TRANSCULTURAL PRAXIS A half-day of talks, a workshop and an exhibition on the sustainable application of local and foreign resources in context-specific architecture.

1. tap:Exchange
PRAXIS
Friday December 4, 2015 | 15:00 to 20:00
The CASS
London Metropolitan University,Central House
59-63 Whitechapel High Street
E1 7PF London
TRANSCULTURAL
4.2
: Conceived & Organised by
thearchitectsproject.org
The
Architects'
Project#tap
Hosted :by
tapping local resources for sustainable development
A half-day of talks, a workshop and an exhibition on the sustainable
application oflocal and foreignresourcesin context-specificarchitecture.

2. Dear Friends and Colleagues:
Welcome to tap:Exchange 4.2
Tapping Local Resources For Sustainable Development:
TRANSCULTURAL PRAXIS
We hope you share our enthusiasm for using the tap:Exchange platform
to explore what is local about foreign.
For tap:Exchange 4.2, we will continue our research and development
theme Tapping Local Resources for Sustainable Development.
This is the first official activity for The Architects’ Project in the UK.
Transcultural Praxis brings an exhibition, a workshop and a seminar
together for the purpose of drawing out knowledge and creative
experiences in sustainable methods of context-specific architecture in
transformative communities.
Sincerely,
Juliet Sakyi-Ansah
On behalf of the OrganisingTeam
Friday 4th December 2015

3. The Architects’ Project or #tap in short, is an autonomous
initiative focused on advancing the cause of context-specific
architectural learning and practice using a ‘bottom-up.’ #tap
engages all actors in the built environment, i.e. thinkers, users
and makers.The initiative begun in December 2013, with three
key programmes surrounding the creation and sharing of
knowledge, processes and approaches in relation to products,
and architecture as a tool for development.
tap:Exchange:
• is a component of tap, which comes under the umbrella of
tapping Ghana;
• is concerned with both the education and practice of
architecture in Ghana;
• is a real live platform for constructive critical thinkers,
doers, and users of the built environment;
• feeds into the research strand of #tap’s overall agenda;
the part where we identify and understand the common
problems; and
• wants to bring together local and international researchers
and practitioners, groups and/ or individuals, to provide
solutions to the common problems.
The Architects’ Project is a financially self-suffifient initiatve
spearheaded by Juliet Sakyi-Ansah and a team of individuals
from all corners of the world.
Juliet Sakyi-Ansah _ ARC | AGIA
Juliet gained her practical training atAlec FrenchArchitects andWHWArchitects in Bristol UK,
working as an RIBA Part 1 Architectural Assistant (2005-2007). Her interest in research and
knowledge exchange activities led to the successful delivery of two international architecture
conferences; the Production of Place (2012), the first major international conference in
architecture to be held at the University of East London;and ECOLOGYTheory Forum (2009),
the first student-led conference at the Sheffield School of Architecture.
Juliet has been awarded the University of Sheffield Centenary Prize (2010),Sir H.K.Stephenson
Travelling Studentship in Architecture (2009), the Stephen Lawrence Bursaries (2002-05), and
theWest Midlands Black-AchieversAward (2000).Juliet fulfils her social responsibilities through
causes such as Architecture for Humanity’s Crisis Bermondsey Project (2012), the Stephen
Lawrence CharitableTrust Design Exhibition (2012) and REGUA Brazil (2007).She initiatedThe
Architects’ Project (Dec. 2013,Accra) and actively operates it as an autonomous initiative to
boost the education and practice of architecture in local contexts with global agenda.
Before her recent position with a commercial practice in Birmingham, Juliet lived in Accra and
worked for a local Ghanaian firm (2013-2015). She was appointed by Solterre Design from
Halifax Canada asVolunteer Site Project Manager prior to leaving Ghana. Juliet supervised and
directed on-site work to bring Korkor’s Community Library (Abetenim Ghana) to it’s Final
Completion.
The Architects’ ProjectAbout
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4. Tapping local resources for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Over the last year, a wave of on-site live projects from
international groups has been springing up in rural and
suburban Ghana. Their common goal is to use local building
materials. Elsewhere on-ground, government agencies in the
country have been given the mandate to promote the use of
local building materials.As an initiative that picks up on issues
of local and global concern,The Architects’ Project embarked
on the series tapping local resources for sustainable development.
The first in the series was a successful symposium in
collaboration with the ARC (Architects Registration Council
of Ghana is the Ghanaian equivalent of the ARB in the UK).We
brought together professionals from the built environment to
kick start a dialogue on tapping local resources for sustainable
development; how to incorporate local building materials in
contemporary Ghanaian architecture.
Earlier this year,#tap was live on one of the most earth-building
prototype-populated sites in Ghana with Nka Foundation.
Hosted by the Foundation in Abetenim near Kumasi,
tap:Exchange 4.1 brought foreign workshop participants, local
architecture students from KNUST and local community
artisans together for a seminar and workshop on the use-reuse
of locally-sourced materials for innovative architecture that
reflect the needs of its people and environment.
Local Metal Workshop, Abetenim Ghana
Image source: Juliet Sakyi-Ansah, The Architects’ Project, April 2015
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5. Transcultural Praxis
Seminar
RIBA Role Model Architect Elsie Owusu OBE is our guest
speaker for our seminar on Transcultural Praxis.The seminar
aims to;a) address the sustainable application of local and foreign
resources in modern practice by using recent architectural
interventions that have been steered by foreign agendas in
Ghana and related places as the critical context for discourse;
b) explore the sustainability of context-specific architecture
with non-contextual resources in transformative cultures.
Workshop
The workshop on Negotiating Local is particularly relevant to
those who practice and/or research in countries such as Ghana
(NGOs, research institutions and individual practitioners).
The aim is to study recent interventions in these social and
environmental situations, in an attempt to generate accessible
tool(s) to facilitate transcultural practice as a sustainable
measure in development.The workshop is led by Juliet Sakyi-
Ansah.
Exhibition
A visual exhibition from our seminar leaders on LocallyTapping
will communicate their experiences and processes of working
on live projects in Ghana through people,materials,construction
methods, and other elements essential for environmentally and
socially responsive development.
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6. London Metropolitan University
“The Cass at London Metropolitan University is internationally
recognised for its high quality teaching, excellent facilities and
unique interdisciplinary opportunities.
Learning through practice, playing with process and working
with clients, students at The Cass gain real world experience
in both individual and collaborative projects, engaging with
professionals, communities and companies. There is a strong
emphasis in our studios on socially engaged architecture, art
and design applied to both local and global contexts, and many
projects focus on London.
Central House
Central House is home to the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art,
Architecture and Design (the CASS).“
- Ref: London Metropolitan Universitywww.londonmet.ac.uk
Venue Address
Room CE4-10, Central House
59-63 Whitechapel High St,
London
E1 7PF
United Kingdom
Venue The CASS
THE
CASS
Central House Exterior
Image source: www.londonmet.ac.uk
Location Map
Image source: www.google.co.uk
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7. Opening What is Local About Foreign?
Talk #1
Ethnography and theArchitecture of Situation Maria Panta
Talk #2
Innovation through Translations, Niall O Cleirigh
Exchange [& break]
GuestTalk
Transformative Change, Architect Elsie Owusu OBE
Talk #3
Unlearning to Make Local, Giulia Fortunato
Talk #4
Reinventing Materials, AnnaWebster
Exchange
Closing [followed by a networking session]
Seminar
18:00
18:10
18:20
18:30
19:00
19:20
19:30
19:40
20:00
Architect Daniel K. Teye presents local building materials for an aqua safari resort
tap:Exchange 4.0 - a collaborative symposium with ARC Ghana
Image source: Onasis Gaisie, The Architects’ Project, Oct. 2014
Brandon Rogers presents Earth Bag architecture
tap:Exchange 4.0 - a collaborative symposium with ARC Ghana
Image source: Onasis Gaisie, The Architects’ Project, Oct. 2014
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8. Introduction to Negotiating Local
• Workshop brief, aims and objectives
• Workshop participants
Scenarios
• Experienced Territories - identify common trends
underlining previous individual projects within a
locality that was foreign to the project team.
• Mapping I - translate trends into tangible and
applicable knowledge on interpretations of local in
context-specific architecture
• Projects - create future project brief as the
premise for developing a tool for sustainable
cross-cultural practice
Tactics for Negotiations
• Mapping II - what is local? About foreign?
• Negotiate - apply outcomes from Mapping II to
negotiate between local and foreign elements.
• Design & Make - a test approach to sustainable
cross-cultural practice
Presentation and Exchange:
• Accessible tools for sustainable transcultural
development
Negotiating Local
15:00
15:20
16:00
17:00
#tap workshop
tap:Exchange 4.1 - hosted by Nka Foundation on their live site in Abetenim Ghana
Image source: Nkabom House Project team, April 2015
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9. Speaker Bio:Maria is currently undertaking her PhD research
degree titled, ‘The role of sustainable building practices in
copying with climate change’, funded by Canterbury School of
Architecture. Her project explores the work of community-
driven initiatives involved in small-scale adaptation projects in
the Global South. She spent 5 weeks on the Earth Architecture
workshop in the village of Abetenim, southern Ghana. The
workshop culminated in a live community project, which
enabled her to develop first-hand experience of using earth
based building techniques, amongst others.
She is currently involved with The Architects’ Project as the
online editor.In 2011,she joined Reset Development on a two-
year research based project titled, ‘Affordable Low-Carbon
and Cyclone resilient Housing in South West Bangladesh’.The
latter focused on developing a greater understanding on best
practice approaches to training and education in the rural SW
Bangladesh.
Maria became an associate ofWomen’s Design Service in 2010
through her involvement with community-led design projects in
London. Further, she is a member of the Glass-House Enablers
Bank, a group committed to supporting the development of
sustainable places shaped by local people.After completing her
RIBA Part II degree at London South Bank University Maria
practised for seven years in London.
TalkTitle: Ethnography and the Architecture of Situations
Speaker: Maria Panta - PhD Candidate, Canterbury School of Architecture, University for the
Creative Arts
Project Abstract
The work described in this paper is part of an ongoing research project into the work of
community-driven initiatives involved in small-scale climate change adaptation in the global
South.The project looks at approaches to resilience and adaptation through the use of local
materials, and how these can empower communities not only physically but also in other ways.
This is illustrated through a construction project of a school canteen in the village of Abetenim,
southern Ghana.Drawing on my fieldwork experience inAbetenim and my role as a community
architect and participant in the Earth Architecture project through a non-profit organisation
(NGO),the paper discusses how the use of ethnography,typically a method ofAnthropology,as
part of architectural praxis facilitates the holistic understanding of the local context and informs
the design process.
The paper argues that the syncretism of ethnographic and participatory design methods
enables solutions, which can contribute to longer-term sustainable adaptation in this context.
Moreover,this research feeds from the discipline of anthropology and specifically its approach to
methodology that is participant observation and participation, in order to rethink architecture
from a broader cultural perspective.This allows the author to critique local situations and frame
questions which directly inform the design praxis in this context. Finally, the research makes
use of the praxis of collaboration as methodology in the implementation of such a project. The
process of selecting building materials addresses two distinct layers of collaboration:one among
the members of our group affiliated to the NGO and another between this group and two local
institutions.
Keywords: sustainable design; architectural cultural heritage; Ethnography; collaborations
Ethnography as part of Architectural Praxis within a
Community-Driven
Project, Ghana
#tap talk1
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10. Speaker Bio: Niall is an architectural technologist from
Dublin, Ireland. Niall’s interests involve vernacular architecture,
bio-climatic and responsible design. He engages in how
designers can learn from local culture, local architecture and
regional materials to generate sustainable solutions in response
to climate and context. For the past several years, Niall has
been working internationally in architecture. In Ghana, on a
collaborative design and build project engaging in participatory
design and iterative building processes. In Japan, the work
focused on researching and developing future townhouses and
re-purposing traditional townhouses. In Ireland on low energy
retrofit projects and currently in the UK with Architecture
for Humanity on live community projects as well as a project
technologist in commercial architectural practice.
The School Canteen & Kitchen Project Abetenim, Ghana
TalkTitle: Innovation through Translations
Speaker: Niall O Cleirigh - Architectural Technologist, NocT Designspace
Project Outline:
Translation;generallyassociatedwithlanguage,formsthebridgebetweendesignandconstruction.
Through observation, collaboration and flexibility we can create a balance between innovation
and tradition. As designers we strive to innovate, push beyond the norm. In the process of
translation, ideas are born, but without local engagement, projects can lose momentum and
trust.A value and respect for pre-existing methods and skills can be challenging however the
adoption of innovation may exist in this mutual building translation process.
So, what is local about foreign? A new perspective, a solution which lies in the conventional, it is
the translation of these solutions with respect to local context and culture which is key.
#tap talk2
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11. #tap guest talk
Guest Speaker: Architect Elsie Owusu OBE Principle, Elsie
Owusu Architects + Director ArchQuestra
Speaker Bio: Elsie Owusu OBE is an award winning
Ghanaian-British Architect, specialising in regeneration, art-
into-architecture and transport design. She is a Partner at
Feilden+Mawson LLP (F+M) and principal of her own practice
Elsie Owusu Architects (EOA). Both practices have worked on
new transport systems and pilots in Ghana and Nigeria.
Rapid Transit Systems & Urban
Strategies, Ghana and Nigeria
TalkTitle: Transformative Change
Projects:
“I’ve worked on the Accra Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and the pilot route of which was
launched in 2012. I also worked on the pilot route for the Lagos BRT which has been a huge
success, and as far as I’m concerned, has transformed the way people move around the city.
These schemes develop quite slowly – mainly due to lack of donor funding. I’d like to see the
revenues from the BRTs used to fund the projects, rather than waiting for donor support. It
seems to me that there could be sufficient combined revenue from the infrastructure and the
private sector to make this possible. But infrastructure is highly capital intensive!
As society becomes wealthier, many aspects such as education, health and housing improve
– but due to expanded private car use, public transport tends to get dramatically worse and
of course it is key to how cities move and grow. This phenomenon has been observed in
other cities, such as Bogota, Colombia and Curitiba, Brazil.Accra’s transport depends mostly, as
technicians say, on 100% capacity, meaning that buses move when they are brim full! Passenger
convenience is not a principal concern and that equation has to change to the benefit of the
passenger.The BRT transport programme introduces segregated lanes so that buses can move
at a regulated speed.Our aim is to provide affordable,comfortable,regular transport so people
can get to their destinations with ease.”
- Zeitgeist Africa, www.zeitgeistafrica.com [accessed: Nov. 2015]
Lagos: Pilot route (3D), Bus Rapid Transit
Image source: www.zeitgeistafrica.com
[accessed: Nov. 2015]
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12. Speaker Bio: I am a creative and enthusiast professional, with
many years of experience in projects of many types and scales.
During my career,I have developed my skills specifically towards
the design and realization of private residential spaces: homes
are our protective nests and as they epitomize the place where
one can find him/herself fully at ease, so I have always believed
they deserve a high degree of attention from architects. I have
also worked and researched on the topic of regeneration of
cities and urban environments, within this field my PhD thesis
dealt with how to improve peripheral urban areas through
design interventions on infrastructural voids. In the last two
years I have collaborated as an architect with NGOs in Ghana
and Somalia: research and design practices in these countries
have made me faced a completely new reality from the one I
was accustomed to in Europe and enriched a lot my professional
and personal background. I am co-founder of At hand Program,
both an association and an educational programme working in
developing countries: the aim is to deliver low-cost buildings
made with traditional techniques and local resources to NGOs
and more in general to local people through on site cross
cultural workshops open to university students.
Medase House Abetenim,
Ashanti Region Ghana
TalkTitle: Unlearning to Make Local
Speaker: Giulia Fortunato - Architect + PhD, co-Founder, At Hand Program
Project Outline:
The house design is very elementary: three independent volumes (activity room, bedrooms,
and washroom) are gathered under the same roof.This idea affecting not only the form but the
use of both the interior and the exterior space comes from the direct observation of the life
in rural villages in Ghana: functions are scattered in the village, and people usually share outside
spaces to cook, eat, play and stay together.
The entire building is laid on a concrete platform, a space defined by the projection of the roof
above, where a portico with teak columns for open air sojourning is also defined. Using the
atakpame method, the house walls are entirely made of earth: the main innovation consisting
on the fact that not only the walls lay on top of a concrete foundation, to visually and physically
lift the building from the ground, but the corners are made with concrete blocks, in order to
help the walls be well straight. The roof is made of wooden beams and metal sheets, it lays
on a top concrete lentil and thanks to its double inclination lets natural light get into the
activity room; perimeter walls are plastered and protected from rain water thanks to roof
projection all around the building (1,5 meters). Interior furniture is in atakpame earth, including
the beds, while windows are in wood; the bedrooms’ are traditional wooden windows, while
the activity room and wash room have tailored made wooden windows.The house is made
of local materials exclusively, it is 90% recyclable and is made with local building techniques
and labour. It was completed in two months and costed less than 5000 USD. It has soon been
incorporated in NKA buildings and it is used today to host volunteers coming to help NKA
from all over the world.
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#tap talk3

13. Nkabom House Abetenim, Ashanti Region Ghana
TalkTitle: Reinventing Materials
Speaker: AnnaWebster - RIBA Part 2 Candidate,London Met University
Project Outline:
In response to Nka Foundation’s Mud House Design Competition 2014, Nkabom House focusses
on utilising local resources,labour and techniques whilst extending those capabilities into a modern
design perspective. The project focusses on rethinking the vernacular and reinventing materials
which are often discarded or overlooked.With the intent of moving away from the primitive image
of building with mud, the project uses rammed earth to achieve a contemporary aesthetic derived
from traditional practice.
In addition to earth, pure water sachets were used in the construction, and transformed into
tangible objects of beauty and value.These sachets cause vast environmental and sanitation issues
in Ghana. Littering the streets, they block drains causing a spread of waterborne diseases and a
habitat for mosquitoes.With the lack of organised waste collection and removal in Ghana,recycling
is not common practice. Innovation in material reuse could make a great impact in addressing the
environmental damage wreaked by the sachet water industry.
As part of Nka Foundation’s ongoing development of theArtsVillage inAbetenim,the building hopes
to inform future projects who can learn from,build upon,change and improve the systems it employs.
Embedded within the physical makeup of the house are a background of ideas,exploration,trial and
error which we hope will serve to guide future projects in the village.The workshop has provided a
great deal of education to international visitors and local workers alike: the village is now equipped
with a local team of rammed earth experts who have the capacity to continue to utilise and improve
upon this system of building.The project facilitates development through capacity building and an
exchange of cross cultural knowledge in the spirit of collaborative building.
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#tap talk4

14. Contributions byVarious
Coordinated with Antonia Adjei-Mensah Master of Architecture
Student, at University for the Creative Arts
Locally Tapping
#tap exhibition
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