AN EVALUATION OF THE EXPRESSION OF IGBO CULTURAL IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE. (IGBO CULTURAL CENTRE)
AN EVALUATION OF THE EXPRESSION OF IGBO CULTURAL IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE. (IGBO CULTURAL CENTRE)
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Date
2015-02
Authors
ONONOBI, CHIOMA GERALDINE
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Abstract
Culture is one of the most important aspects of human existence which comprises of all
areas of human life, past and present. Culture describes the many ways in which human
beings express themselves for the purposes of uniting with others, forming a group,
defining an identity, and even for distinguishing themselves as unique. Cultural identity
is the process by which social actors build their own meaning according to cultural
attributes. The Igbo race from the pre‐colonial to the post‐colonial period, and from the
traditional to contemporary life practices have demonstrated the ability to express cultural
identity in the physical as well as spiritual world of the Igbo cultural society. Presently in
south eastern Nigeria which is dominated by Igbos, there are certain buildings that house
cultural artifacts and historic books but none of them adequately meets the requirement
for the expression of Igbo cultural identity. This is as a result of the coming of
westernization which to a large extent has altered the character of cultural buildings,
hence the character of many cultural buildings appear not to reflect the identity of those
whose cultural activities they host. This has led to the loss of sense of value for the
endangered cultural heritage and architectural monuments of the Igbo community. This
research identified the various key elements of Igbo cultural identity through guided
review of the concepts of culture and identity. The research methodology used includes
the case study approach and data was collected through visual survey, a checklist and
well-structured interview with key custodians of important information regarding this
research was carried out. The case study was analysed under the following headings; site
planning and landscape, spatial organization, structure and material, expression of Igbo
cultural Identity. The research findings were analysed based on the variable highlighted
from the literature which were elements of Igbo cultural identity. The results from the
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analysis showed that the four cases studied did not entirely express Igbo cultural identity. Case study one displayed the rich Igbo architectonic, motifs, paintings on the wall and relief sculptors (symbolic images). Case study two and three displayed to some extent the spatial organization of a typical Igbo compound, while case study four had little elements of Igbo arts and craft and planning of the spatial organization were not considered although it had rich arts and crafts relics. In conclusion a design proposal was produced for a contemporary cultural center infusing the various key elements of Igbo cultural identity such as the spatial organization, Igbo arts and crafts, building materials, relief art works.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA NIGERIA.
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE,DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,ZARIA, NIGERIA.
Keywords
EVALUATION,, EXPRESSION,, IGBO CULTURAL IDENTITY,, CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE,, IGBO CULTURAL CENTRE.