Onitsha City Architecture

BBC News - Architects say new houses are 'shameful shoebox homes' : 'via Blog this' The dilemma of the building industry and built environment is letting the wrong people into crucial decision making positions. Architects should be the people approving what is being built and not left behind to complain about finished buildings. Until architects take their place in city planning councils and contribute to major decision in the built environment problems of the present nature will continue to surface.

Prototypical Private City Projects In the commercial city of Onitsha up to 95% of private apartments and residences are privately generated and financed as such the client controls almost every project procurement process. In this kind of scenario the client is more than King-the client is more of a dictator and wields as it were ‘the power of life and death’. Since he finances the project most times unaided from financial institutions he makes decisions to the tune of his financial muscles and most times to the detriment of the project’s quality. From the onset of the project, the inclusion of a qualified architect on the team is almost a taboo since the major project realization strategy is cost reduction even if it means resorting to un-professional methods. In the clients view point the use of architectural services is uncalled for since he can quickly adapt a typical apartment in the neighborhood to his personal end. The resulting city planning product is what the ...

Introduction ‘Onitsha City architecture’ is a term coined from the prevalent culture of building without architects that involved mostly Onitsha based sole proprietors and business magnets and the pattern character and style of building stock produced within the period 1975-2000 and beyond in Onitsha City and its neighborhoods. This blog is intended to be a critique of this period and its ‘cut and paste architectural style’ The period 1975-2000 coincided roughly with the close of the Nigeria Biafra civil war. The Igbos never built on a large scale prior to the civil war since majority lived in urban centers thought t he nation. The few available accommodation served the families during their December holidays. The exponential growth of the Igbo population after the war and the realization of the fact that many that escaped the northern pogrom never wanted a repeat experience necessitated the large scaled individual building projects across the Onitsha Cityscape. Our Miss...