Bartlett Research Conversations: Giles Nartey

The Ritualistic Reimagination of the Quotidian – A Reconstituted West African Domestic

Speaker: Giles Nartey
Supervisors: Professor Penelope Haralambidou and Dr Fiona Zisch
Guest panellist: Professor Tim Waterman, The Bartlett School of Architecture 

Abstract

This thesis explores West African domestic rituals as catalysts for spatial re-imagination in architecture and design, drawing on both intangible and material aspects of African craft cultures. It investigates how these elements, including reconstituted fragments, objects, and artefacts, participate in a curatorial dialectic embedded within ritual practices. While Western domestic practices have been extensively studied, the homemaking practices of West Africa, often viewed through a spiritual lens, remain less explored. This research seeks to reimagine space as a diaspora act and to explore the everyday practices that shape domestic life in West African cultures. It focuses on domestic artefacts, viewing them not merely as utilitarian items but as culturally significant elements activated by use and ritual.

About The Bartlett Research Conversations

The Bartlett School of Architecture’s Research Conversations seminars comprise work-in-progress and upgrade presentations by students undertaking the Architectural Design MPhil/PhD and Architectural and Urban History and Theory MPhil/PhD. All current UCL staff and students are welcome to attend.

Held regularly throughout the academic year, the seminars are attended by the Programme Directors, Professor Sophia Psarra and Dr Nina Vollenbröker; PhD Coordinators, Dr Stamatis Zografos and Dr Stelios Giamarelos; and other PhD supervisors.

Image: Inhyiamu Communion by Giles Nartey