The Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Art has launched its annual exhibition on 23rd April 2021 at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Museum. It is an exhibition which will end on 30th April 2021.
The exhibition themed; ‘Applying Architecture in Bambitecture with Palatable Interior’ saw third year students of the Department display learning pods made with bamboo and designed in the shape of Adinkra symbols for each faculty of the University.
The Dean of the Faculty of Built Environment, Professor Samuel Amos-Abanyie in his welcome address stated that the Department deemed it expedient to do works with bamboo as a way of reintroducing it as a building material in our society. According to him, bamboo is sustainable, and it is much easier to plant and grow it in most parts of the country.
After assessing the works of the students, the Dean expressed satisfaction with the brilliant ideas being displayed. He, however, encouraged the students not to relent but explore and learn more on the innovation Bambitecture.
Dr. Ing. Alexander Marful, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architecture, giving the background of the exhibition explained that the Adinkra symbols are normally inscribed on buildings, thus, the students decided to use the shapes of the symbols to design authentic and traditional structures to bring out the real meaning of the Adinkra symbols.
He added that the design of learning pods was influenced by the advent of COVID-19 which has called for a spatial learning environment rather than a classroom.
He encouraged architects of civil service and private firms to adopt the use of bamboo for building projects, which will intend inspire the Government of Ghana to establish processing factories and plants for bamboo processing.
The studio staff for the third-year class are Dr. Ing. Alexander Boakye Marful, Professor Rexford Assassie Oppong, Dr. (Mrs.) Ayisha Baffoe-Ashun, Dr. Victor Kootin-Sanwu and Architect Nana Agyemang Cobinnah. Also present at the exhibition was Dr. Daniel Yaw Addai Duah, a Senior Lecturer and Coordinator at the Department of Architecture.
