Making Architecture
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Date
2017
Authors
Lühl, Phillip
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Architecture and Spatial Planning. Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences. Namibia University of Science and Technology.
Abstract
How do we educate young architects to be not only
technically literate professionals but also critical
citizens able to question their role as professionals in
the post-colonial context of Namibia? This is a major
challenge for the relatively young Department of
Architecture and Spatial Planning, established only
in 2010 at the then NUST and
currently Namibia University of Science and
Technology. The validation of the undergraduate
programs by the Namibia Council of Architects and
Quantity Surveyors in 2016 allowed for some
introspection and guided the review of the curricula
in the long term process of de-constructing
dominant narratives of western architectural and
urban theory and re-building them from a more
situated perspective. More immediately and
practically, the type of projects students are tasked
with in design studios must reflect contemporary,
socially relevant challenges. Instead of considering
projects for informal economies, or housing
upgrading and neighbourhood re-blocking as
incidental interventions, we realize that such projects
will provide major challenges for future architects
and other spatial practitioners. Such projects require
serious engagement with user communities and the
development of methods and tools that transcend
the classical representational techniques of architects, in order to co-produce spatial interventions with non-expert stakeholders within a complex field of social, cultural, economic and political dynamics. The sequence of architectural design studios within the undergraduate architecture programs has been developed over the past few years and was consolidated in the current curriculum review. Beginning with exercises on abstract space andstructural understanding in semester 1, students explore the interrelationship between form, volume, structure, materials and basic human spatial and functional requirements without the constraints of context.
Description
Keywords
Ombaka, Architecture, design,
Citation
Lühl, Phillip. (2017). Making Architecture:Namibia University of Science and Technology 2016 first year architecture student projects for a place of learning in Ombaka, Kaoko Region, Namibia. Windhoek, Namibia: Namibia University of Science and Technology