Chairman’s Corner

Accra Revisited: How Creative Impulses underpinned by Economy and Culture, can reshape it

The smells of the market women grilling fish of all species, wafts through the air – a tradition that has endured millennia.

“Nii Okwai Kwarshie is a proud octogenarian, from Jamestown, who lives for routine. Every Thursday, he neatly packs his bags and heads to the historical rail-station at dawn, a walk of 5km passing landmarks of his childhood long past their hey-day. The Lighthouse and adjacent Fish Harbour are still tourist attractions with the latter a throwback to the heady days of canoe fishing as a major contributor to Accra’s economy and the former, guiding boats to offload precious cargo from distant lands.
This was the stronghold of the proud indigenes who have never forgotten the role of the colonials in disturbing their tranquil existence with their constant wars for the heart and souls of their community. Stories describe the ferocious mutual destruction of the British and the Dutch using their formidable bases of Ussher and James forts as enclaves for destruction. Legend has it that Nii Okwai’s grandfather Nii Mashie was a devoted guerrilla militia leader who, with his forces, helped the British end Dutch rule in this tropical oasis. This badge of honour is clearly responsible for Nii Kwarshie’s stoic posture and grace even at the age of 83. His strong physique allows his Thursday strolls to the train station to be effortless amidst a reflective nostalgia of dreams. He carries a small portmanteau neatly packed and secured to wheels to make the journey less fatigued.

The smells of the market women grilling fish of all species, wafts through the air – a tradition that has endured millennia. Strolling south from his grandfather’s impeccable courtyard home on a once permanent street now inhabited by several generations of his extended family with all its accompanying dramas that he as elder must continuously play judge and executioner, Thursdays are not about such trivia but a journey of dreams.

First landmark is the Palladium cinema and the Methodist cathedral. As a devout follower of John Wesley, he enters this most holy building, kneels gently at the third row pew at frontleft in honour of his grandparents. who took him to this very pew as a child, a habit carried out through many generations since. Morning service at the Wesley chapel at dawn is no different from that of the early missionaries of the 18th Century Accra. This is Bath reincarnated. Nii still considers himself a loyal British subject. Walking east along Horse Road leadsto the secular historic Wato Club – in total contrast to the Sanctuary he just left. This “cathedral of sin” was the mainstay of British Colonial Accra where privileged English civil servants could cavort with the local Ga femme fatales. Nii shakes his head as he always does at the clash of cultures; best exemplified by the appropriation of the ground floor by MTN. This is the ultimate disrespect his urban heritage personified. Turning left down Tudu road, past John Holt Bartholomew, a building of pseudo Greco elegance, lost past its heyday, ‘what a shame’ he thinks, ‘that such important heritage buildings would be abandoned so, and become part go urban blight, rather than totems of our past’. Now, past Makola square, and then the famed UTC, Ghana’s first mall circa 1950’s. This modernist building of Swiss

‘What a shame’, he thinks, ‘that such important heritage building would be abandoned so, and become part of urban blight, rather than totems of our past’

‘ Integration and not Erasure’

heritage was colonial retail wrapped in Basel missionary zeal. As a young man, he remembers his father’s first car, an Opel Kadett, was wheeled off the showroom floor to the joy of their whole extended family who came out to receive this ‘emblem of upward mobility.’ These memories still fresh are overshadowed by this homage to modernity left decaying at the crossroads of old and new Accra. From this junction, he can see the spire of the Victorian railway station, a masterpiece architecture and hub that connects North and south, and the great in-between. This may be of colonial heritage, but it was the indigenous like Nii Kwashie, who were the heart and soul of this mass transport revolution.

Its contemporary importance seems to be lost, with this sacred ground of British ingenuity overtaken by dislocated modernity of market place chaos and the din of local buses. This area is an urban documentarian’s dream. These spaces where informality and tradition collide with modernity are what I describe as the real Accra, unnoticed by all.
Nii Kwarshie, at this point, is on the train at his usual seat, which the conductor makes ready for him every Thursday. As the train kicks up its motors, Nii – being the experienced train rider he is – readies himself for that initial jolt which initiates the 6 am journey across the northern edges of Accra. The train starts off slowly going across the Circle Interchange, northwards towards Tesano and Achimota, where the train then veers east towards airport residential area, across the famous bridge at Tetteh Quarshie where a spectacular view of the northern suburbs of Accra, can be had. This evokes memories of his youth where the trains were much cleaner and, believe it or not, much faster, allowing for a dignified journey through the heart of our city.

Eastward bound, all the way through Sakumono, the new suburbs on the northeastern edge of our city, where gated communities abound, which have become the norm of a developing Ghana. He frowns at the inhumaneness of this approach to living, remembering his youth of unwalled homes where children had free access to the streets and the public realm and allowing for an incredible social integration through which he has such good friends, to this day. And he wonders, “How can children get to know each other in a place like this?” His thoughts quickly move away from this dire subject to the incredible views of the oceans that begin to appear on his right through Teshie and Nungua going towards Tema. Tema, our only industrial planned city, is where Nii spends his weekends and marvels at this great achievement by our first president Kwame Nkrumah. It is less the utopia that he dreamed of, with poor regulatory enforcement, leaving this mordern metropolis in complete disarray. He smiles as the train approaches its final stop. What a contrast to Jamestown, where tradition still rules, at the expense of order and planning, and this modern invention planned but bursting at its seams with humanity and industry. These thoughts quickly fade as he sees his grandchildren on the platform with his daughter, an urban planner of some repute in this community. He remembers their last conversation of a week ago, where she summed up her vision of Jamestown in one simple phrase: ‘Integration and not erasure.’

“Not to come up with interventions but rather be design socio-economists.”

Now back to Jamestown, where we are developing a Creative Hub and mixeduse development. Retail, restaurant, lofts and creative space for artists, and new apartment building and auditorium space.

We do have a unique opportunity and position not to come up with interventions but rather be design socio-economists.

The idea for this project was to understand the need to use local resources as a trigger for a new urban rejuvenation model. Old Accra, first inhabited by the Ga people, is a fishing community known for its seafood and Kenkey. Kenkey is corn based food. This project evolved around the notion of tapping into this culinary delight, and adding value to it by developing a restaurant that would sell ‘nouvelle cuisine’ kenkey and fish. The idea of kenkeytrification was born, embodied by this new development.
The site is an old trading 30,000 m2 warehouse, which will be converted to become the retail and artists lofts zone. This development is about creativity underpinned by economy; not just apartments and lofts to be lived in but ‘spiritual cathedrals’ where memories and forgotten cultures are rediscovered and celebrated through an ‘inno-native’ response to site and place, through architecture. Our design and development approach is to let the community have a hand in imbuing their spiritual ‘imprint’ not only on the home but the environment as a whole. Our contribution is not about edifice but environmental. We want to engender that communal spirit by encouraging ownership of ‘real estate’ beyond physical boundaries of ownership.

“The heart and soul of this project is the large Garden. Plants that can provide sustenance, and have homeopathic attributes.”

The heart and soul of this project is the large Garden, which will be open to the community and public, and hopefully will be the trigger for the greening of Jamestown itself. We plan on immediately extending this to the adjacent police compound by building a playground for the families there. The interstitial spaces and outdoor spaces will take on added significance and will be all about flora and light. These will need to permeate the indoor spaces, seamlessly. This may be a wonderful opportunity to introduce other trees and plants from the African Diaspora into the local mix which not only soothes the senses of sight but the palettes of taste – an edible landscape. Plants that can provide sustenance, and have homeopathic attributes. In our approach, certainly architecture matters, but more importantly will it and its environs nourish the soul? We know it will, the spirit of Jamestown that extraordinary blend of Ga indigenes and other, will ensure that. Our concept is about interstitial green spaces (courtyard) that shape an architecture that requires no airconditioning. It is all about different outdoor space experiences weaving seamlessly through the project establishing clear indoor/outdoor relationships. This courtyard scheme is contextual both environmentally and culturally. It acknowledges traditional building layout principles which takes into consideration climate, culture and heritage. Basically, our project responds to contemporary lifestyle via an ‘inno-nativetm’ design solution and is referential to contextual house typologies without being literal.

This project will be transformational and pioneering

As design professionals we need to earn our relevance in society. The Nii Kwarshies of this world have to be convinced that we care, and are agents of change. I will end with my usual clarion call

Are we part of the resolution or passive by-standers reduced to complaining?
Are we going to take our rightful position in society?
Are we going to take back what is rightfully ours?
Are we going to be part of the solution and not the problem?
Are we going to be self-critical and raise the level of the discourse?
Are we going to be political and become social activists?
Are we going to collaborate and share ideas to raise the level of the game?
Are we going to assist and reclaim our cities and towns for our people?

If we do not do all of the above and more metaphorically we
are extinct. Africa and the Diaspora yearn for environmental
and social change and that change should be led by architects
and those in related professions.

No more excuses, let us lead by example.