Browsing by Author "Olweny, Mark R. O."

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498: Integrating Sustainability and Environmental Design in an African Architecture Curriculum:
(Passive and Low Energy Architecture, 2008-10-28) Olweny, Mark R. O.
While the majority of Ugandans live in energy poverty, contemporary architecture in the country is for the most part energy inefficient. Progress and development is shown through the inclusion of air-conditioners, while choices made in the construction of buildings ignore concerns about the wider environmental context in which architecture is situated. Although architects in Uganda are aware of sustainability and environmental issues and the need for strategies to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings, the ability to translate information into built form is limited by the fact that many have not been given the appropriate tools to apply this information in the local context. The introduction to environmental and sustainable issues for many architects in Uganda has been through the traditional mode, in which environmental issues were presented as ‘addon’ courses, delivered by ‘specialists’, in independent lecture sessions, with little if any attempt made to integrate this knowledge into design projects. The design studio viewed as a place for aesthetic exploration, with technical and environmental issues regarded as an impediment to this. Introducing Sustainability and Environmental design into the curriculum as an integrated component in the design studio is an important strategy to enabling graduating architects to make decisions concerning sustainability and environmental design as part of the design process, rather than as an add on extra. Over the past three years, the School of the Built Environment at the Uganda Martyrs University has transformed its curriculum in an effort to make the architecture curriculum more responsive to environmental concerns. The new integrated curriculum sought to make sustainability and environmental design integral to the design studio in an effort to address growing environmental concerns in Uganda. This paper presents outcomes of these studios as well as reporting on feedback from students who have been through the programme.
Capacity building in adaptive reuse through collaborative workshops for students: on-site and remote experiences in Rwanda and Zanzibar
(European Union, 2021) Ahimbisibwe, Achilles; Louw, Michael; Michieletto, Manlio; Olweny, Mark R. O.; Papanicolaou, Stella; Lans, Berend van der
The idea of ‘adaptive reuse’ is relatively new in the African built environment. The value of working with existing under-utilised buildings as a resource for the future lies in the inherent potential for addressing sensitive issues that often originate from their colonial past or previous regimes during which they were built or occupied. As part of the International Forum Cultural Spaces for Kigali, a workshop for students was hosted at the University of Rwanda’s School of Architecture and Built Environment from 10 - 14 March 2019. The participants included the University of Rwanda (UR), Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) and the University of Cape Town (UCT). The objective of the workshop and the Forum was to test the adaptive potential of unused buildings near Kigali’s city centre, and to evaluate whether disused buildings – such as the Kigali Central Prison (also known as Nyarugenge Prison, Gikondo Prison, or simply “1930”) and the Ecole Belge (the former Belgian School) – could be adapted for use as precincts for the production and performance of art and culture. The project was launched and run by the Rwanda Arts Initiative (RAI), with African Architecture Matters and the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels (BOZAR), and funded by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. The workshop targeted students, who, navigating their cultural differences, presented a variety of options or possibilities using visualisation methods. This was done in cooperative workshops, with presentations by students and professionals from across Africa, developing an independent, continent-specific approach. The success of the Rwandan workshop, and its reiteration in Zanzibar, are presented here.
Determining the Unit Cost of Higher Education:
(2011) Olweny, Mark R. O.
While the growth in private universities in Africa has met a pent-up demand for university education and are meeting and fulfilling a social function, the economic realities of operating a university cannot be ignored. It is therefore no surprise that within two decades of their founding, private universities are now faced with the reality of the interstices of global economic forces, national societal functions and, for many, ideological mandates that now compel them to rethink the models that the institutions were founded upon. Increasingly, private universities are discovering the dependency complications related to a reliance on a single income source, which is on the whole unsustainable, as they are operating in an environment characterized by much uncertainty. There is a need for private universities to know how to generate additional income to fund not only their operations, but also to ensure an annualised profit as a buffer against any inevitable fluctuations. This paper provides an overview of the cost of associated with teaching in the Faculty of the Built Environment at the Uganda Martyrs University. While the faculty offers a twenty-first century curriculum with an innovative teaching pedagogy, the faculty faces a challenge in using a higher education program financing model that does not acknowledge varying educational pedagogies, as is necessary in a professional program. Under the current model, the faculty is unable to achieve parity in its budget. The proposed model is based on an appreciation of the different inputs in architecture education, and while they are debatable, it does provide a starting point for dialogue of teaching inputs. The paper concludes by giving some proposals that may be useful to help manage expenditure in individual faculties.
Educating built environment professionals:
(Faculty of Building Technology and Architecture, 2006) Olweny, Mark R. O.; Nshemereirwe, Connie V.
In 2000, the Uganda Martyrs University introduced a new built environment program, a Bachelor of Science in Building Design and Technology (BSc BDT), marking the first time a private institution had entered the field of built environment education in Uganda. It was also the first new built environment program to be introduced in Uganda since the introduction - in 1989 - of the Bachelor of Architecture program at Makerere University. The BSc BDT program is directed at graduating young men and women who can fill a gap that exists between Architects and Engineers on the one hand, and Construction Workers/Artisans on the other. In addition it is intended that, the BSc BDT fulfils the prerequisite requirements for entry into a two-year graduate entry Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) professional degree. This represents the first time a two-tier architecture program has been offered in the East and Central African region. A central objective of the BSc BDT and the BArch programs is to train budding professionals in contemporary methods and practices in order to solve problems in the built environment. This paper outlines some of the issues that were faced during the development of the BSc BDT curricula, and in the implementation of a new integrated teaching and learning approach that emphasised Problem-Based-Learning (PBL). In addition, using examples derived from the experience of the authors, the paper will discuss some of the challenges and limitations faced by staff and students during the implementation of the initial program and during the change to PBL.
Embodied energy of low income rural housing in Uganda
(PLEA, 2016) Niwamara, T; Olweny, Mark R. O.; Ndibwami, Alex
Embodied energy is an important consideration in discussions related to the sustainability of the construction sector. As part of this dialogue, this paper presents a developing country context of how these can values of energy for construction. The study investigated different housing sizes and typologies. Data collected from various embodied energy databases was the basis of an initial investigation, followed by serve to enable a transition in energy related discourse. In East Africa, the energy related discourse is largely concerned with the reduction in the use of wood fuel, which is the predominant energy source for cooking, with little attention to the an in depth exploration of values for specific building materials used in a typical rural building, with two materials, fired clay bricks, and cement standing out. The investigation of the fired clay bricks current and future impact of the buildings themselves, that is, lifetime energy consumption. The primary goal of this study was to determine the embodied energy (EE) of low-income tropical housing to better appreciate the relative suggested slightly lower embodied energy values that found in the literature, although it is evident that the sources of energy used for the processing of the bricks is of concern for embodied carbon.
Environmental Sustainable Design and Energy Efficiency in Architecture Education in East Africa
(2013) Olweny, Mark R. O.
The inclusion of Environmental Sustainable Design (ESD) in architectural education is an important paradigmatic shift for contemporary architecture education, in view of growing concerns for Energy Efficiency (EE) and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions attributed to the building industry. Schools of architecture across the world have undertaken to incorporate ESD as components of programmes: in specific course units; as electives; or in some cases transformed entire programmes to place ESD at the core of the curriculum. For architecture schools seeking recognition and validation through the CAA for instance, it is now essential that they demonstrate inclusion, or at the very least show a move towards incorporating ESD into the curriculum. This paper reports on a study carried out on architectural education in East Africa. It took in all schools of architecture in the region: Kenya (Nairobi University & Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology); Rwanda (Kigali Institute of Science and Technology); Tanzania (Ardhi University), and; Uganda (Makerere University & Uganda Martyrs University). The study sought to review the state of architectural education in the region in order to appreciate how architecture education is responding to the contemporary challenges and opportunities related to ESD and EE in the education of architects. With architectural education viewed as a primary conduit for the transmission of architectural culture, how is architecture education in East Africa responding to these challenges and opportunities?
Ethical Positions in Built Environment Education
(2010) Olweny, Mark R. O.; Olweny, Charles L.M.
Architecture has among its goals, to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of society. It is therefore inevitable that ethical decisions are made in the process making architecture. The perceived value of the product, ‘shelter’ is often, taken for granted – until something goes wrong. It is only then that questions arise about quality of the product, the values of practitioners, and as a matter of course, to discussions about ethical positions forged as part of the education process. Contrary to common belief, ethical positions are not intrinsically inherent in society, but are learned as pat of the formal and/or informal education process. As part of the five or six year architecture programme, students are exposed to a multitude of ethical positions, from basic value judgements related to beauty and aesthetics - good and bad; to investigations of historical attempts to portray truth and purity; to the more pragmatic and contemporary issues dealing with context, sustainability and social equality. This paper looks at educational context within which architecture education is situated in Uganda, and how this may have an impact on the eventual ethical positions taken by professionals.
Ethics of a Brick: Ethical Positions in Built Environment Education in Uganda
(School of the Built Environment, University of Nottingham, UK, 2009-09-09) Olweny, Mark R. O.
Architecture has among its goals, to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of society. It is therefore inevitable that ethical decisions are made in the process making architecture. The perceived value of the product, ‘shelter’ is often, taken for granted – until something goes wrong. It is only then that questions arise about quality of the product, the values of practitioners, and as a matter of course, to discussions about ethical positions forged as part of the education process. Contrary to common belief, ethical positions are not intrinsically inherent in society, but are learned as part of the formal and/or informal education process. As part of the five or six year architecture programme, students are exposed to a multitude of ethical positions, from basic value judgements related to beauty and aesthetics - good and bad; to investigations of historical attempts to portray truth and purity; to the more pragmatic and contemporary issues dealing with context, sustainability and social equality. While we debate the global issues of sustainability, the very essence of the design and construction of buildings comes into question – the brick, the essence of most construction in Uganda, thus becomes a symbol of this discourse. The Brick encapsulates a number of ethical positions, not only ecological and economic aspects of sustainability, but just as important, the social issues completing the triple bottom line. Not only in its physical form, but also as a metaphor, the brick can be viewed as a encapsulating various ethical positions in the educational system. This paper looks at educational context within which architecture education is situated in Uganda, and how this may have an impact on the eventual ethical positions taken by professionals.
Heritage Significance of Late 19th and Early 20th Century Buildings in the Buganda Kingdom, Uganda
(WIT Press, 2019) Kafuuma, Gilbert; Muhwezi, Esther; Olweny, Mark R. O.
The paper sets out to investigate the heritage significance of four late 19th and early 20th century buildings in Buganda capital of Mengo. The buildings, Keweerimidde House (1890s), Basiima House (1902), Chwa Building (1904), and Muteesa I Dormitory (1904), were built during an extraordinarily tumultuous period in the history of the Kingdom which no doubt had an impact on the buildings that were constructed, and their subsequent use over the years. The exploration is undertaken through an approach that combines two exploratory techniques: values and narratives. These are used to investigate the many tales that surround these buildings, while reflecting on the socio-political developments of the period, which also influenced their commissioning and construction. This led to a better understanding of the embedded relationship between the specific buildings and the stories that are often neglected in discourse of heritage in the context of Uganda. A key part of the study was the documentation of the four buildings, which revealed a further dimension of heritage studies, such as cultural changes in Buganda during the period under question. Through this evaluation, the paper seeks to contribute to the understanding and appreciation of architecture of this period, while at the same time building a documented inventory of these buildings.
Historical study of Jinja, Uganda: a city influenced by industrial developments during the early 20th Century
(WIT Press, 2019) Wako, K. Anthony; Olweny, Mark R. O.
This paper evaluates how industrial developments during the first three decades of the 20th century contributed to the founding and growth of Jinja. During this period Jinja grew to become an important inland port on Lake Victoria, a consequence of geography, as well as a multitude of conditions and circumstances linked to colonial developmental policies. The paper presents the socio-economic and socio-political context of colonial patronage which influenced the spatial developments of Jinja. It, however, makes a case that some industrial aspects were in place before Jinja was designated as the pre-eminent industrial hub of Uganda. The paper frames historical narratives through developmental paradigms. By selecting different lenses to cross-examine the growth of Jinja, the paper highlights themes of trade, transport and planning that influenced and shaped the growth of the city. Research for this paper draws primarily on historical information, through critical analysis with reference to embryonic urban centres in other British controlled territories across sub-Saharan Africa, as a means to better situate the conditions that shaped Jinja. The study of Jinja’s history also forms a basis for conservation policies and could be an instrument for promoting ideas of development which are compatible with Jinja’s genius loci.
Household energy use in Uganda:
(The Architectural Science Association and The University of Melbourne, 2015) Drazu, Candia; Olweny, Mark R. O.; Kazoora, Goodman
This paper details patterns of energy consumption for domestic buildings in urban areas of Uganda. The paper shows the range of energy sources employed by households, the level of consumption of energy, as well as common appliances and equipment in use. The findings suggest strong demand for energy, but largely from solid fuel sources, with most households making use of firewood or charcoal for cooking. While currently low by world standards, electrical energy use was largely for lighting and entertainment. Efforts at increasing access to electricity to reduce pressures on dwindling forest resources, although a noble goal, has significant challenges, linked to limited and erratic availability of electricity, approaches to building design, as well as lifestyle transformations that contribute to a growth in energy demand. The study itself contributes to discourse on energy use and energy efficiency in buildings, filling the gap in the availability of information and geared to informing future policy and interventions.
Introduction - Radical Discipline.
(Folio, 2020-08-15) Olweny, Mark R. O.
It has been a privilege to work on the Radical Discipline section of FOLIO Vol. 2, dedicated to endeavours that inform and (re)define architecture as a discipline in the context of sub Saharan Africa. ‘Radical’, in this context, concerns explorations that challenge the status quo, and seek to define ‘paths of change’. The lens of enquiry is through architectural education, appreciating that ‘if you wish to understand why professions develop as they do, study their nurseries, in this case, their forms of professional preparation.’¹ It is through these explorations that we address the types of education necessary to ensure architects are prepared for the myriad challenges across the region. Radical explorations are Olweny, M.R.O. (2020). “Introduction - Radical Discipline.” Folio: Journal of on temporary African Architecture, Vol. 2 Noir Radical, pp145-147. not alien to architectural education in sub-Saharan Africa, and were a core element of the establishment of the architecture programme at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (then the Kumasi University of Science and Technology), the first postcolonial school of architecture in subSaharan Africa. Responding to the aspirations of newly independent Africa, John Lloyd, inaugural Dean of the School, suggested that, for architecture to ‘. . . truly contribute to the future of the [African] continent, [it] must drastically redefine a new the task of an “architect”’.² Similarly, at the University of Nairobi, South African-educated Selby Mvusi, was an advocate for the decolonisation of the programme there. According to Magaziner, ‘Mvusi theorized what would happen if Africans’ contemporary “thoughtprocesses” were taken seriously instead of being dismissed as either inauthentic or archaic. Contrary to those who saw only binaries such as developed/underdeveloped, rural/urban, African/Western, or traditional/modern, Mvusi insisted, “Underdevelopment is not monolithic. Neither is it exclusive nor static. It is itself active and dynamic, and is forever pacing development.” To be poor and rural and African was not to be behind, but rather to be.
Investigating the architecture of architecture education in Uganda:
(The Architectural Science Association, ANZAScA, 2010) Olweny, Mark R. O.
For all the discourse on the state of architecture education today, little is written about the student experience in architecture schools. With increasing emphasis on Service Quality, Learning Outcomes, and Completion Rates, understanding student motives, and perspectives of professional education is particularly significant. This paper reports on the findings of a research study that gathered views of key stakeholders in architecture education, and is part of a broader study examining architecture education in the context of East Africa and Uganda in particular. The paper presents the findings of Focus Group Discussions held with students at Part I and Part II levels of the architecture programme in Uganda. Of interest, were the perceptions of students in relation to their chosen careers, as well as their experience in the programmes, stemming from anecdotal evidence indicating that a hidden curriculum in programmes presented a significant challenge for students, at times having a negative impact on their learning. While not conclusive at this stage, the initial findings suggest that a lot can be learned from what students reveal about how they relate to their programme of study, and may be valuable in defining a revised approach to architecture education in East Africa.
Investigating the processes of socialisation in architectural education through experiences in East Africa
(2015) Olweny, Mark R. O.
This thesis investigates socialisation in architectural education in East Africa. Socialisation forms an integral part of professional education, through which students acquire these undocumented, but important aspects of the profession, building a cultural ethos undocumented in the formal curriculum. Socialisation was thus open to different readings, serving to perpetuate myths, and ‘established norms’, taking on added significance in view of the many idiosyncrasies embedded within architectural education. Undertaken as an ethnographic study, this research investigated elements of socialisation within established architecture schools across East Africa. Framed in the context of a learnscape of architectural education, activities that influence, and are influenced by occurrences within the educational programmes are reviewed. The study made use of a mixed method approach, incorporating: focus group discussions; published material and other related documentation from the schools; validation reports; and participant observations. This addressed the contextual diversity presented by the setting of East Africa, with the study revealing socialisation as an important aspect of the educational process, encompassing experiences from the pre-architecture expectations, student and faculty interactions, and more significant, influences on attitudes and behaviour within architectural education affecting teaching and learning. A convergent model of socialisation, provides a visualisation of socialisation closer to its the non-linear process it is: as a convergence of ideas and ideals. This serves as the basis to appreciate the elements of socialisation across the learnscape of architectural education, strongly influenced by its socio-cultural context, with evident ramifications to the educational process, as well as on the society and community served by the profession. The findings in the context of East Africa do present an opportunity to re-look at a contextual model, incorporated in a revised 3P model, presenting a conceptualisation of socialisation, contributed through an appreciation of the informal curriculum in the context of architectural education in East Africa.
Leadership is critical in mainstreaming sustainability in professional education
(Building and Cities, 2021-01-28) Olweny, Mark R. O.
Mark Olweny (University of Lincoln) comments on the B&C special issue EDUCATION & TRAINING: MAINSTREAMING ZERO CARBON. Leadership in Global South demonstrates the positive transformation of architectural education. The Uganda Martyrs University implemented a new curriculum to integrate sustainability into the architectural curricula. Change occurred due to staff dedication, commitment and stamina - although overcoming resistance at several levels was not easy.
Listen without prejudice: The design studio as a discursive environment (or) Helping students learn in architecture education
(Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), 2020-03) Olweny, Mark R. O.
Learning how to learn is an essential part of architectural education, but relies on the confluence of a number of elements: effective teaching, knowledge construction, and active engagement with new knowledge in the design studio. It is here that collaboration between learners and educators is fostered, through socialization processes embedded in this discursive environment. Challenges in ensuring constructive engagement are twofold: for students, coming into architectural education means having to adopt new learning approaches, and adapt to teaching methods and styles they were previously unaware of; while also having to engage with instructors, whose approach to teaching are at times ritualized, making use of methods and techniques largely derived from prior experiences as students. This can create an environment that runs counter to the discursive learning environment that we believe the studio to be, and hindering effective learning. How then can architectural education help students develop valuable learning skills, as a core element architectural education? This paper takes the position that listen to students and appreciating their needs is fundamental in aiding their transition into and through architectural education. Listening without prejudice, not being judgemental, and opening ourselves as instructors to further learning forms a key element in helping student learn. Appreciating that any discursive engagement is two-way, therefore allowing the voice of students to emerge is crucial in building not only their confidence, but generating dialogue as a core element of collaboration and sharing. The paper discusses activities undertaken in a school of architecture in East Africa, formulated to allow for discourse in a context where such engagements are not traditionally part of education; a challenge for architectural education whose signature pedagogical approach is premised on the ability to have open discussions. These activities were geared to improve interactions within the design studio, not only between students and instructors, but amongst students, helping dispelling some of the myths embedded in architectural education, and uncloaking the black box of architectural education for instructors and students alike, and improving the quality of teaching and learning in the process.
Research and the future of architecture educaton in East Africa
(2013) Olweny, Mark R. O.
Research in architecture education in East Africa has for the most part been presented in what can best be described as a “silo” approach, presented in a stand alone “Research Methodology” courses that are separate from perceived core of architecture, the design studio. Research was (and is) not regarded as part of architecture, thus having a separate life outside the ‘design process’. Architecture education in this context became the in the all too familiar situation in much of Africa, “the presentation, the transmission of packaged, or pre-digested, information – education as instruction administered to the ‘ignorant’ by experts” (Mills and Lipman, 1994: 214), and largely unchallenged by the receivers of the knowledge, and taken to be apolitical, thus universally relevant (Owolabi, 2007). For faculty in the [Named School] at [Named University], this approach was not judged to be the most appropriate for architecture education for future professionals.
Socialisation in Architecture Education
(2013) Olweny, Mark R. O.
Architecture education is an engaging process; long hours in the design studio, a high level of one-on-one instruction, and intense peer review. The process, which extends over the years of formal education, is instrumental in the transformation of students into architects. This transformation, or more appropriately ‘socialisation’, defined by Bragg as “… that process by which individuals acquire the values, attitudes, norms, knowledge, and skills needed to perform their roles acceptably in the group or groups in which they are, or seek to be, members.”1 Through this process, in addition to garnering the knowledge and skills required of them (explicit curriculum), students are initiated into the [cultural] norms of the profession; norms that are not explicitly stated in the curriculum, but are nevertheless important for anyone seeking to participate as a member of the profession (implicit curriculum). With architecture education having no defined pedagogy, no specific curriculum and no instructional manual, it can be hypothesised that the implicit aspects of architecture education may be significantly influential in the transformation of students into architects. This paper presents on some of the findings of a study that investigated the nature of socialisation within architecture education in East Africa. The lack of any significant research on architecture education in the region, necessitated a broad based study, undertaken through a mixed methods approach, including: a review of published information on the programmes; visits to schools of architecture, to conduct interviews with students and faculty; a review of validation documents (where available); and, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) through which qualitative data could be gathered, providing descriptive experiences of participants. The findings of the FGDs are the focus of the current paper.
Socialisation:a perilous transition from novice to architect
(Architectural Education Otherwhere, 2014-08-06) Olweny, Mark R. O.
Architectural education includes both formal and informal learning components, instrumental in the transformation of novices into architects. The informal component incorporates tacit aspects of education that can’t be readily quantified, and thus are often taken for granted (Stevens, 1998). These aspects include: clothing worn, language used, and criteria employed in assessment and judgement of quality, geared to preparing individuals for a particular profession (Coleman, 2010; Strickfaden and Heylighen, 2010). This transformation is otherwise known as socialisation, defined by Bragg, 1976: 6) as “… that process by which individuals acquire the values, attitudes, norms, knowledge, and skills needed to perform their roles acceptably in the group or groups in which they are, or seek to be, members.” Socialisation incorporates aspects of the curriculum that cannot be conveyed or garnered through books or lectures, but garnered through experience and immersion in aspects of professional education, that are ‘caught’ rather than ‘taught’. For Stevens (1998: 196), socialisation is “… an integral part of architectural education,” where the cultural aspects of the profession are “… slowly absorbed from those who are already cultivated.” This provides a historic link to the origins of the profession, and a “… sense of kinship with centuries of traditions, thoughts, and personalities […] the true tie that binds those who practice architecture with those who teach it and study it.” (Boyer and Mitgang, 1996: 4) Here, architectural Education is thus intimately tied to place, and society, with the resultant socialisation, influential on the way architecture students learn to think and act.
Students’ Views of the Architectural Design Review: The Design Crit in East Africa
(Sage, 2019-06-19) Olweny, Mark R. O.
The design studio and the associated design review can be regarded as the signature pedagogy of architectural education, where students garner the essence of what it means to be an architect. Here, novices are transformed into architects through the acquisition of architectural cultural capital. This paper investigates the design review in East African schools of architecture from a student’s perspective, garnered from focus group discussions carried out in five schools of architecture, and corroborated through observations. Findings indicate challenges in the design review, vis-a`-vis the broader goals and objectives of architectural education. However, it did uncover attempts at change, via a ‘back seat instructor approach’, for example, breaking down the stereotype of the design review as a hostile environment for students. The paper concludes with a few recommendations to help recast this signature pedagogical approach as atruly discursive environment.