Vortrag, Ola Uduku
Veranstalter: Titularprofessur Moravánszky
Datum : Freitag, 8. Oktober 2010 bis Freitag, 8. Oktober 2010
Zeit : 12:45 bis 14:30
Ort : HIL C.2
'Eastern Transformations' to a Designed Script
The Eastern European influence on West African Architecture and Town Planning in post-independence West Africa has had limited research, as in British West Africa, most post-self-rule architecture and planning work was undertaken by expatriate British architectural practices. Architectural education also seemed to be dominated by established links with UK architectural schools. However, as the economic and socio-political climate in Africa in the 1960s changed with the destabilisation of governments via successive coups and civil wars, there was a geopolitical shift in allegiances. Some countries such as Ghana became overtly pro-socialist in their politics and socio-economic outlook, others such as Nigeria were more covert in their allegiances with the Eastern Block.
This lecture examines post-independence Ghana’s relationship with the Eastern Block and the influences in architecture, planning, design and education that this era brought, and the legacy it left behind. Reference will be made to other activities of Eastern Block architects and planners in Nigeria and elsewhere in West Africa. It considers the socio-political context in which Ghana in particular was placed era, and the reasons how and why this little recorded relationship evolved. It finally considers why this legacy has been less recorded, and why it is important that this lacuna is now addressed.
Dr. Ola Uduku is Senior Lecturer in Environmental Design in the School of Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art and has research connections with the Architecture Schools in South Africa, Nigeria and Belgium. Her research interests lie in Modernist Movement Architecture in Africa, minorities groups, their sense of identity and space use in urban contexts.
Veranstalter: Titularprofessur Moravánszky
Datum : Freitag, 8. Oktober 2010 bis Freitag, 8. Oktober 2010
Zeit : 12:45 bis 14:30
Ort : HIL C.2
'Eastern Transformations' to a Designed Script
The Eastern European influence on West African Architecture and Town Planning in post-independence West Africa has had limited research, as in British West Africa, most post-self-rule architecture and planning work was undertaken by expatriate British architectural practices. Architectural education also seemed to be dominated by established links with UK architectural schools. However, as the economic and socio-political climate in Africa in the 1960s changed with the destabilisation of governments via successive coups and civil wars, there was a geopolitical shift in allegiances. Some countries such as Ghana became overtly pro-socialist in their politics and socio-economic outlook, others such as Nigeria were more covert in their allegiances with the Eastern Block.
This lecture examines post-independence Ghana’s relationship with the Eastern Block and the influences in architecture, planning, design and education that this era brought, and the legacy it left behind. Reference will be made to other activities of Eastern Block architects and planners in Nigeria and elsewhere in West Africa. It considers the socio-political context in which Ghana in particular was placed era, and the reasons how and why this little recorded relationship evolved. It finally considers why this legacy has been less recorded, and why it is important that this lacuna is now addressed.
Dr. Ola Uduku is Senior Lecturer in Environmental Design in the School of Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art and has research connections with the Architecture Schools in South Africa, Nigeria and Belgium. Her research interests lie in Modernist Movement Architecture in Africa, minorities groups, their sense of identity and space use in urban contexts.