Architectural Narrative of the Dagara House in Northern Ghana

The Dagara House is a heritage asset which is under the threat of extinction due to internal and external factors. The essence of this paper is to highlight the architectural integrity of the Dagara House and discuss the changing character and constraints affecting this cultural heritage. The research was conducted in the Lawra and Nandom districts of the Upper West region of Ghana through field surveys and interview of rural folks regarding the facing-off of the architecture. The research found that there is a growing disinterestedness for the Dagara House because of influences emanating from changing aspirations and taste. The study recommended the need to preserve the integrity of the Dagara House for posterity through the adoption of the open-museum concept backed by a vigorous stakeholder intervention with the necessary resource input for its sustainability. Keywords: Architectural, Narrative, The Dagara House, Heritage, Northern Ghan

5TH applied research conference in Africa

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An enquiry into architectural taste in Ghana based on case studies

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A QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL EDUCATION AND CONSCIOUSNESS ON ARCHITECTURE IN GHANA

The National Commission on Culture was established in 1999 with the mandate to promote a “national culture”. The Commission as part of its roles developed the 2004 National Cultural Policy. One aspect of the policy worth consideration is cultural education which is expected to positively impact on public architecture. This study aimed to assess the extent of the policy’s achievements with respect to cultural education and its impact on architecture, after nearly 18 years of its existence. The study adopted the narrative method of qualitative research methodology.  Non-probabilistic sampling techniques namely; purposive and snowball were used to sample 30 key respondents from Accra, Kumasi and Tamale to arrive at the findings of the study. The study revealed that the policy has not achieved much of its objectives regarding architectural development. The study revealed that the general architectural landscape shows little or no programmed attempt at incorporating culture into national architecture. This is attributed to the absence of effective cultural education and consciousness of the citizenry, lack of effective dissemination of the policy to the implementing stakeholders including architects, artists, educators etc., lack of funding and power of enforcement. The study puts forward six recommendations for policy direction aimed at addressing the challenges that militate against the achievement of Ghana’s National Cultural Policy objective on architecture