Earth Architecture Workshops News from the School of Art, Architecture and Design

This Spring, Anna Webster, an Architecture student in the Free Unit studio at The Cass, set off to Ghana to head up a Mud House Building Workshop at Abetenim Arts Village. Webster arrived at Abetenim as part of a team of three fellow emerging architects.

The three young architects described the ten weeks in Abetenim as challenging, fun and inspirational. Their mission was to build Anna Webster’s design entry to Nka Foundation's 2014 Mud House Design Competition: Reinventing the African Mud Hut Together of which Webster’s entry was shortlisted as among the Top 20 Designs by the jury.

The objective of the prototyping workshop was to immerse in the Ashanti culture to learn by doing site analysis, experiencing guided tours and talking to the local people to gain awareness and knowledge of the local building traditions. Taking into account the site conditions and discussions from the guided tours, the workshop team reviewed the design entry, completed the design process and built their proposal.

The completed house is named Nkabom House. Webster reflects on the significance of the name: “The local workers, volunteers and myself named the building Nkabom House. The Nka prefix represents the foundation and Nkabom means unity in Twi and representing the house as a consequence of unifying different materials and cultures in the spirit of collaborative building." 

More information is available on her website