Advancing the Use of Alternative Materials and Technology to Promote Circularity in Architecture Praxis in Africa

Abstract

There is a global acceptance on the urgency of sustainable development. However, the green agenda seems to further marginalise poorer populations in Africa. Mainstream architecture is railed in by the building industry to provide hi-tech solutions that have large carbon, water and energy foot prints, that are inappropriate to the local context, and seem to have minimal skill transfer to local communities - thus missing out on the opportunity to create higher socio-economic and environmental impact required towards solving the climate change crisis. For several years a collaboration between several academic institutions, professional building consultants, municipalities and development agencies, NGOs, corporates, accreditation bodies, and local communities has teamed up to explore the use of alternative design (materials and technologies). The multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research development and innovative work is pushing the boundaries in material design and the approach towards community practice in the acceptance of alternative architecture. More specifically the works illustrate the use of recyclable waste and materials (mainly from the building industry) in circular methods and bio-based material approaches resulting in high impact regenerative socioeconomic and environmental impact architecture. The resultant body of works has won several distinguished accolades and continues to be acknowledged globally. The case studies presented are at different scales, contexts and thymes and demonstrate how to implement alternative and circular and bio-based methods towards a circularity and the regenerative design. Further more give tangible evident on how to re-engineer the existing built industry systems and a re-think architecture education (and training) in transitioning towards material practice and regenerative architecture.