CRUNCH: From the City of Plans

‘From the City of Plans’ explores historical and current models of technical cooperation and research collaboration and their impact on pedagogy, curricula, spatial development, resource management and local empowerment in the vibrant metropolises of Greater Accra and Kumasi, Ghana.

Ruth-Anne Richardson (African Futures Institute) will look at connections of architecture knowledge production and transfer across global divides, reshaping cultures and fostering understanding, traversing the fascinating narrative of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus design and tracing its journey since the 1940s. She will examine the intersection of land issues, water management, building technologies, climate considerations, programme dynamics and community relationships. She will also unravel the complexities of spatial logic and arrangement, mapping resistant forms that shape our urban landscapes drawing from the Makola Market transcripts project.

Ruth-Anne will be joined in discussion by Professor Julio D. Dávila (The Bartlett Development Planning Unit). 

‘From the City of Plans’ is supported by the Global Engagement Fund initiative, 'Repairing historical collaborations between KNUST and UCL in The Bartlett Developmental Planning Unit (DPU) 70th anniversary' in collaboration with DPU, History of Art, UCL Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS), The Architectural Association, Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), UCL Modern Heritage in the Anthropocene (MoHoA) initiative and the UCL Centre for Transnational and Global History. 

This event is part of the inaugural CRUNCH Series at The Bartlett School of Architecture, replacing the International Lecture Series. Please note this event is first-come, first-served and is limited capacity. 

Speaker Biographies

Ruth-Anne Richardson is a Ghanaian architect, writer, principal of StudioRED in Accra and Research Team Lead at the African Futures Institute (AFI). Her studio explores water urbanisms and new and neglected ways of designing and shaping community, dignity and inclusivity in urban-rural Ghanaian landscapes. She has co-led archival research projects and served as a reviewer for architecture design studios at KNUST and Central University, Miotso. Ruth-Anne is a proponent of the local restructuring of architectural pedagogy towards a focus on creative agency, reimagined design frameworks and sustainable building technologies for Ghana. She was awarded the Republic of Ghana Presidential Honour of Distinguished Service in March 2023 for her role in the design and construction of Ghana's first Infectious Diseases Centre (GIDC) in Accra.

Julio D. Dávila is a Professor of Urban Policy and International Development at UCL. A civil engineer and urban development planner with international experience in research and consultancy projects in 15 countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, his research focuses on the role of local government in progressive social and political transformation in developing countries. His work also explores the governance dimensions of urban and peri-urban infrastructure (transport, and water & sanitation), the intersection between planning and urban informality, and linkages between rapid urbanisation and health.  Among his published books is The Peri-urban Interface: A Tale of Two Cities (2000), co-edited with Rob Brook, which summarises extensive research undertaken as part of a major effort funded by the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) on the impact of expanding cities upon natural resources in the areas surrounding Kumasi (Ghana) and Hubli-Dharwad (India).

Issi Nanabeyin is an artist and architect based in London. His work builds the diaspora’s identities into digital forms, visuals, text and spatial interventions. Issi is a researcher at the African Futures Institute and a Design Tutor at The Bartlett School of Architecture.

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Image: KNUST by Albert Brenchat-Aguilar