topup:

It wasn't stated, but it was heavily implied.

larez:

Would be nice if you posted some pictures of what you consider relativism. We may debate better if we have omse visuals to pin-point, despite our differing school of thoughts.

larez:

I am very furious at the so0called moderator who deleted my response to this obvious fool who has no clue of what Architecture is really about. People like this are the ones miseducating people in Nigeria and thus creating a whole bunch more of clueless people.

In my deleted post, I actually did a critique regarding the 2 pictures that Mr. Clueless had posted and recommended a couple of historical Architects for him to look up. I am not about to go through all that again, and may actually come back to delete all my posts in this thread. Here is a Kid in school that has barely learned anything about Architecture speaking with self deluded authority about what he knows nothing about.

larez:

And you sure took it out of context because it was indeed in reference to Western Architecture. Tell your knucklehead friend that. By the way, were you the one who deleted my previous post?

Dis Guy:

_{Larez,calm down; your posts were not deleted by the moderator, they are caught be a spam filter software,
it will appear very soon}

larez:

Thanks Dis Guy, you can see why I was frustrated. It was a lengthy one, and I would have hated to know that all that effort was in vain. Thanks once again.

mahal:

If we say the NIA have failed us by not creating a solid base or institution for the profession in Nigeria,
and frustrating the young architects by all mean they can,
what can we do as the younger generation of Architects in Nigeria to salvage the situation?

Frankly, i believe the Older generation of architects have no fresh ideas in their heads anymore
thus, creating this stagnant state we find ourselves in this field, but they still wield the mace and
make all the laws regulating the practice in Nigeria. it's clear they get  all the major jobs, hand i over to the young ones without making much
input, determine and collect the fees for the job and pay the young studio architects peanuts. some even go the extent of keeping worker for months without pay.
Sadly, this cuts across and is obtainable most firms if not all architecture firms in the country.
Any suggestion, good or bad is welcomed.

truly-opal:

Let me say somethin from d nija perspective, as a practicing architect here, im afraid nigerian Architect are heading towards extinction.

truly-opal:


Reasons are ;

- hmmmm and the worst of all is d infiltration of all sorts of quack expitrates,

topup:


Update: I am considering doing my year out placement in Lagos for the year 2010-2011. I have no idea how to go about it, especially as I am based in the UK and I have no relatives who are architects, so I would have to rely purely on contacting strangers, and since there are concerns about the struggle of the Nigerian Architect, I am really praying for positive responses. Who knows I might not get a placement in a good firm in Lagos next year, who knows I might. But I have only a bit of time to get everything sorted, approvals, papers and the sort.

Fredique:

@topup
There are very good firms in Lagos where you can do your year out placement. if I have your email I can send you contacts of people I know in such firms as AT Onajide, ACCL. You seem to prefer Lagos. Otherwise, If you want Abuja, I can give contacts in Habitat Associates. It's one of the topmost firms in Nigeria. Alternatively, you can simply send emails to these firms through their websites. They may be happy to consider you. I have just mentioned the places I have contacts in. There are other very good firms such as FMA (Femi Majekodumni Architects), ECAD Lagos.

Fredique:

@topup
There are very good firms in Lagos where you can do your year out placement. if I have your email I can send you contacts of people I know in such firms as AT Onajide, ACCL. You seem to prefer Lagos. Otherwise, If you want Abuja, I can give contacts in Habitat Associates. It's one of the topmost firms in Nigeria. Alternatively, you can simply send emails to these firms through their websites. They may be happy to consider you. I have just mentioned the places I have contacts in. There are other very good firms such as FMA (Femi Majekodumni Architects), ECAD Lagos.

Lastly I was reading a book called; "Why Buildings Stand Up" by Mario Salvadori and I found this part interesting: " A good architect today must be a generalist, well versed in space distribution, construction techniques, and electrical and mechanical systems, but also knowledgeable in financing, real estate, human behaviour, and social conduct. In addition, he is an artist, entitled to the expression of his aesthetic tenets. He must know about so many specialities that he is sometimes said to know nothing about everything." The book went on to explain how engineers are "by training and mental make-up a pragmatist." "He is an expert in certain specific aspects of engineering and in those aspects only. There are today not only structural engineers, but structural engineers who specialize only in concrete design or only in the design of concrete domes or even in the design of concrete domes of one particular shape. No wonder the engineer is said to be a man who knows everything about nothing."

"The personalities of these two are bound to clash. Lucky is the client whose architect understands structure and whose structural engineer appreciates the aesthetics of architecture."

I completely agree with this.

topup:

ANYTHING about the world of Architecture that exists in Nigeria[/b].

mahal:

www.sdngnet.com
for some Journals and Publications on Nigerian Architecture
Thanks to Dr. (Mrs.) Bogda Prucnal-Ogunsote

Dis Guy:

Is there any reason why architects have not explored social housing estates (not too sure if they are the ones to recommend this)
in place of the very expensive 'low cost housing' being built nowadays, though they have their own problems especially with anti-social behaviours
congestion and environment with good design these can be avoided,

Fredique:

Social housing even in predominantly welfare governments does not work for several reasons:

1-the demand always exceeds the provision generating very long waiting lists.
2-Fiscal burden on government to both build, service and maintain the buildings.
3-It does not agree with the reigning private and market sector paradigm.

Architects might not be the ones to recommend this:
1-Most are elitist (this can be debated) and will not offer their services for social reasons
2-It might not be of any financial benefit to architects (who may be interested in their fees) because the government will find using in house architects more cost effective (since the idea should be low cost housing). In house architects in government works department are salaried civil servants.

most of the low cost housing schemes is a mockery of 'low income' households.

Fredique:

You have a strong argument. . However, The reason I'm not optimistic about social housing in Nigeria is the institutional context (low-cost housing is actually the theme of my dissertation). Not because social housing in itself cannot work. I believe social housing should be a component of the welfare package of the state. The Scandinavian countries you mentioned are predominantly welfare states. Nigeria (and most african countries) ever since the IMF imposed structural adjustment programme have tended towards market driven neo-liberal policies. Social housing is not consistent with those neo-liberal policies. No government who claims to be privatizing government buildings like they have done in lagos and Abuja, as well as deregulate petroleum product will buy into the idea building social housing.

In the UK, the conservative government under Tatcher privatized council housing and provided a route to home ownership. It's because of the privatization paradigm that government staff housing was privatized in Abuja. In the US it has also failed because of the predominantly capitalist paradigm (there may be other reasons)

I agree that the Nigerian government should be socially responsible and have welfare packages. I'm not saying the reasons are justified. I'm just saying that social housing is unlikely in the present policy context. In a more developed democracy, this would be an issue of debate between political parties. That's why you have right wing parties (favouring neo-liberal policies) and left wing (favouring big government spending on social services). Unfortunately, that is not the case in Nigeria. The differences between the political parties are not ideological, hence peole change parties at will for selfish reasons. Unfortunately again, there are outside forces. Nigeria still depends on foreign loans (yar'adua took one recently). The loans come with 'conditionalities' and alot of the 'conditionalities' are in sympathy with neo-liberal policies. let's not forget that the inability to follow through with programmes because of corruption and beaureacratic inefficiencies in the case of Nigeria will add to the problem with institutional context. This is a reality that can not be ignored in Nigeria (at least for now)

The other thing is that you would want it to be sustainable. In other words, building 2000 houses this year, would not cause a dent in the hundreds of thousands living in slum settlements if it is not instituted by law as a policy that is to be continued and sustained.

In a larger global context (that is with respect to developing countries), this debate has actually moved from social housing, to sites-and-services, and then to self-help. Now what is predominant in low income housing discourse is community-initiated housing (which is what I am investigating). That seems to be the way of the future. It has its own problems, but its strenght lies in the fact that it seeks to leverage on the processes that the poor have used over time to build for themselves (eg slum settlements) to find solutions to the low income housing problems in developing countries. It is a bottom up approach that seeks to build communities and address other social issues.

I'm trying not to be academic here but I believe you get my drift.