As Ghanaβs urban landscapes rapidly evolve, questions of heritage, material culture, and sustainable futures come to the fore. This joint Historic Preservation and Urban Planning studio brought Columbia GSAPP students to Kumasi, Ghana, to engage directly with the living traditions and challenges of earthen architecture in Asante communities. Through fieldwork, building surveys, and dialogue with local institutions, including the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the studio examined how histories of place, community knowledge, and contemporary pressures intersect in the built environment. The work aimed to understand not only what is at risk of being lost but also how earthen building practices might inform new approaches to conservation, design, and urban policy in Ghana and beyond.
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