· Web viewThe Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, was the first school of architecture, graduated its first set of students in 1961. The graduates were awarded the

MARCH, 2009

TABLE OF

CONTENTS

Table of content

1

Introduction 2

SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE IN NIGERIA.

ARC 805(RESEARCH METHODOLOGY) TERM PAPER.COURSE MENTOR: PROF.O.O. OGUNSOTE.

By: Abogunrin Sylvester. Femi; ARC/03/1883.

Schools of Architecture in

Nigeria Professional Fees

Historical Background 4

Curriculum for Schools of Architecture 7

Future Growth

10

Conclusion 12

References 13

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INTRODUCTION

Schools of Architecture began in Nigeria in 1952. The Nigerian College of Arts,

Science and Technology, was the first school of architecture, graduated its first set of students

in 1961. The graduates were awarded the Diploma in architecture, which exempted them

from Parts I and II of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) examination, and it

permitted them to take the final examination. In 1962 the College was upgraded into a

University and the programme was restructured for the award of Bachelor of Architecture.

This period (1952-1962) is the first of three distinguishable periods of architectural education

in Nigeria. The only school of architecture in Nigeria then was established and run by the

British and they almost completely formed the faculty.

Four schools of architecture came on stream between 1963 and 1979. In the period architects

from Eastern and Western Europe dominated the faculty of the schools. This is the second

period of architectural education in Nigeria known as semi-colonial period of

experimentation. Since 1979 fourteen schools of architecture have been established in the

country with the faculty dominated by Nigerians. It is the third period.

The curriculum for schools of architecture in Nigeria has, in the three periods, been a subject

of critical debate in several fora on its continued relevance to Nigeria’s national needs. Its

historical background as a curriculum modelled after the British and/or American pattern and

thus the Beaux-Arts tradition, has generated calls for reviews to meet local yearnings and

needs, and social and cultural exigencies.

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The growth of architectural education in the country in its fifty years of existence has

witnessed the development of various ideas, and philosophies by the different schools of

architecture in their efforts to making architectural education reflect local and national

aspiration. The schools of architecture are however guided in their programme design by the

general framework provided by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in the country.

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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The establishment of the Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology in 1952 led

to the birth of schools of architecture in Nigeria. The college was located at Ibadan, the

capital of the then Western Region of Nigeria. It was relocated to Zaria in Northern Nigeria

in 1955. The first set of Diploma students graduated in 1961.

In 1962 the college was upgraded to a full-fledged University, named Ahmadu Bello

University, Zaria. The course programme was restructured and graduates were awarded the

Bachelor of Architecture degree, which had the same link as the earlier Diploma with RIBA.

The link with RIBA was maintained till 1968, when the course programme was again

restructured, into two-tier, with the offer of the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) and Master of

Science (M.Sc) degrees in architecture. The new programme took off in 1969.

The University of Nigeria, which came into existence in 1962, established a

department of architecture in 1963. The new department became the second school of

architecture in Nigeria. In 1970, a third school of architecture was established in the

University of Lagos.

At the turn of the century in 1999 the number of degree-awarding institutions in

Nigeria had risen to sixteen (ten Federal and six State Universities). There were also nineteen

Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology awarding National Diploma (ND) and/or the

Higher National Diploma (HND). Two state universities (Kano and Ogun) and a private

institution (Covenant University) have since established three additional degree-awarding

schools of architecture. At present, we have twenty-six degree-awarding schools of

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architecture (eleven Federal, ten State and five Private Universities) as shown in table 1

below.

TABLE 1: Degree-Awarding Schools of Architecture in Nigeria

S/N NAME OF UNIVERSITY YEAR OF

ESTABLISHMENT

OWNERSHIP

1 Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 1952 Federal Government

2 University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus 1963 Federal Government

3 University of Lagos, Akoka 1970 Federal Government

4 Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

(Formerly University of Ife, Ile-Ife)

1977 Federal Government

5 University of Jos, Jos 1979 Federal Government

6 Rivers State University of Science

and Technology, Port-Harcourt

1980

7 Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma 1981

8 Abia State University, Uturu 1982

9 Enugu State University of Science

and Technology, Enugu

1985

10 Federal University of Technology,

Minna


11 Federal University of Technology,

Akure


12 Federal University of Technology, 1990 Federal Government

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Yola

13 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

University, Bauchi


14 Imo State University, Owerri 1992 State Government

15 Ladoke Akintola University of

Technology, Ogbomosho

1993 State Government

16 University of Uyo, Uyo 1995 Federal Government

17 Kano State University, Kano 2002 State Government

18 Covenant University, Ota 2002 Private

19 Olabisi Onabanjo University,

Ago Iwoye


20 Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 2005 Federal Government

21 Cross River University of

Technololgy, Calabar


22 Anambra State University of Science

and Technololgy, Uli


23 Caleb University, |Lagos 2007 Private

24 Bingham University, Karu 2007 Private

25 Caritas University, Enugu 2008 Private

26 Tansian University, Oba 2008 Private

Source: Field Survey, 2009.

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CURRICULUM FOR SCHOOLS OF

ARCHITECTURE

The quality of the human habitat is central to architecture, and thus the goal of

architectural education is to contribute to the attainment of a humane and responsive

environment. In this endeavour schools of architecture strive to equip students with the

education required to make them contribute to the promotion of an orderly development of

the human environment. The programme of study leads to the production of professionals

who are sensitive to human needs and aspirations and who have the requisite knowledge and

the intellectual and aesthetic skills to evolve expressive design solutions of problems of the

built environment. They have the professional skills required for effective shaping, re-

ordering and articulation of the built environment.

The goal of architectural education is subsumed in the general concept of education,

which is to prepare people to improve and perpetuate their society. This is achieved by

taking due cognizance of the society’s political, social and economic circumstances in the

design of the educational programme.

Architectural programme in Nigeria was designed, at the onset, to meet the challenges

of modern architecture. The programme has faced challenges in the last fifty years for it to

be relevant to Nigeria’s national needs and aspirations, as well as meet current technological

developments. It has succinctly shown that education must be consciously enlisted to serve

national needs, and indeed education is an instrument of power on which national survival

depends.

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The objectives of the educational programmes in Nigeria, as stipulated in the 3rd

National Development Plan provide a general framework within which schools of

architecture in Nigeria is focused. These include (FGN, 1975):

(i) Reforming the content of general education to make it more responsive to the

socio-economic needs of the country;

(ii) Consolidating and developing the nation’s system of higher education in

response to the economy’s manpower needs;

(iii) Rationalizing the financing of education with a view to making the

educational system more adequate and efficient; and

(iv) Making an impact in the area of technological education so as to meet the

growing needs of the economy.

The objectives of schools of Architecture in Nigeria to a large extent reflect this

national aspiration. These objectives stress the importance of research opportunities

appropriate to the development of national resources and technological skills in meeting

emerging national demands.

The curriculum contents and specific subjects of study of schools of architecture in

Nigeria are selected from the minimum standards stipulated by the country’s National

Universities Commission (NUC). There are over a hundred different course titles from which

each school of architecture draws its programmes. These courses are however categorized

into seven instruction modules namely:

(i) Architectural Design;

(ii) Arts and Drawing;

(iii) Historical and Theoretical Studies;

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(iv) Building Systems Technology;

(v) Humanities and Social Studies;

(vi) Environmental Control System; and

(vii) Physical Sciences.

The NUC recommends the spread of these modules and their credit units over a 6-

year period within a 2-tier structure. Greater emphasis is placed on the architectural design

module than the other modules, and thus more than 40% of the required credits for the

degrees are earned in the studio. This is informed by the centrality of the design studio to the

entire architectural educational programme. The design studio is the hub and nucleus of the

programme since all learnings in architecture are geared towards imparting into students

skills they require in proffering solutions to problems of the built environment. The design

studio is aimed at developing in students the awareness and skills they require in identifying

architectural function, purpose, and meaning, which are then translated into appropriate

designed settings. As the key integrative unit of the architecture programme, the design

studio offers the unique opportunity of imparting cultural values into students and expanding

the horizon of their world-view. Students have the opportunity to appreciate the great

varieties of Nigerian traditional architecture, and their richness in content and form.

Architectural education has thus fostered national unity in spite of the nation’s immense

diversity in the cultures of its people.

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FUTURE GROWTH

Nigeria has experienced phenomenal changes since the establishment of the first

school of architecture in the country in 1952. There have been growth and development in

various spheres of human endeavours. Programmes of architectural education have

undergone a number of changes to cope with these.

Further challenges are staring architectural education in the face with increasing

complexity in the nation’s socio-economic circumstances. Nigeria has experienced rapid

urbanisation in recent years, which has led to an upsurge in the population growth of urban

centres. Urbanisation in Nigeria has been described as socio-economically handicapped,

because there is no concomitant and commensurate change in the social and technological

development in the urban centres. The resultant effects of the urbanisation process in Nigeria

have been severe degradation of the urban environment, shortages in housing units, and

decay in urban infrastructure and services. Deterioration in housing situation in urban centres

has become a visible feature of urbanisation in the country. This has led to severe

overcrowding in inadequate buildings and generation of slum conditions.

The Nigerian architect is faced with these multi-faceted urban problems. Alongside

these are also problems encountered in the rural areas, particularly poor quality of housing.

Architectural education in the country has to rise to the challenge of equipping students with

the knowledge and skills for solving the problems. It has to foster the students’ creativity and

strengthen their interest, motivation and commitment to improve the environment. Within

the general framework provided by the Nigerian National University Commission major

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shifts have to be made towards emphasizing courses in Humanities and Social Studies, and

Historical and Theoretical Studies.

The paucity of facilities and architect-educators to implement the curriculum in

architecture schools in the country has been identified as the greatest difficulty faced by

architectural education in Nigeria. In order for architectural programmes to meet their set

objectives, skilful and qualified architects have to be employed to teach. They will also be

engaged in research through which they will make original contributions to the development

of an improved theoretical basis for architecture. The curriculum in architecture, though

studio-based, should inculcate considerable research input into its postgraduate programme in

order to prepare graduate students for a productive academic career.

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) has made tremendous inroads into architectural

education in Nigeria. Studies shown, that less than 40% of Nigerian architecture students

learnt the use of CAD software during their course of architectural education. This is because

most schools of architecture in Nigeria have not integrated computer-aided design and

drafting into their programmes. Architectural education in Nigeria has to embrace

Computing and Information Technology fully to be more relevant in the practice of

contemporary architecture. Research in architectural computing should be encouraged, and

collaboration can be formed with such international organizations as eCAADe (Education

and Research in Computer-Aided Architectural Design in Europe), ACADIA (Association of

Computer-Aided Design in Architecture), CAADRIA (Computer-Aided Architectural Design

Research in Asia), and CAAD Futures Foundation.

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CONCLUSION

The term paper focuses attention on schools of architecture in Nigeria, its historical

development and curriculum design. It discusses the goal of architectural education within

the context of the Nigerian National Educational objectives. It proffers recommendations on

the improvement of schools of architecture to meet present national needs and future

demands.

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REFERENCES

Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN (1975) Third National Development Plan,

1975-1980, Vol. 1, The Central Planning Office, Federal Ministry of Economic

Development, Lagos

Olotuah, A.O. & Adesiji, O.S. (2006). An appraisal of architectural education in

Nigeria. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://www.google.com.html

The Nigerian Institute of Architects. (2006, November 22-25). XLVI General

Assembly Conference, Yenagoa. Annual Report, p.8.

The Nigerian Institute of Architects. (2008, November 26-29). XLVII General

Assembly Conference, Kaduna. Annual Report, p.69.

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Documents

· Web viewThe Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, was the first school of architecture, graduated its first set of students in 1961. The graduates were awarded the