Conference Proceedings

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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.
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.
Hidden histories: Indian influence on architecture and urbanism across the East African interior
(Centre for Asian and Middle East Architecture, University of Adelaide, 2022-01-01) Wako, Anthony Kalimungabo; Olweny, Mark
In 1896 construction of the Uganda Railway began at the East African port town of Mombasa, in what was then British East Africa, reaching the Lake Victoria- Nyanza terminus of Port Florence (now Kisumu) in 1901. This engineering feat was achieved with the importation of workers from British India, beginning a presence of a vibrant Asian migrant community in the interior of East Africa. They established a vigorous and ingenious Indian community in the interior of East Africa that thrived throughout the twentieth century and its influence today is unassailable. Their enterprising spirit was instrumental to the development of trading centres across the region during the early decades of the twentieth century. The legacy left behind, and ever-present reality of many urban centres, is somewhat invisible in the historical narratives related to architecture and urbanism. Exploring these hidden histories is in recognition of this contribution, a growing appreciation of the multifaceted influences on the built environments across East Africa, and a necessary frame of reference for further explorations of the development and evolution of contemporary architecture across the region. The paper uses Jinja on the northern shore of Lake Victoria-Nyanza as a focus of study. Jinja was home to a large population of ‘Ugandan’ Asians’ during the middle of the twentieth century, contributing to its role as a key transport and industrial hub. Through the tumultuous years toward the end of the century, this contribution remains as a powerful reminder of the contribution of Asian migrants to Uganda. The Asian contribution has largely been side-lined by the domination of European modernism and more recently Middle East commercialism. Through this initial foray and future explorations, we seek to build an understanding of the rich histories within the African triple heritage.
Lost opportunities and emerging possibilities: the place for collaboration in the built environment
(2012-06-27) Ndibwami, Alex
This paper is part of an ongoing study that delves into the issues that inspire and/or inhibit collaboration between built environment practitioners in Uganda. It is situated in the context of discourse on the roles of architects and other built environment professionals in contemporary global practice. The bigger questions are perhaps when to, how to, with whom to and why even collaborate? The main aim of the paper is to discuss the level and extent of collaboration in architecture practice in Uganda. This discussion has been informed by the review of existing literature on the subject, previous and on-going projects, and preliminary analyses of surveys of the architecture fraternity in Uganda. The paper reaffirms two things: (i) the need for a well collaborated view of the built environment and architecture’s role in this regard; and (ii) the opportunities in collaboration that architecture practice in Uganda ought to seize in order to realise socially responsive and environmentally friendly architecture.

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