RAMMED EARTH ROYALTY - Traditional Architecture of the Great Benin Kingdom

Sketch of Benin City by British Officer 1897.
Image credit: www.guardian.com

Come with me on a journey down memory lane! Around 2002/2003, in post-graduate architecture school at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma - Edo State, our class was split into teams for an assignment on traditional architecture. I and my teammate (who just happens to be my life partner and husband- insert a coy smile😀) were tasked with the documentation and production of measured drawings for a building constructed with traditional building materials and techniques.

ARCHITECTURE AS A COUNTRY'S VERITABLE PR TOOL

Ghana Freedom Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennial

The seamless integration of architecture and art, soulmates as it were, ensured that Ghana’s entrance into the biggest event in the art world created a huge buzz. The Ghana Pavilion at their first outing at the Venice Biennial draws inspiration from the Gurunsi earth houses. The Gurunsi huts are renowned for their elaborate decorations with hand painted designs and murals. The Gurunsi tribe inhabit the northern region of Ghana as well the southern part of Burkina Faso. In Ghana, their estimated population is 976, 311 while in Burkina Faso, they are up to  1,000,0000.

NIGERIAN PRIVATE SCHOOLS, DESIGN AND THE REST OF US

A private school in Nigeria

“I no blame dem”, I muttered under my breath in annoyance. “Wetin concern me with dem before?" I asked no one in particular as I gunned the engine of the car and zoomed off to my next destination. I was at my wits end. “Who be the ‘dem" you ask?  Well, ‘dem’ happened to be some private elementary schools visited in the course of my search for a suitable school for my ward, a search I had grossly underestimated. Going by their signboards, there is an ‘international’ private school in every neighbourhood; in fact my residence is situated adjacent to one.