussion between Nat Armarteifio, Osei Agyeman, Senam Okudzeto and Joe Osae-Addo from AiD 13.1

90 INTERVIEW WITH NIKOS SALINGAROS

By Zaheer Allam & J. Soopramanien

PERSPECTIVES 96 AFRICAN LAGOS ‘13

- conference announcement & call for papers

EDITORIAL Tuuli Saarela Editor of ArchiAfrika Magazine

Africa is in an economic boom period, but what are the true effects on the urban environment? Is African heritage threatened as we construct gleaming new skyscrapers? Can we re-establish the concept of sustainability as a part of our heritage and identity, rather than an idea that is a purely Western concept? In this month’s issue we travel the length and breadth of the continent to answer some of these questions: from North Africa (Cairo) to South Africa ( Johannesburg) to the East African hubs of (Nairobi and Addis Ababa) as well as West Africa (Dogon, Accra and Lagos).

recorded and captured before it is lost under the deceptive pretense of progress.

The contributors in this issue of the ArchiAfrika Magazine all speak to common themes of heritage, identity, sustainability and urban renewal. These will be explored further in the 2013 issues of our magazine, to prepare us for a fantastic debate and exchange of ideas at the sixth African Perspective Conference taking place at the Golden Tulip Festac Hotel in Lagos Nigeria from December 5-8, 2013. Check out the conference announcement and call for papers. All Roads Lead to Lagos!

In this issue we also visit Kenya to discover how our heritage and our histories are under threat. In Nairobi, rapid development threatens the city’s visual history and Janfrans van der Eerden reminds us that old buildings have a story to tell, eliciting thoughts on how we can organize to preserve buildings of historical and cultural significance.

In this issue, we will explore our heritage through the perspective of one of our great musical heroes, Hugh Masakela. Hugh has long been an activist fighting for the promotion of African heritage who reminds us that our heritage is something we must preserve, protect and promote- something that must be 4

Hugh Masakela and ArchiAfrika are pleased to announce the first Road to Heritage Competition for African designers, students, amateurs and professionals to present creative proposals to create and promote spaces of heritage. The competition brief will be announced in July and entries will be considered by a world-class panel of judges. We will finally announce the winner in December at the AP Conference in Lagos.

Must our histories and heritage be necessarily lost under the tides of economic development? Can we learn anything from Gilbert NiiOkai Addy who draws parallels between contemporary Accra, Lagos and 19th century London- cities which all practice slum clearing, and cities which ultimately fail to bring about changes in social policy towards poor people. Interesting thoughts.

From Addis Ababa, we hear from RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholar Thomas Acquilina who discovers the causes and effects of a new government directive to use green and yellow iron sheets in demarcation of building sites. He goes beyond beautification to discover the informal settlements that were pushed out and also how the informal economy springs up around them. His writings from six African cities focus on the recycling practices of Africans. Some of our peers have begun to question the value of sustainability beyond a very alluring moral facade. Is sustainability too expensive for Africa? What about the uncomfortable stigma of sustainability as something that is actually opposed to progress? While sustainable approaches can help to bring basic services to areas that need it most, long-term viability may depend on the capacity of the solution to generate income. In Cairo, we learn from Zeina Elcheikh about how Trash becomes Cash in the informal settlement of Ezbet Al-Nasr.

shows us that true collaboration is never onesided but an exchange. An enduring love for the Pays Dogon and a respect for traditional architecture, have enabled Dutch and Malian partners to build schools in Dogon and even imported Malian design into the architectural heritage of Amsterdam. Can contemporary designers establish a true balance between modern design and African heritage? What does this look like? Can we redefine sustainability “In Our Own Words” and reconnect to our sustainable indigenous pedigree? We hope that you will continue the discussions as one of our next contributors for the July 2013 issue. Do get in touch with the editorial team if you want to contribute to the discourse!

Regards, Tuuli Saarela

Our contributor Zaheer Allam brings us an exclusive interview with Professor Nikos Salingaros, the father of the immensely popular theory of urban design and fractals, which seems to have struck a cord with an African audience. In the interview, we hear Nikos thoughts on emergent economies, renewable energy and sustainable construction. Finally, we are reminded that collaboration can bring about genuine development of craft. It is well known that Europeans have long visited Africa for inspiration, but it is clear that they also systematically study, capture and re-interpret our traditional designs into European architectural styles. The experience of Foundation Dogon Education and its Chairman Jurrian van Stigt

CHAIRMAN’S corner

ALL ROADS LEAD TO LAGOS VIA MUMBAI AND ACCRA Joe Osae Addo Chairman, ArchiAfrika 6

I woke up on the 30th floor of the Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai to a spectacular view of the lake and the high rises beyond, a far cry from the intensely chaotic, but seemingly synchronized traffic of the previous night’s arrival in the city from Mumbai airport. The experience of arriving in Mumbai is strangely familiar to that of arrival in Lagos and to a lesser extent, Accra. The familiarity of these experiences is a clear vestige of colonial British rule.

Deep thoughts abound as I reflect on what Ghana, and the other colonies,could have become and suddenly I find myself reminiscing about the Ghana of my childhood in the early 1970’s. Ghana in those days appeared idyllic with exposure to a modern way of life firmly rooted in the passionate love for our traditions, passed on from our grand parents. The previous generation of non-Accra folk, were born and raised in our hometowns and villages rather than the cities, and therefore the first generation of us city children would still visit the village frequently, and truly looked forward to our monthly trips out to experience the change of pace. To me as a precocious child, modernity embodied being able to straddle modernity and traditionalism with ease and without conflict.

Nothing symbolized modernity and Accra living more than the Ambassador Hotel (now Movenpick Ambassador Hotel—to which it bears no resemblance at all), with its extraordinary swimming pool and grand international style architecture. As a nine year old, what mattered most were the delicious scones and Cornish pies! It was these great pastries, be it the local or western inspired ones, which made my Accra tick. My thick waistline emerged all those years ago, and I blame it entirely on the Ambassador Hotel! Early 1970’s Accra was a child’s dream. Afternoon Boys Scouts meetings at the Ridge Church School, where I attended primary school and where my dear mother also happened to be headmistress, to the Children’s Theater at the Arts Center, to the music lessons at the National Symphony where my piano teacher Mr. Vanderpuye worked: this was my way of life. We would sometimes ride our ‘banana seat bikes’ around the Ridge School with dear friends, Amand Ayensu, Joseph and Michael Kinsley Nyinah, Robert Millls, Adjei Adjetey, with Afua Sutherland Park and George Padmore Library as our stomping grounds. Even then I knew that open space and good architecture mattered- as embodied by the spaces described and the Ambassador Hotel. Life was not so bad at all.

Swimming at the Ambassador was the special treat any child would crave for. The pool as I remember it had bright blue tiles, which gave the water the look of the ocean and made it appear so large that it commanded my respect. We jumped from the diving boards with gusto but were mindful not to be a nuisance to the regular swimmers. One such ‘hip’ gentleman that seemed to live in the pool (hahahah) was ‘the famous South African’ Hugh Masekela. Yes, that was how the pool attendant described him to us at the time. Hugh was a gentle kind man, and often obliged our Cornish pasty habits. We knew that this man was in exile in Ghana and was a very famous musician. We revered him, even at that age.

These are very sketchy memories, but I remember his easy and commanding smile and certainly his generosity and that he lived in the scion of modernism, the Ambassador Hotel. I wonder what he thinks of the new Movenpick Ambassador, whose amenities I still enjoy with my family today. My sons Kwaku and Juhani often run around the hotel, as if they owned it, much as we did over 40 years ago. Certain things never change! It’s a shame that they will never experience the connection to heritage that such buildings conjured for us residents of post-colonial Accra. 7

As ArchiAfrika and AiD embark on engaging in the discourse of preservation and conservation, these old memories come to mind, and remind us all of the need to engage and preserve something of the old Ghana and Africa that we used to know. AiD has selected the Children’s Library, a design of Max Fry and Jane Drew, as a case study of how buildings can be improved through restoration rather than decimated by directionless renovation. Now back to Hugh Masakela, who is our featured personality for this edition of our Magazine. To me he embodies the aspirations of a new Africa- proud of its heritage, while embracing modernity: a redefinition of what Africa stands for in this global world. He is the embodiment of the true ‘adventurer in the diaspora.’ Hugh and his extraordinary wife Elinam and their children are dear friends of ours and we are honored that they agreed to be part of this issue. With our upcoming theme for 2013 being ‘All Roads Lead to Lagos’ one cannot ignore the symbolism of Hugh Masakela being featured in this issue, as he was very good friends with another great African activist, Fela Kuti from Nigeria. Their music is the voice of Africa and a constant reminder to all us of why our culture matters. Hugh Masakela is the kind of advocate for the cultural and creative renaissance of Africa that ArchiAfrika wants to be associated with, and to learn from.Hugh, thank you for being ‘a shining light’ and a great role model for creative people engaging in Africa’s development agenda. AYEKOO! Regards, Joe Osae Addo Chairman, ArchiAfrika Foundation 8

Above: Sketch by Joe Osae-Addo

AFRICA

floats to

MILAN By Nat Nuno-Amerteifio

One topic that provoked animated discussion was new designs coming from the continent. This followed the presentation by Kunlé Adeyemi, a young Nigerian architect practicing in Amsterdam and Lagos. He gave an illustrated talk on a school project he created for an aquatic village called Makoko in Lagos. Adeyemi belongs to a new and stimulating generation of African architects whose works are shaping the unfolding narrative of contemporary African architecture. Other practitioners are Joe OsaeAddo of Ghana and Francis Kéré of Burkina Faso. These artists, who have arrived at the apex of their profession, come equipped with profound understanding of post-modernist

design concepts. They were also educated in an era when environmental sustainability was a serious issue. The combination of these factors and others such as unfair economic arrangement of international trade has given them the confidence to examine the fundaments of design theories in our time.They have drawn valuable lessons from traditional African architecture including the social organization of construction. The application of these insights gives their projects a fresh neo-Bantu stamp that is remarkably free of atavistic posturing. Adeyemi’s presentation was a welcome introduction of promising new design from the continent.

Below: Platform prototype. Image Courtesy of NLÉ, Shaping the Architecture of Developing Cities

Above: Kunlé Adeyemi and Nat Nuno-Amertefio in conversation at The Milan Design Week, 2013. Previous Page: Inset: Makoko Floating School. Image Courtesy of NLÉ, Shaping the Architecture of Developing Cities

The Milan Design Week hosted designers, inventors and thinkers from around the world and enabled them to explore their work and ideas to their contemporaries. It took place in April when the city draws in breadth after the winter and watches the trees break into the first hopeful buds of spring. Events and exhibitions were displayed in venues across the metropolis. This gave participants the opportunity to explore Milan’s incomparable architectural heritage as well as enjoy its remarkable transportation infrastructure. This includes gaily painted trams that look vaguely familiar until you notice their similarity to the trams of San Francisco. Indeed the trams of Milan furnished the prototype for those 12

in San Francisco. Another engaging urban feature of the city is the presence of hundreds of motorcycles and bicycles parked at different spots and available to residents for a nominal fee. The Afrofuture exposition convened exports from the continent to consider the impact on African cities of some of the key questions from various disciplines including architecture, politics and technology. Using images from different cities we illustrated how these questions and issues are shaped in our discourse and the solutions that emerge. Presentations were from Lagos, Accra, Luanda, Nairobi and Dakar. 13

These artists, who have arrived at the apex of their profession, come equipped with profound understanding of post-modernist design concepts. They were also educated in an era when environmental sustainability was a serious issue. The combination of these factors and others such as unfair economic arrangement of international trade has given them the confidence to examine the fundaments of design theories in our time. They have drawn valuable lessons from traditional African architecture including the social organization of construction. The application of these insights gives their projects a fresh neo-Bantu stamp that is remarkably free of atavistic posturing.

Inset: Makoko Floating School Image Courtesy of NLĂ&#x2030;, Shaping the Architecture of Developing Cities 14

Another submission that was full of assurance was by Cyrus Kabiru, a designer from Nairobi. He is a brilliant artist who currently specializes in creating “concept” eyeglasses. His pieces are fabricated from discarded machine parts. They are cheeky for their originality and breathtaking for the audacity of his imagination. He is master at combining familiar items in unfamiliar ways. Imagine a pair of tooth brushes arranged to serve as frames for eyeglasses or a pair of handcuffs similarly reconstructed. His works are quixotic and even though they are not intended for the mass market, they demonstrate an astonishing creativity that promises a lot to African fashion and design.

It was an exhilarating week in Milan. It is obvious beyond argument that ideas already exist that will massage African design into the 21st century. What is yet to be developed is the academic vehicle to expose them to our design colleges and technical schools. One can only hope that this magazine will land on a friendly table. The Milan Design Week was produced by the City of Milan. The Afrofuture portion was curated by Nana Ocran and Big Ben.

Left: Cyrus Kabiru’s Artwork Image from http://www.ckabiruart.daportfolio.com/

bioGRAPHY Hugh Masakela is a world-renowned flugelhornist, trumpeter, bandleader, composer, singer and defiant political voice who remains deeply connected at home, while his international career sparkles. He was born in the town of Witbank, South Africa in 1939. At the age of 14, the deeply respected advocate of equal rights in South Africa, Father Trevor Huddleston, provided Masakela with a trumpet and, soon after, the Huddleston Jazz Band was formed. Masakela began to hone his, now signature, Afro-Jazz sound in the late 1950s during a period of intense creative collaboration, most notably performing in the 1959 musical King Kong, written by Todd Matshikiza, and, soon thereafter, as a member of the now legendary South African group, the Jazz Epistles (featuring the classic line up of Kippie Moeketsi, Abdullah Ibrahim and Jonas Gwangwa).

hugh 18

MASAKELA

In 1960, at the age of 21 he left South Africa to begin what would be 30 years in exile from the land of his birth. On arrival in New York he enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music. This coincided with a golden era of jazz music and the young Masakela immersed himself in the New York jazz scene where nightly he watched greats like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Mingus and Max Roach. Under the tutelage of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong, Hugh was encouraged to develop his own unique style, feeding off African rather than American influences â&#x20AC;&#x201C; his debut album, released in 1963, was entitled Trumpet Africaine. 19

In the late 1960s Hugh moved to Los Angeles in the heat of the ‘Summer of Love’, where he was befriended by hippie icons like David Crosby, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. In 1967 Hugh performed at the Monterey Pop Festival alongside Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Ravi Shankar, The Who and Jimi Hendrix. In 1968, his instrumental single ‘Grazin’ in the Grass’ went to Number One on the American pop charts and was a worldwide smash, elevating Hugh onto the international stage. His subsequent solo career has spanned 5 decades, during which time he has released over 40 albums (and been featured on countless more) and has worked with such diverse artists as Harry Belafonte, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds, Fela Kuti, Marvin Gaye, Herb Alpert, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and the late Miriam Makeba. In 1990 Hugh returned home, following the unbanning of the ANC and the release of Nelson Mandela – an event anticipated in Hugh’s anti-apartheid anthem ‘Bring Home Nelson Mandela’ (1986) which had been a rallying cry around the world. In 2004 Masakela published his compelling autobiography, Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masakela (co-authored with D. Michael Cheers), which Vanity Fair described thus: ‘…you’ll be in awe of the many lives packed into one.’ 20

In June 2010 he opened the FIFA Soccer World Cup Kick-Off Concert to a global audience and performed at the event’s Opening Ceremony in Soweto’s Soccer City. In 2010, President Zuma honoured him with the highest order in South Africa: The Order of Ikhamanga, and 2011 saw Masakela receive a Lifetime Achievement award at the WOMEX World Music Expo in Copenhagen. The US Virgin Islands proclaimed ‘Hugh Masakela Day’ in March 2011, not long after Hugh joined U2 on stage during the Johannesburg leg of their 360 World Tour. U2 frontman Bono described meeting and playing with Hugh as one of the highlights of his career. Hugh is currently using his global reach to spread the word about heritage restoration in Africa – a topic that remains very close to his heart. “My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are,” Masakela confides – and it’s this commitment to his home continent that has propelled him forward since he first began playing the trumpet. Sources/copyright: GRIOT GmbH, Wulf v. Gaudecker and Hugh Masakela “The Official Site”

South African trumpeter Hugh Masakela and Nigerian singer Femi Kuti perform during the opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in JOhannesburg. Photo: AFP

An Interview with

HUGH MASAKELA poet, philosopher, cultural activist

How many African cities have you visited? And what are their common features (in terms of culture, people, design and architecture)?

Self-education, intense practice, vigorous physical exercise, playing with outstanding young musicians and constantly touring the world.

I have visited over 30 cities in Africa. The majority are overcrowded. In most of them, the impoverished live with very poor service delivery in sordid squalor and under extremely unhealthy conditions. Wealthy countries in Africa have luxurious upper class neighborhoods, modern malls and urban development that match Western metropolises. The most disturbing factor is that none of the cities boast African-style designs. Kigali in Rwanda and Windhoek in Namibia are outstanding for their cleanliness. Some cities have vibrant cultural groups, clubs and concert venues. Many countries suppress the development of cultural excellence, merely dismissing it as frivolous as it is likely to upstage the coveted political limelight.

What are your views on wealth creation and the creation of a vibrant educated population who can contribute to sustainable development and growth of the continent. Is it really happening?

How do you manage to stay current and topical with the rapid economic changes engulfing the continent? 22

Most political establishments in Africa systematically keep the underclass ignorant and devoid of crucial information that could help to improve the quality of life. It seems that wealth creation is limited to the business and political establishments. Same old, same old! I am pessimistic about the development that is only addressed in summits, conferences and talk shops but never trickles down to the masses, who only seem to be noticed when they are needed for election votes.

Discuss the rapid growth and modernization and your thoughts on the contemporary African city. Could your experiences in developing hybrid music genres be an inspiration to how our built environments could evolve into something truly African? Rapid growth in almost all the cities that experience it, projects imitations of western metropolises. There is very little if any African character in them. Perhaps if business and government could aggressively promote heritage restoration in the arts; this could be an element that would inspire African town planners, designers and architects to project indigenous styles into our developmental initiatives.

How has music influenced contemporary African creative endeavors including design? What is the link between music and design?

It appears to me that most African contemporary music strives very intensely to imitate USA and European styles. At this rate, it is obviously pointing design and town planning in a very Western direction. Unless there is some sort of semblance of heritage restored into our lives, all the things we create will suffer from the neo-colonial frenzy we so extremely try to emulate. There is no link that I can identify at this writing, between music and design. African visual art is the only element that mostly retains an indigenous quality on our continent, undersupported as it is.

What are your views on contemporary music , culture and how does Africa fare? Do you see the need for better collaboration among creatives to promote Africa globally? For African culture to have a visible face, African society is going to have to collaborate in forming a Heritage Restoration Society similar to the World Wildlife Fund; an institute that will aggressively promote and protect the massive and diverse content of ancient indigenous qualities whose erosion we witness by the hour.

How should Africans respond to often neglected or suppressed heritage and culture? Is there real interest from Africans (besides UNESCO and foreign funders) in preserving some of the unique heritage of our communities (ie. Sophiatown was recently renamed back to its original name, how do we preserve and protect places of heritage? And does this necessarily mean becoming political? 26

I have included a heritage proposal which I emailed separately in an attempt at illustrating an example of heritage restoration. It cannot be preached. It has to be presented through edutainement. Foreign funders will only come to the party once the African diaspora begins to lead. The UN and funders would not know where to begin.

Discuss current politics on the continent in the context of north Africa, democratic reforms and revolutions. What does this mean for the rest of Africa ? Until African political leadership ceases from viewing inaugurations as royal coronations, we are hurtling down a dangerous path of power grabs, dictatorships, revolutionaries who turn into brutal autocrats and academics who discuss African progress on television specials, in books and election campaigns. We, the ordinary people, are hopelessly praying for “The real thing to come along,” that great “African dream” we have been hearing about for the past six decades. When are we gonna wake up and smell the fufu???

For African culture to have a visible face, African society is going to have to collaborate in forming a Heritage Restoration Society similar to the World Wildlife Fund; an institute that will aggressively promote and protect the massive and diverse content of ancient indigenous qualities whose erosion we witness by the hour. 27

Hugh Masakela & ArchiAfrica present:

competition

The Road To Heritage

The first Road to Heritage Competition, organized by Hugh Masakela in collaboration with ArchiAfrika, is a ground-breaking design competition in which we seek African designers, students, amateurs and professionals to present creative and inno-native™ proposals on how Africans can preserve and promote our heritage. We seek participants to showcase their ideas in our magazine as well as website, compete for prize money and bring ideas to the attention of a prestigious jury. WHY HERITAGE MATTERS Text by Hugh Masakela More than 80 % of Africa’s peoples come from indigenous traditional origins. Our cultural roots are cultivated in customs, oral history, praise-poetry, art, design, architecture, artisanship, agriculture, mysticism, song, dance, couture, cuisine, pageantry, ceremony, rituals and moral values. Respect, humility and generosity have always been the crucial cornerstones of African life. Africa’s abundance of unfathomable wealth in raw materials attracted interest among many foreign communities. Explorers, militias and traders began to invade North, West and Central Africa in the 14th century in search of treasures. Next came religious groups of missionaries and prophets with determined resolve to convert the “natives from barbarism” and away from their customs. Subsequently 28

armies and ships laden with superior weaponry overran most of Africa, confiscating land, food supplies, and livestock, pillaging and intent on lording over the indigenous peoples. Centuries of conquest lead to a merciless slave trade which saw millions loaded into sailing vessels that carried Africans to the western world, a time during which families were forcibly separated, native languages outlawed and traditions systematically destroyed. On the continent, the remaining millions were colonized. Africa was eventually carved up into scores of European-created “new” countries. The native populations were transformed into legions of cheap-labour armies. Many converted into Islam and Christianity. Forced migration to new industrial centres and farmlands along with minimal education led to the gradual erosion of traditional heritage. 29

Indigenous customs began to disappear: African civilization saw the evaporation of our folklore and indigenous origins, which were gradually abandoned. By the 21st Century, most Africans (even though their customs and beliefs were not totally erased) began to be convinced that their own heritage was heathen, pagan, backward, savage, barbaric and primitive due to the messages created by religion, advertising, television, misunderstood foreign education and urbanization. Today many urban households in Africa have abandoned communicating in their mother-tongue. Some even forbid the use of any language that are not European. Unless the restoration of heritage into the lives of Africans is not promoted, future generations will not define ourselves in our own terms and words, perhaps claiming that â&#x20AC;&#x153;we used to be Africans very, very long ago.â&#x20AC;? This would be a major tragedy. 30

This competition is a small means by which we can re-introduce elements of heritage restoration into our communities. We do not seek to preach to the masses, but wish this competition to use mostly entertainment and educational methods. The time has come for us to harness our heritage and spread it far and wide using modern technology and all Western civilization has to offer. The ideas shared in the competition will be a most exciting legacy for present and future generationsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not to mention the foreigners who come to Africa to admire our geographical sites and wildlife because they cannot find our people as they are preoccupied with imitating other cultures. The ancestors of Africa await this initiative with excited hope and overwhelming enthusiasm. So does the rest of humanity. What is now left is to make it happen!

The competition brief and rules will be published in the July 2013 issue of the ArchiAfrika Magazine, along with the members of a prestigious jury and the prize money. The competition is open to African designers, students, amateurs and professionals who have ideas on how we can actively preserve and promote our heritage. The winner of the competition will be announced at the African Perspectives Conference in Lagos in December 2013. Winning designs will be showcased at the conference, as well as on the ArchiAfrika website and ArchiAfrika Magazine.

For more information, please contact Dahlia Roberts at dahlia@aaaccra.org. 31

By RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholar,

Thomas Aquilina

Green &

Yellow DIVIDES

ADDIS ABABA

A travelling research project on informal recycling practices in six African cities (Cairo, Addis Ababa, Kampala, Kigali, Lusaka, and Johannesburg).

Adane Y., taxi driver, inspected his disposable photographs meticulously, 6x4 copies slightly spoiled by a coarse grain and overexposure. Almost all of them showed the same subject: a construction site fence painted repetitively in green and yellow vertical stripes. But with each image Adane described something else he saw or intended to capture. When I pressed him on the reappearing fence, he told me plainly “it is just in the construction.” One of my field methods is the distribution of disposable cameras to residents. These photographs intend to document a kind of lived experience and construct a narrative of each city. With Adane, I asked him to shoot a typical drive through Addis Ababa. Some of his photographs were framed by the edge of his taxi window or dashboard (an old Russian Lada taxi immaculately kept). His journey was located between old town, Piazza, and desirable new location, Bole. In both examples the fence was there, and provided a clue for my project. The ongoing investigation – Material Economies – as part of the RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship consists of a movement (or a line) in each city that follows the life of a particular material, usually recycled. This allows me to understand its arrangement and sequence as it is positioned, changed or renewed. I trace the intersections and movements of informal economies, which take different turns and direct me to different locations. I encounter a complex interplay of urban relationships, actors and tactics, mostly informal and diffuse, and many are invisible. By following Adane’s implied material, I learnt

that this fence made from corrugated iron sheeting and always painted with this uniform colour palette and pattern is a government regulation in Addis Ababa for every new building site. A contractor suggested this directive was a way of “beautifying” the city before an African Union summit two years ago. The fence has since become ubiquitous and shows a city under construction. My interest, however, is not the aesthetics but how this canvas is transforming everyday life. The fencing often encloses large vacant sites that were once informal settlements. It first masked a demolished popular neighbourhood, Filwuha, adjacent to the Sheraton Hotel, lined with mature palm trees. Residents were relocated to city-edge condominium plots. Only a local mafia and handful of surviving settlers remain. My guide and old Filwuha neighbour, Biruk G., said it is “just a matter of time before all old villages are removed from Addis.” His village will soon be cleared, and his current stationery business will have to end. His clients and networks won’t travel with him and he’s already thinking up a new occupation as a condominium broker.

Inhabitants in these environments are readily repositioned, whether they are compelled to relocate livelihoods, or engage in a form of street occupation.

In front of the Filwuha fence peddlers would accumulate and displayed a series of activities. When a nearby church celebrated a religious festival priests gave offerings to the churchgoers at the fence as an overflow service. Candles, missals, umbrellas, and small plants were available to buy. Women sold “shameta,” a local barley juice out of recycled tin cans. By late afternoon, small stalls populated with chat-chewers. Chat, fresh evergreen leaves, a mild narcotic stimulant and lucrative cash crop. Redressed and punctured with vendor’s operations the fence becomes the setting for the stuff of a city to take place. People use this ambiguous space between official and unofficial, private and public to find work. These often-tenuous occupations result in learned manoeuvres and a constantly negotiated space, which are sometimes within original spatial practices. Mobile economies proliferate; whether it is cellular money transfers or emerging vendors. Residents are willing to convert themselves into all kinds of agents, which reinforces their capacity to engage with the city, enabling them to grab the next opportunity, even if they can participate minimally. Previous Page (Above): Adane Y.’s disposable photograph of Bole Road, Addis Ababa

The capacity to survive in the old village, Atale explained, was based on a saturated life. Where people contributed and divided the spoils, quick to fill in, substitute and make up for established relations. Life was grounded; it took place on the street, where conversations and networks were shared. In Gemo, this kind of existence appears no longer workable. Urban Africans need to invent new solutions.

Below Left: Churchgoers at street corner

These narratives focus on the resiliencies of urban residency in Africa, and with it, the possibilities. Since travelling it has become clear the African city is going somewhere, but it is also always on the point of turning into something else.

Follow on Twitter @thomasaquilina

Previous Page (Below): View out from Adane Y.’s taxi Left: Resident

I found myself discovering the kinds of journeys, daily exchanges and transactions made by residents within their city. I followed the relocation of urban majorities to peripheral condominiums. Across the city, condominium plot, Gemo, 15-kilometers from the city centre is where Biruk’s old neighbour, Atale A., arrived via a ballot system. Her neighbours drew other plots. The site is a cluster of insipid and identical fivestorey buildings with external staircases and patchy grass open spaces. The phone signal was unreliable. Atale’s apartment is known as a “credit home,” and makes a monthly payment to the government.

in of the

ORIGIN Jurriaan van Stigt

Since 1980 I have been in love with Mali, Sudanese architecture, the music of Boubacar, Toumani and Ali Farka Toure, but in particular the architecture, culture and anthropology of the Dogon. It humbles me to write about what we, at the Foundation Dogon Education and architect professor Joop van Stigt, have been able to build in the last 20 years in Mali. Our inspiration was shaped in the fifties and sixties when architect Herman Haan, Aldo van Eyck and others visited the Dogon and published their experiences in the famous Dutch magazine FORUM. The publications in this magazine had a big impact on the Dutch architectural style at that time. At this time, Joop van Stigt worked on the building site of the Orphanage designed by Aldo van Eyck in Amsterdam. Van Eyck sent him a postcard with a picture of Djenne- and on the back was this text and a fast drawing of his design of the building with small cupolas. (Picture of front and backside of the postcard, and translation of the text… will be the first time ever this is published) Back in the Netherlands, the building was constructed as it stands now with a characteristic honeycomb dome-vaulted structure, which is still famous and considered part of Dutch heritage. The orphanage symbolizes a big opportunity in thinking about scale. It was the start of thinking in structure: the city as house, a house as a city, inside and outside, the big scale and the small scale. In the Orphanage, there is a realization of a duality in every task: there is a visible cellular structure, but also freedom.

Previous Page: Dogon, Bandiagarra Cliffs

Left: FORUM magazine

It is this theme that van Eyck found so intriguing in the Dogon so many years ago. The experience described was van Stigt’s first encounter with Mali and became a motivation to go there himself. He made his first trip to Mali in 1972, and has kept going ever since. After his retirement as professor in Delft specialized in building constructions, heritage and renovation, he presented his book Dogon Architecture, Art and Anthropology and started the Foundation Dogon Education. The first aim was not to make “architecture,” but to create wells, water supplies and school buildings.Throughout the years,the experiences grew into much more than simply building; he learned to work with the Dogon people, exchange knowledge and experiment with new techniques. By analyzing the extremely ingenious adobe construction methods of the Dogon, it was possible to further develop his imported methods in order to be able to build in a sustainable way with locally available materials. The mantra of building in Dogon became “pas simple, pas bon” (not simple not good) and stayed as a theme of van Stigt in his work in the Netherlands where he became known for looking for the most economical solution combined with a clear, simple and true beauty of the building. It can be argued that he learned this skill from the Dogon and Sudanese mud architecture. 41

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Everything from mud and some wood! Wonderful World! We are a bit white healthy feeling however. Nowhere have I laughed so much and making jokes. Every morning a whole pineapple! Delicious Mangoes. Niger fish and chicken. Hot – beautiful birds, women and towns (will show slides and film). Tomorrow begins the big hike along the Dogon gap with intact primeval culture. Donkeys carry the stuff – It is fine with my now-no-care-child. I’m 27 on the construction site, brown, --- and ready for new steps.

Don’t forget a Santa Claus gift hi hi hi AvEyck

In 2008 the Fondation started to build with hydraulic compressed earth blocks, a next step in the continuation of the traditional adobe building methods in the Dogon, (see the book ‘beyond construction’). The decision to do so responded to a need for the architecture to fit into the landscape and connect to the culture. Our first buildings using this method were in Sevaré, and included housing, extension of the technical school and a small hotel. Everything, including bearing walls and facades of half brick (14 centimeter) were built with earth blocks, even carrying concrete floors and overstrains of 7 meters. The buildings are located in the new town which houses modern Malian housing, architecture, some old French colonial architecture, all of which are strongly influenced by the Sudanese style. The most important objective here was to learn, build and show that there is a natural beauty in building with earth. The information centre of mud architecture in Mopti built by the Aga Khan Foundation designed by Francis Kéré was in this case a great support for changing the mind set in building methods. Now there are a lot of new skilled builders in the region of Mopti Sevaré which will hopefully give a boost to build, construct and design a truly sustainable Malian architecture by local architects and masons. With the experience of knowledge we gained in Sevaré, the Fondation started building more primary schools in the Dogon area with compressed earth blocks. The villages all require a different approach depending on their location along the cliffs of Bandiagarra, the plain or the plateau. However, every building the Fondation constructed throughout the years was realized with the strong support and contribution of a village who prepared sand, red earth and water. 44

Previous Page: Postcard from Aldo van Eyck Inset: Renovation, primary school in Sangha 1907 Next Page: Internship project students of the Technical School (ETSJ), February 2012 45

In 2012 the first school complex, three school classrooms, housing for teachers and sanitation with barrel vaults was completed. This complex near the village of Balaguina, on the plateau one hour’s drive from Sevaré, is almost 100% earth bricks (excluding the concrete foundation). The bricks were produced on site by transporting a brick machine to the location. The buildings rise literally out of the earth from which they are made. The village has contributed immensely to the production of the bricks on the site. The school is designed with two verandas, which can be seen as the buttress to the barrel vaults above the classrooms. Each classroom is dilated, the roof is constructed with brick masonry on its side. The final layer of the roof is finished with 4 centimetres of red earth and a little (5%) cement. For light and ventilation, we used locally produced ceramic gargoyles. It gives the school building it’s architectural recognition. The porches of the veranda’s are inspired by the particular way openings and facades are made in several Sudanese style buildings. The floors are also made of earth blocks but instead of the normal 8.5 kilo bricks (90*140*290) we made them 5 kilo to reduce the use of material and cement. In every brick, we used 3% cement mix to make the blocks water resistant and termite proof. The houses for the teachers and head master are positioned along the road and near the well. The basic houses are each orientated in a different direction to obtain privacy. This architecture is more inspired by the plasticity of the architecture of the granaries, houses and Ginna’s of the Dogon.

Left: Atelier of the Technical School (ETSJ) in Sévaré

There are two main issues that had to be reconciled with building modern buildings such as schools using traditional Dogon architecture. Firstly, in Mali and especially in the Dogon area, cellular buildings with small sized spaces are the most common type architecture and part of the traditional building method. Even Mosques are bigger buildings on the exterior, but on the interior are still divided into small spaces with small spans. The second issue is the position of the schools and housing for teachers in relation to the village. The school buildings are a clearly different size, scale and structure. In contrast to the Dogon tradition which says oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s village is oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home, the Foundation built outside the villages. On the one hand this exclusion from the village gives freedom to architecture, but on the other hand it demands reestablishing a connection to the genius loci. The first school of the foundation was built using building methods already common for school buildings throughout Mali, and became very utilitarian. The challenge in the future is to adapt these issues and respond to them more directly. Inset: House Hogan Arou 50

Above: Traditional method mud block Below: Ensemble of the primary school in Balaguina

Above: Overview of 15 years of work by the Foundation Education Dogon Jurriaan van Stigt, “Beyond Construction,” 2012 The book beyond construction,(plus que construire) can be ordered through the internet book publisher www. Pumbo.nl Below: Detail of a saho at Bia, near Niafunké Sergio Domain, “Architecture Soudanaise,” 1989

There will be a fenced area around the houses with hangars for the kitchen. The school started in October 2012 after a very rainy wet season, which proved that the construction without a ‘raincoat’ is sustainable. Also the interior climate due to the use of the compressed earth blocks is very pleasing. The process I have described to the readers of ArchiAfrika Magazine continues, as there is still a lot to be learned in the future. We hope that our buildings inspire and motivate more and more of the upcoming builders and architects from Dogon. Architecture is not about revolution but about evolution. Jurriaan van Stigt Chair Foundation Dogon Education Architect at LEVS architecten Chief editor FORUM Magazine Information www.dogononderwijs.nl

Cairo

urbanism tra$h becomes ca$h Zeina Elcheikh

A group of 21 students from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia and Germany converged in Basateen district in Cairo in the informal area of Ezbet Al-Nasr to think about design analysis including basic urban services, local economic development, land and shelter, governance, and environment. An exhibition of their proposals in February 2013 selected the initiative of three students: Nahla Makhlouf (Egypt), Sandy Qarmout ( Jordan) and Zeina Elcheikh (Syria) to implement as a means of addressing the garbage problems in the neighborhood. 55

Garbage is almost everywhere in the area. The huge amount of trash was causing serious health problems, originating from the natural degradation of organic waste or from burning it, which is usually the only way to get rid of it. Some of the residents collected and sorted wastes through a recycling micro industry, including metal, plastic, cartoons, glass recycling. However, there was no way of recycling organic wastes.

The people in Ezbet AlNasr represent a low-income community, and the three students agreed upon developing a concept that involves garbage to solve an environmental problem but also to provide additional income. They came up with the motto: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trash Becomes Cashâ&#x20AC;?.

Contacts were made with several NGOs and individuals interested in recycling and environmental issues. Getting to know better about professionalsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work in these fields in Cairo, helped in framing the work of the team. The students decided to introduce biogas to the residents of Ezbet Al-Nasr. Each biogas unit costs between 180-200$, an amount not easily affordable by the local community, and therefore funding was needed to install the units. Generous support came from an association (Al-Musbah Al-Mudii) which offered to fund the first 5 biogas units at no cost and to financially support interested people in the area in installing their biogas units in the future. Two technicians also provided technical support, as they had installed biogas units in their own homes a few years ago. 57

The residents of Ezbet Al-Nasr needed to rethink their garbage-related habits and practices, and to consider it as an income source to be used rather than a leftover to be thrown away. Such a task was not easily achieved without approaching the local community directly through informal meetings and discussions on the streets. While installing the first biogas in the area, the team arranged a session to introduce the idea to the local residents. This session to raise awareness about biogas was held under the theme “Let’s not throw it, let’s make use of it.” During the exhibition the Trash Becomes Cash team prepared and distributed manuals and other printed materials to spread the idea and established a network between the community, the funding agency and the technicians involved in this new microindustry. Although the team achieved satisfactory results by introducing the residents to a new sustainable technology, the continuity of the project depends on the community’s acceptance of the technology in the long run. It can be a big step to begin reconsidering 58

organic waste as a resource that can help save the residents money, rather than just garbage. But this initiative may be a first step in the right direction.

Informal settlements suffer from many challenges associated with the built environment. Bridging academic research to realworld practice, and technology with socio-economic needs of the community was the main outcome of the intervention. Above: Illustration of the Biodegradable process from the organic waste to the Biogas Left: Garbage in Ezbet Al-Nasr Below Left: Schematic cross section in the applied biogas unit (developped by the team based on the site implementation) Next Page: Installing the 1st Biogas Unit Photos courtesy of Zeina Elcheikh 59

The project showed that big hopes in the informal area can be fulfilled through seemingly small initiatives 60

the real

ECONOMY

Informal Housing, Work and The Future A look at Accra and Lagos By Gilbert Nii-Okai Addy

Gilbert Nii-Okai Addy manages a globetrotting work and lifestyle portfolio as (1) an International Economist and Management Consultant ; (2) a Critic , Writer and Historian of the Arts, Culture and Creative Industries and (3) a Classical Guitarist You may follow him on Twitter at : https://twitter.com/gnaddy 62

Just about everybody living in African cities like Accra and Lagos is connected in some way with the informal economy. Nearly everybody has bought something from a street seller. One only has to walk or drive around Accra or Lagos for a short time to discover that the vast majority of people work in the informal (unregistered) economy. More and more people are moving from the rural areas into the towns and cities, attracted by the prospect of work selling various goods and services beauty salons, tailoring, street selling. In West Africa the increasing adoption of the ECOWAS trade liberalization protocols involving the movement of goods and people means that more and more of this rural-urban migration will in fact be of a cross border nature. One of the biggest political and economic tasks facing Ghana is how to recalibrate its relationship with Nigeria over the coming years.

This is essentially the relationship between Accra and Lagos anyway since both cities account for over 60% of their national economies. This year 2013 is in fact a pivotal year in economic terms for the city of Lagos, Nigeria as a country and West Africa. 64

Here are just three of the many interesting and even surprising economic facts about Lagos and Nigeria: 1. Lagos is projected to overtake Cairo as the biggest city in Africa. 2. The economy of Lagos is now bigger than that of all of Kenya. 3. The economy of Nigeria, for all its chaos and dysfunctionality, at current rate of growth, is projected to overtake that of South Africa as the biggest in Africa by 2015. 4. The Greater Ibadan-Lagos-Accra (GILA) Corridor: This 600-kilometer (373-mile) transport and economic corridor growing agglomeration of cities runs through four countries—Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana—and comprises the economic engine of West Africa. For most of modern history, Africa’s economic landscape has been dominated by the North (North Africa) and the south (mainly south Africa) and the tropical middle was the poorest part. In recent years, however, the centre of gravity has been shifting - or in fact has shifted already - to its tropical middle. What has been taking place quietly has been dubbed by some as the economic rise of Tropical Africa.

Above: A child sells fried dough to other children. Badia residents were bewildered that their government had apparently declared open season on them. “They are doing this without regard for the people who live here,” Felix Morka said of the government-led demolitions. Image Credit: Samuel James for The New York Times. Previous Page: Lagos Sprawl. Image Credit: Keji Ziza - http://www.flickr.com/photos/76902663@N00/1463999464/

Economic growth in much of Africa has defied both expectations and the scourge of “Afro-pessimism” that was rampant for so long among both some Africans and the continent’s detractors. But Africa’s economic recent growth, impressive as it may be, has not been accompanied by any significant job creation and increasing population growth. Furthermore, urbanization has not been accompanied by industrialization that would transform our economies. It has largely been a phenomenon of “jobless growth.” The rate or urbanization – the influx of people from rural areas into towns and cities, has been unprecedented in human history. Several countries like Ghana have seen their populations go from being predominantly rural to predominantly urban, in just a single

generation. The massive urbanization has seen the explosive growth of informal settlements with all kinds of catchy names – slums, ghettos, shanty-towns. The lack of formal sector jobs has led to the relentless growth of the informal economy and informal jobs. The reality is that today, most African countries have largely informal economies with the informal sector accounting for over 70-80% of the economy. Much of the economic growth taking place in Africa is actually in the informal rather than formal sectors and this trend is likely to continue over the foreseeable future. There is also likely to be an unstoppable growth in poor informal urban settlements whether the political establishment and the relatively affluent minority like it or not. 65

Inset: Market. Image Credit: Sean Blaschke

Above: London Victorian slum - Kensington. Image Credit: Gilbert Nii-Okai Addy

The well publicized “slum clearance” and “city decongestion” initiatives have not yielded any measurable or long lasting success. The New York Times in March 2013 had an interesting feature article about the bulldozing of a long-established informal settlement by the authorities in Lagos and wondered whether the city’s poor were being made to pay a heavy price for the city’s “progress”. The article is accessible at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/world/ africa/homeless-pay-the-price-of-progress-inlagos-nigeria.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 68

There is a need for debate on what to do about slums or, to use the more polite term, informal settlements. In Africa given the current rates of urbanisation and population growth which are unprecedented in human history, slums are a necessary process of urbanisation. It is estimated by economists that more than half the world’s people now live in “slum” areas of cities and work in the informal economy.

There is a need for debate on what to do about slums or , to use the more polite term, informal settlements, in Africa given the current rates of urbanisation and population growth which are unprecedented in human history anywhere in this world. Slums always accompany the process of urbanisation. It is generally estimated by many economists that more than half the world’s people now live in “slum” areas of cities and work in the informal economy.

Above: London Victorian slum children. Image Credit: Gilbert Nii-Okai Addy

Image Credit: Sean Blaschke

Much of nineteenth century London was made up of slums, as anyone who ever read Charles Dickens would imagine or know. It was the same with New York and other American cities. Many Indian cities like Mumbai and Calcutta are mostly slums, depending on how one defines a slum and the numbers and living conditions of the people living there.

In Africa these issues are compounded by the fact that, almost uniquely in economic history, we have been witnessing urbanisation on an unprecedented scale without much industrialisation. This is the main reason for the economic dominance of the informal sector in most of urban modern Africa. A largely informal economy necessarily goes hand in hand with a largely informal housing infrastructure.

In London for instance the great 19th century slum clearances like what we are seeing in Lagos, never really solved the problem. The slums and slum dwellers just shifted to other geographical areas like St Giles, and newer slum areas like Bermondsey, Brixton and others. In fact the poorer parts of London today very much have their roots and origins

in the Dickensian slums of the Victorian era. The political and intellectual lexicon may have changed with the times, as has the economy and the provision of social housing, but the underlying socio-economic dynamics are still there. There is still a constant debate about issues like urban regelation, poverty and social deprivation in places like the East End of London, Tower Hamlets, Brixton, Peckham and others. Immigration from non-European parts of the world since the end of the second World War have added issues of race and ethnicity into the equation, but basically the issues are about human beings trying to make a living in an urban environment with a highly unequal access to economic and political power.

What is happening in Lagos is happening all over Africa including South Africa and our own Ghana. Ever heard of Accra’s Sodom and Gomorrah and the City Mayor’s almost weekly attempts to get street traders out of the city centre? The trouble though is that slums and slum dwellers never go away. The

politicians and town planners- or village idiots as some cynically call them- often seem to get it wrong. They thought they would escape Lagos by building Abuja in the 1970s and now Abuja itself is becoming or has become a majority slum city! Most of Accra and Kumasi, our two main urban centres, are mostly slums. Even the pockets of affluence we have are under relentless pressure from the surrounding slums. If not in terms of people then certainly in terms of the now almost permanent water and electricity crises which are a direct result of the explosive growth in the city’s population from around 200,000 at independence to over 4 million today - in just over 50 years. 71

Some projections have it that in around 20 year’s time, nearly 50% of Ghana’s entire population could be living in the Greater Accra Region alone. There is clearly a need for fresh thinking regarding housing and urban development. On current trends, the politicians, urban planners, mayors and policemen are simply fighting a losing battle. The growth and deepening of democracy in Africa means that increasingly the informal settlements- call them slums or ghettos or shantytowns- will be where politicians will have to go looking for rich harvests of electoral votes. The successful addressing of the issue requires fresh economic thinking coupled with concerted efforts through public-private partnerships to address the central economic issues of: 1. Infrastructural development addressing the issues of water, electricity, sanitation roads, housing 2. Skills development with a focus on technical and vocational training 3. Agricultural transformation to raise agricultural productivity and incomes In many ways the informal economy and informal urban settlements will determine the economic futures of countries like Ghana and Nigeria. How well a country does depends on how well the majority of the population does. If the majority has access to productive skills, work and incomes and can pay taxes to pay for services, the economy has a chance of thriving. If not then anyone’s guess could be as good as mine.

Image Credit: Sean Blaschke

BuiLDINGS tell a story 20th Century Architecture in Kenya By Janfrans van der Eerden MSc Arch Architect MAAK

Inset: Office building in Thika in a “New Expressionism” style that reminds us of designs by the Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, roughly 2000.

Photographs by Janfrans van der Eerden

Kenya hosted the oldest of human ancestors. However - unlike Zimbabwe, Ghana or Ethiopia – it has not been singled out as a country with the history of an elaborate civilization predating colonization. Notwithstanding this, there is a lot of tangible heritage of a high quality. Most of this has been well defined and protected, like the remains of the Swahili civilization along the coast with international UNESCO recognition in areas such as Lamu, Malindi and Gedi. Unfortunately, more recent creations of the twentieth century are often forgotten, even though that century left behind a remarkable set of artefacts.

Heritage under Siege

About the Author Janfrans van der Eerden is an architect from the Netherlands who has worked for three years in Kenya, both as a building engineer (in Kisumu), and an architect (in Lamu). While working in Lamu, he contributed to the renovation and protection of the town, which is at present an acknowledged UNESCO-world heritage site. Since then he has worked many years in architects’ offices and now has his own practice in Amsterdam. In addition, he is a lecturer in architecture and building technology at the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam. He is a registered architect in Kenya and is affiliated with African Architecture Matters. 76

He makes an annual visit to Kenya and works in collaboration with the National Museum of Kenya towards a professional policy on monument protection and transformation. He also maintains contacts with universities in Kenya in the field of architectural education. In the years 2007-2011, he has travelled extensively within the country and the result of that trip is a focus on Kenya’s valuable tangible heritage and the need to protect and integrate it.

Now, in the 21st century, Kenya has a rapidly expanding economy resulting in a commensurate boom in the construction industry. A lot of new buildings are constantly being erected and even more are needed. Every few months new images are added to the public appearance of the city of Nairobi, and there is a corresponding occurrence in places like Nakuru, Kisumu and numerous other cities and towns as well. As plot prices go up in the centre of towns, the pressure to redevelop plots with vintage buildings piles up. Old buildings invariably become soft targets and demolitions are now going on at the very places where the only remaining history of these towns is still visible. In other parts of the country, even though the economic development is less, technological ill-adjustment in terms of service delivery, undermines the usability of old buildings, causing them to be either abandoned or left in a state of great disrepair.

Why Conserve?

To the keen eye, all these buildings are fluent witnesses of the history, right from the arrival of the railway to present day. For posterity’s sake, a selection should be saved for our children to learn about the history of Kenya’s entry into the global world. The buildings with time grow from mere edifices into valuable representatives that explain what Kenya is today. And we are not just talking of buildings, factories and churches. Cultural landscapes, including large farms and plantations, public parks and lanes, and civil engineering works such as bridges and roads carry with them the ‘placeness’ story of cultivation and adaptation to human existence of an era. When destroyed, you remove the heart and soul that imbues the identity of that region. 77

My Vista

Let us look at the conservation of town planning, landscaping and architecture from 1895 onwards. The year 1895 is not chosen arbitrarily. Being the year the East African Protectorate was founded, it becomes the year before which all tangible artefacts are automatically protected according to the National Museums and Heritage Act of Kenya (2006). Since my first encounter with Kenya in 1978 I have been impressed by the surprisingly high quality of architecture. During my annual trips to Kenya since 2007 I have photographed buildings with a great passion. A lecture called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Built Beautyâ&#x20AC;? was written as an account of this interaction and delivered to a professional audience in Kenya in 2012. Many were surprised by the presented buildings and cultural landscapes. Largely inspired by a variety of imported styles, modern and recent constructions also make a striking impression with their individual style. Slowly, however, at the present moment buildings and structures from the first half of the 20th century are disappearing. This was the epoch in which Kenya was suddenly - and with force - pushed into the modern world and became a part of a global community. In fact, lots of new structures remind us of this fascinating (and often frustrating) period. However, since Kenya is a relatively young nation, much attention has gone to other priorities rather than to research and document the built past. The enormous increase in both population and economic growth are determining the course of development. Concerned individuals see that this tendency of uncoordinated demolitions also destroys the sources from which contemporary architecture has consistently been drawn. 78

Resistance to this pattern of destruction is in its infancy but is steadily growing. For example, small initiatives have been launched by individuals or groups with concerns being raised in the media. At a time when Kenya has been an independent nation for 50 years, I think the time is ripe to develop tools to protect what inspires us and thus to make use of what already exists, create a design continuum and provide the possibility for the past with to tell us its story.

Previous Page: Shops with upper floor dwellings in Nakuru in an elaborate Art Deco style, roughly 1930, demolished in 2011. Right: Hotel building in Thika, possibly designed by Georg Vamos, in the style of the International Modernism, roughly 1975. Photographs by Janfrans van der Eerden

Conclusion

The available built heritage in Kenya contains examples that represent all periods of the global architectural and engineering development from half the nineteenth century and onwards. They are therefore a source of inspiration for all generations of Kenyans, including architects, landscapers and town planners. Nobody needs to go overseas to see the wide achievements which are alive around us! This article initially was written for the magazine of the Architectural Association of Kenya. By the lecture “Built Beauty” and this article I hope to make the audience aware of the quality of the built heritage and inspire an affinity towards its protection and integration. With a clear and active policy, we can showcase such buildings to the public. And by involving the many stakeholders we can create a new form of architectural activism in the region. Alongside this article a selection of four Kenyan building examples is made to illustrate the quality in various styles. Before a policy and understanding of these issues is successful, guidelines and a scrutiny is required to recognise quality. May I invite any professional in Africa to look around with your experienced eye and see the beauty surrounding us. Who wants to help developing the recognition of the past among one’s peer group as well as the general audience?

Left: Restaurant and bar near Njoro in a romantic rural European style, roughly 1935, now abandoned.

Photographs by Janfrans van der Eerden

preserving

aCCRA’S architectural heritage This event featured the Children’s Library as a backdrop to initiate the dialogue on the need for preservation, restoration and not erasure. This important iconic building is a powerful symbol of Ghana’s modernist contextual tradition. However due to neglect, the building is in desperate need of restoration. Hosting the event at the Children’s Library initiated much needed discourse on why and how we can build on our past as we look to the future in all aspect of our lives. The panelists included Nat Amarteifio (Architectural historian, Write & former Mayor of Accra), Senam Okudzeto (Artist, Writer & Scholar) and Osei Agyeman (Former President of the Ghana Institute of Architects). The discussion was moderated by Joe Osae-Addo The event has brought to light the need for heritage policies, as currently there is a wholesale destruction of historical buildings. The discussion involved how people can be encouraged to identify heritage buildings (outside of the typical forts and castles) and adopt policies to protect them. In light of this discussion on the city and its history, the event will also marked the opening of an exhibition featuring the photographs of the city taken by school children from 10 different areas of Accra. This exhibition provided the perfect backdrop for what proved to be an interesting discussion about the city, its history, heritage, preservation and restoration.

Osei Agyeman “Architecture is part of the beginnings of civilization, when man sought to have a home. Having come this far, it is obvious that architecture is an expression of the people’s identity and culture. So as a nation, if you take us back to the 1950s you will realize that the icons of our development were closely related to architecture. They translated into what our visions were as a nation. Take the black star square, children’s library, national museum, coco board building, etc. All these buildings represented various aspects of our vision; as far as education, as far as finance, as far as government and they serve to be of some purpose. 86

Somehow between the 70’s and early 80’s onwards, we seem to be lost as far as architecture as the medium of translating national heritage. And forgive me to say this but those footprints that you probably see in the national theatre, in the conference center, in the jubilee flagstaff house and the most recent foreign affairs building are done by the Chinese or the Indians. So you need to ask yourself using architecture as a medium to transform nations, where are we. Once you use once, you use it throughout. And that is why we seem to have some amount of discourse in respect of the arts, in respect of fashion, in respect of food. You see architecture is the about the best medium to really aid civilization, because the only functional icon that survives beyond time.”

Previous Page : Central Library, Accra Left: Electricity Department Headquarters Above: The headquarters of the Industrial Development Corporation (left) and beyond it the newly opened Cooperative Bank in Accra, 1957 Images Courtesy of the UK National Archives

Senam Okudzeto “For the past several years Uncle Nat has been organizing these wonderful heritage tours of Accra, and we had architecture students from all over the world. We do these wonderful tours where we actually take people into Jamestown and actually give them a sense of how the city built and the various cultures that informed the capital as well as then expanding onto the more modernist buildings. What is really remarkable is that Ghana’s architecture is becoming more of a focus for architecture students internationally. Foreign architecture students know more about Ghanaian architecture than Ghanaian students themselves; we don’t want this to happen.

I love the idea of having an action committee and actually trying to find practical solutions that suit these spaces. I love the idea of renovating this space and using it publicly, it won’t take much. One of the things that have been driving me mad is looking at this floor. I live half the year in Switzerland and people pay money for old floors. They pay a hundred times the price of new floor, for old seasoned hard wood like this. I mean it is like sitting in a gold mine that no one can see and constantly when visitors come from abroad, we have the Tate come and they ask me to organize these tours with Uncle Nat because they have heard about his heritage tours. We have this reputation through people like Nat and Joe Osae-Addo internationally of really caring about our heritage and architecture but it is very frustrating because we aren’t responding fast enough. And thank God the buildings that students want to see are still standing. The reason they are still standing is because often people don’t have the money to tear them down and that is really a tragedy.

All these buildings are in a state of disrepair, but you can tell the sort of love that the architecture and the design they have managed to take. These stunning photographs which kind of manage to capture the elegance of the form and give you a sense of the beauty that informs it and somehow the photographs are a form of renovation in themselves.

We don’t have much work to do in order to preserve these buildings. Architecture responds to a reflection of our history and our state of being, and really, we have to address this malaise. It is also a form of an ideological renaissance which is desperately needed.”

Left (Above): Accra Town and Christiansborg Left (Below): Central Library, Accra Images Courtesy of the UK National Archives

in conversation with

Prof. Nikos Salingaros By Zaheer Allam & J. Soopramanien

Prof. Nikos Salingaros is a professor of Mathematics, Physics and Architecture at the University of Texas San Antonio and is ranked 11th among the “Top 100 Urban Thinkers of all times” and ranked among the “50 visionaries that are changing your world”. This highly eminent personality has graciously agreed to share his views on the Mauritian energy model in order to achieve a truly sustainable system.

Emerging countries and emerging economies have the opportunities to analyse the pros and cons of developed states such as Europe and the USA. According to your experience, would coal be the right choice for a developing economy in relation with the energy sector? NS. No. Coal is a short-term solution with a large number of inherent problems. We have the example of China, which has severely damaged herself by basing its economic and industrial base on coal-generated energy. Not only is the air now unbreathable, but also the model itself is wrong in a geopolitical sense. China’s economy has been aligned to consume, and there is not enough energy in the Earth to 90

sustain that. The energy generated from coal is spent in producing unsustainable urban construction, high rises and glass skyscrapers, a gasoline-guzzling vehicular economy, and the destruction of a millennial sustainable way of life. Tragically, the newly-generated energy has been used to destroy what was a perfectly sustainable low-energy civilization. Of course, both politicians and powerful commercial interests have driven this change, and many individuals have made personal fortunes out of it. Well-meaning politicians have realized their goal of catching up with the West: but the West was on the wrong road to begin with. Catching up means making the same disastrous mistakes.

So, please be extremely cautious with topdown solutions, whether they are for coal generation or renewable energy sources, and instead dig deeper in the self-help category of energy innovations. Those are to be found if one looks for them.

Time is going by and the population of the world is on a swift increasing trend. What is your analysis on the pace of implementing the renewable energy sector? Are we lagging behind?

Renewable energy is the trend but yet so expensive in practice. How can we expect a coal and oil free energy sector for emerging economies if implementing renewable assets are unaffordable? NS. Perhaps you are looking at the wrong perspective, which gives a skewed balance for the costs. If you continue to conceive of energy as centrally-controlled, and requiring massive capital investment, then yes, alternative sources are too expensive today. But Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 92

recommending instead local alternative energy sources that can be implemented using a peer-to-peer model. The capital outlays are significantly less. More important, the technology is not dependent upon any monopoly and foreign control of know-how and materials.

NS. Those parts of the world whose population outgrows resources are in for serious problems. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m hoping that increased education will level off population growth, as we have seen in many parts of the world. Now the renewable energy sector is progressing slowly, partly due to inertia of the current energy industry to innovate, and a misunderstanding of what energy is for. We know of energy companies sabotaging new sources of energy because those compete with what they are now selling. An even greater problem is that the presentday energy sector demands centralized control, and is fighting against any innovation that promises to produce energy with local resources that go around centralized control. Yet this is precisely where the sustainable solution for humanity lies. Keeping the same top-down control of energy and merely substituting giant centralized solar power plants for coal-burning plants will make only a marginal improvement, but will not change the real source of the problem in the long term.

Electricity being now a basic necessity for the modern world, will renewable energy be able to meet up with the demand around the globe?

NS. I hope so, although I cannot guarantee it. There will of course have to be a transition period where all sorts of different energy sources will coexist for a while. What should not be done is to take a unilateral decision on energy sources straight away, and invest vast amounts into one single source. Or to commit a country to a single technology, in case something much better comes along in a few years. The energy sector must maintain adaptability, variability, and flexibility on the shortest possible turnaround cycle. This is of course the opposite of efficiency. Efficiency in energy production requires streamlining, hence introduces an inherent instability and lack of resilience to unexpected change. All of us expect major changes in the energy equation, sooner or later, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s essential to build in resilience into the system and sacrifice shortterm efficiency. Here, we can learn from other disciplines such as the constant innovation of the computer industry (although there are negative lessons of outdated standards and giant corporations blocking progress for years).

Will the world be ready in the next five decades for petrol-free economies and our economic activity at large? NS. I doubt it. And this will probably mark the beginning of the long catastrophe. But at least forward-looking countries can minimize the future damage to their economies and population by preparing now for a range of distinct eventualities. Nothing is certain, so we have to plan for alternatives, and be extremely flexible. Small countries that are taking energy decisions today can jump ahead of those countries that have invested in antiquated technologies but are now stuck with them. 93

Do you share the popular view that coal ash is more radioactive than nuclear waste?

You support a sustainable future. How does a coal-powered plant fit in a small island like Mauritius?

NS. Being a scientist, I would defer comment on this question to other experts. I have not researched it, so I have no opinion. It is however very easy to measure the radioactivity of coal ash to either verify or dispute this claim.

NS. It doesn’t fit at all. Mauritius is a tourist destination and you don’t want to ruin that industry by generating smoke like we see today in Chinese cities. Sure, you can clean the smoke by using technology, but that isn’t cheap, and then you become dependent upon imported high technology. Neither is coal energy sustainable. Where do you mine it? How expensive is transport to the island? Do you have guaranteed sources at an affordable price for the next several decades? Suppose China doesn’t have enough coal for its own power plants… can you compete on price with China? Will your source sell coal to you or to China? Questions that are embarrassing, because they reveal an underlying uncertainty and fundamental unsustainability. The militarily powerful countries can afford to support this extremely expensive city model, but it damages the lives of ordinary human beings. Developing countries cannot maintain it, simply because the stronger countries will grab the fossil energy sources when those eventually become scarce. Note that the scarcity will be determined by political and military might, and will occur not as the fossil fuel runs out, but when it seems certain that it will. Weak countries will be thrown out of the game altogether. Here is a chance for a small country to be more advanced than larger ones, by re-defining what “modernity” really means within the context of sustainability, and not tied to catastrophic consumerism.

You are for Biourbanism. Please explain what is this term. NS. Biourbanism uses human physiological and psychological responses to design the built environment. Everything we build must make us healthy and not damage our physiology. The earth’s biosystem has priorities for biological life; our activities (which include all our construction, energy generation, and use) should respect human sensibilities as long as those don’t damage the ecosystem; and only lastly prioritize our technology and its physical manifestations. During the past several decades, those priorities have been reversed to promote industrial consumption instead of biourbanism. A living city should allow the maximum number of people to lead healthy lives. The image and geometry of this healthy city designed by my friends is very traditional, and it definitely does not consist of glass skyscrapers amid superhighways: that is an unsustainable model that leads directly to ecological and societal disaster. A sustainable society builds innovation out of its own heritage and traditions, local evolved solutions and practices, etc. It does not throw away everything to replace it with an external model just because other countries are doing this.

Previous Page: Image Courtesy of Prof. Ron Eglash

Conference

Theme 2 : Housing Cultures

announcement

The Lagos Dialogues 2013 will take place at the Golden Tulip Hotel Lagos, from 5th – 8th December 2013. We invite you to attend this ground breaking international conference and dialogue on buildings, culture, and the built environment in Africa. Hosted by the organisation ArchiAfrika, based in Ghana, with support from organisations and institutions throughout Africa, and across the world. Its main aim is to provide a venue and forum for discussion, debate and academic discourse on emerging themes related to the African City and the built environment on the continent. The event is unique in gathering together both scholars and creative people from Africa to provide a forum to share and debate their ideas on the key themes which are shaping Africa’s buildings and urban environment, through a number of cultural and social lenses, including literature, art, and the traditional built environment disciplines. There are five thematic areas that will be covered:

Theme 1 : The African Diaspora - Culture and the Inter-disciplinary Arts.

From the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement, and across the Atlantic to the Osogbo Movement, the Mbari Group and FESTAC’77, black culture has a history of celebrating its collaborative interdisciplinary art. Today’s contribution to this tradition is magnified and expanded by the ease of intercontinental connections, which has seen a more fluid movement of art, and artists across the Atlantic and other geographic and continental divides. This thematic forum explores what this movement has meant in the new reconstruction and reconstitution of urban culture across Africa and in its Diaspora. It is also charged to debate and explore the sources of today’s artistic movements as filtered through the productions of previous decades. Left: Poster of the documentary, Soul to Soul. Photo: Wikipedia

Above: Opera Village, Laongo, Burkina Faso Photo: Kéré Architecture Shedding the outdated definitions of culture and imagining new rubrics beyond the established Western paradigms of the Museum, Theatre or Opera House in which ‘culture’ has traditionally been housed and viewed. What are the new definitions of the

culture house? This theme will deal with the exploration of specific 21st Century African typologies of performance, exhibition and entertainment culture, which demand a rethink of the dated paradigms.

Theme 3 : African Cities and Mass Housing

Above: Nairobi showing Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Times Tower and Nairobi City Hall Photo: Wikipedia

Since the emergence of Timbuktu, Benin, and Zimbabwe and other urban centres in Africa, the notion of population hubs in Africa where trade, education or pilgrimage have taken place has been embedded history. More recently Africa is on course to have at least three cities with populations in excess of 10 million before the end of the current decade. Compounded with this are the socio-political forces which have rendered urban areas as either survivors of war, religious ‘cleansing’, ‘famine’ or conversely intense economic activity. 99

How do we now live work and play in our cities? How do we engage with the urban, sub-urban and peri-urban. Can we successfully use these models of cityscape within the informalities and different ordering that characterizes most African cities. What defines and projects city culture today? What distinctiveness does Dakar have from Johannesburg? Or Cairo from Nairobi? This theme invites its participants to explore the African from various perspectives; the cultural - what is and what drives contemporary city culture in Africa, the economic - how can our cities compete economically with the rest of the global world through different flows, economic, technological and so on. Also, importantly how do we construct and build

our cities to project their uniqueness and also signify their participation in global city discourses.

Sub Theme: The Mass Housing

This sub-theme encourages participants to engage with the ever current discourses related to debates on how we ‘do’ housing in the 20th century. Particularly in the ‘South’, where statistics suggest the majority of our city residents live in ‘slum’ conditions. What constitutes adequate mass housing and what specificities define its delivery in African cities. Where does the discourse end and the practice begin. What are the real economic costs of delivering mass accessible housing to the masses, what financing, materials and technologies do we have to have to do this.

Theme 4 : The physical and virtual worlds of Africa:

Literary space, Filmic space, Mass Media and Public Space Africa has rarely been away from the media - from the damning Casement Report on ‘goings on’ in the Belgian Congo, to the early filming of the African jungle in ‘Tarzan,’ to its portrayal as the hungry continent of war and famine. Recently the exoticification of Africa has continued at pace, from the East African Safari tourism to our 21st century preoccupation with slum and aid tourism. What is Africa? Do we view it as a place as a concept and most importantly as a commodification in today’s media? What and how are today’s African spaces inhabited, and who mediates its presentation and objectification in the global arena? Arguably our built environment plays a crucial role in this process as the film District 9 blockbuster based in JHB, with Nigerians portrayed as criminals, used the Johannesburg streets to portray adeptly. In literature, Achebe, Ekwensi, Abrahams and others have all written with more care and narration about the city - as a backdrop to their seminal novels. How can our newly found and appreciated urban cultures and backdrops work more successfully in redefining or critically re-interpreting the African city? How is freedom defined in spatial terms? Literary terms? Filmic terms? Have there

been any historical shifts? How is public space defined? Spaces of gathering, debate, discussion, participation, spectacle, action, domain of common concern, sites of inclusivity and exclusivity. How is public space transformed, how it is defined?

Sub-theme: Africa in Print

Of all the mediums, print remains the most enduring and ubiquitous format, of media engagement and portrayal of Africa only recently being challenged in position by the Internet. The historic print media on Africa, from the Red Book of West Africa, through to the Drum, Lagos Weekend, to more contemporary publications such as Glendora, the Weekly Mail and Guardian in the mass media, to the special interest publications such as Building Lagos. More recently we find collections on Africa such as the Documenta Platform 9 collection, Sandbank City Africans and their afficionadoes have been publishing on and in Africa for decades. How does this manifest itself in our understanding of our urban identity and our interpretation of urban life today? What will the future of print media in Africa specifically be as we all retreat to our digital devices? What will this mean to the city and how will it adapt? This forum is a cross over between the main forum’s focus on all forms of media and the final forum’s sub theme on new forms of technology in Africa.