INTEGRATING ARCHITECTURAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL TRANSITION, TIV CULTURAL CENTRE, GBOKO
INTEGRATING ARCHITECTURAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL TRANSITION, TIV CULTURAL CENTRE, GBOKO
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Date
1989-08
Authors
GUSAH, SIMON-PETER AONDOAVER
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Abstract
It has been observed that with the onset of
development and technological advancement, the
Nigerian society has undergone with such development
a loss in character and identity. This fact is
true for all spheres of life, architecture included.
Our local architecture had reached a stage in its
development that served the precolonial man adequately.
It accommodated his way of life and was on a par with
his existence completely.
Colonial rule and the subsequent surge of
development and change meant that the static nature
of preliterate society was now permanently broken.
The modern world had encroached upon the traditional
society and such society would never bo the same
again. No longer static it now entered the era of
ever-changing dynamism that characterizes the modern
world. It was at this point that a time-log set in.
Our societies were changing, townships exploding in
poulation and complexity - but our architecture
was still static and unmoving. This meant that local
architecture had to be dispensed with or become a
hinderance to development.
In this manner Nigerian society and culture
marched on, leaving in their wake an abandoned
architecture - an identity trampled underfoot by a
people eager to move ahead.
The fact of cultural transition and inherent
dynanism of the modern world means that the statictraditional nature of local architecture will never
be useful to our society again (in its present state).
There is still a use for our architectural identity
however, That identity is basically the character
or personality of the architecture. This "personhood"
is a metaphysical quality, a subconsciously
perceptibleness that does not depend upon a mere
replication of traditional architecture. By applying
this identity to contemporary design we may achieve
a modern expression that is still visibly "Tiv" in
character. This is the only way we may preserve the
personality of local architecture and not lag behind
the technology of international architecture (i.e
architecture in general).
At this point one may ask - but why must architecture
have identity, can't it simply be beautiful?
Great pains were taken to answer this question in
this work by making on inquest into culture, identity
and the human experience. Without getting too deep
into sociological analysis it was shown that personhood
and identity are concepts that must be striven
to be maintained even in the contemporary design scene.
Even in the face of the so-called "mass society" there
must be a place for the individual. He should not be
madeto blurr into the oblivion of socio-cultural
homogeneity that technology seems to be ushering in.
This idea having been established Tiv architecture
was examined and a blueprint for linking architectural
identity and cultural transition drawn up. The designof the Tiv Cultural Centre Gboko is an expression
of the fruit of this research and a manifestation of
the hypothesis. The aim from the onset is the
production of a contemporary design that is visibly
Tiv. In other words, a modern design with a
distinctly Tiv "flavour".
This, the writer believes has been adequately
achieved. There is much room for further work, but
steps have been taken in the right direction. The
solution proffered (of linking identity and cultural
transition) is applicable with modification to
virtually any aspect of society and culture (fashion,
music, cuisene etc.).
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF
SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE
Keywords
INTEGRATING, ARCHITECTURAL, IDENTITY, CULTURAL, TRANSITION,, TIV, CULTURAL, CENTRE,, GBOKO