Lost opportunities and emerging possibilities: the place for collaboration in the built environment

Abstract

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.