Architecture Placement - In The Gambia!

Today, me and Nuala got to shadow an architect of the Gambia, which was really insightful. Firstly, we went for a briefing at his house, which was really quite modest, especially in comparison to where else we had seen in the Gambia. We then drove to the first of his many projects, which I found personally the most interesting. The project was in the stages of finishing up a concrete road that connected the river to the main street connections inland. Doesn't sound very exciting I know, but it was opening up a new world of possibilities for the locals. In the Gambia, most houses are painted with a specific white paint that is actually made from crushed up Oyster shells - as you can see the heap of them in the photo. Really, I should of been asking where the hell all the pearls had gone?! But, of course, I quizzed more about the project itself. These crushed oyster shells were often heated in the houses of those in the village, and then hauled to markets or the like. This meant that many of the homes were pretty much destroyed by the smoke and it was also just impractical to transport them to the market themselves. The road meant that the shells from the river, collected between the mangroves everyday, could be hauled in much larger loads and create a more sustainable and logical trade. In addition to this, a small community centre was built next to the river, where these oyster shells could be heated and treated by the women of the village (to boost equal rights for work within the community) without destroying their own homes to do so.

The other projects we got to see was a large house being constructed for a wealth land owner - nothing too out of the ordinary here, other than the lack of health and safety! And an expanding brick production company that the architect owned, which was going to boost employability within the country and also reduce dependancy on the west. The architect was actually a really admirable person, he had travelled away from gambia when younger and set up a new life in Switzerland with his wife and children, where he then undertook his studies. But he returned to Gambia because he knew that the country needed the help and organisation that he could provide. "Why would I not return to my home country? They need me here."