Abstract:
African architect unable to solve context-specific design challenges or explore context-specific design opportunities that Africa offers. This paper analyses some of the basis of western training that have had structural impacts on architectural design training in Africa. It also explains how the design studio at the University of Nairobi is trying to deal with this dilemma through a studio experiment.The paper further explores how the position of the human is being expanded beyond the object oriented traditional approaches to an approach that takes cognizance of the human as an emotional being and also considers the emotional context of the design. Further, the paper puts a case for African constructionism to compliment western abstract representation a case for design principles based on nature, arguing that organic architecture can also help refine the locally trained architect who will also be relevant globally. The paper finally argues that these approaches among others would help reconnect the trained African architect with his / her context and his / her client
