Local Cultures – Global Spaces

Abstract

Contemporary African architectural training is founded on globalised and Westernised perspectives and often struggles to meaningfully decolonise. This paper focuses on the fundamental principles of architectural education and aims to reroot them in African philosophy. By drawing from African ways of being and knowing, the paper deconstructs existing architectural pedagogies to establish a new conceptual training framework. This approach emphasises the significance of local ways of knowing and highlighting the role of ontologies and epistemologies in shaping the future of the field. The paper will draw on traditional practices like the Oboko women’s rite of passage in Nigeria, contemporary training of African traditional healers in South Africa, and broader architectural practices as precedence for architectural training. These practices are explored in their historical and cultural contexts, dissected, and speculated on for their potential application in architectural education. Through diagrams, we attempt to illustrate how these approaches can be consolidated into a conceptual teaching framework. While the practical implementation of this approach in formal education is beyond the scope of this paper, a conceptual approach, rooted in African philosophy, lays the groundwork for transformative changes within African architectural education. The outcome of this paper is the methodological grafting process whereby educators can draw on traditional practices to inform architectural education. It not only aims to provide a starting point for deconstructing historical practices but also to encourage speculation on their possibilities in architectural education.