Architects encourage use of local building materials

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• Proper innovation is good ! 11 years ago

  The Architect should concentrate on the beauty and functional areas of a building. I think it is very misleading for Architects to be delving in to strength or mechanical aspects of structures. How can the Architect explain t ...
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  The Architect should concentrate on the beauty and functional areas of a building. I think it is very misleading for Architects to be delving in to strength or mechanical aspects of structures. How can the Architect explain the behavior of structures and the materials that are used to resist the forces and stresses that develop in the structural members ? In fact, under cyclic loads like earthquakes, conventional materials behave differently. Steel behaves differently, reinforced concrete behaves differently, wood behaves differently. How can professionals be talking about Clay and other brittle materials without proper understanding of the behavior of these materials ? It is not only the question of the economics of using local materials, but the safety of the occupants of the buildings is paramount. Architects should focus on the beauty and not try to delve in to areas that they do not understand. If we are not careful we will have more structures collapsing.
  If there should be the introduction of new materials, they need to be properly studied, tested and their properties accepted by competent experts before they are introduced in to building codes. It is a long process, and these kinds of researches are done by Research Engineers who are experts in that field. Therefore if Architects have some ideas, they should pass them by the research Engineers. It is not for Architects to just suggest things without any research to back it up. Architects can only think about concepts. We would all like to see local materials being used, but they need to be extensively studied by Research Engineers in that field. Ghanaian Professionals should follow world standards and confine themselves to the areas that they are competent in.

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• liv 11 years ago

  Thanks. We attend universities with white people, study the same subjects but come out thinking different. I hope these draughtsmen read your response and learn.

  Thanks. We attend universities with white people, study the same subjects but come out thinking different. I hope these draughtsmen read your response and learn.

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• Kobbie uk 11 years ago

  Thanks for your comment, indeed this is the Ghanaian professional way of advising their people, without research just because they have seen or heard someone doing or talking about it they think is ok.
  Or they always think t ...
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  Thanks for your comment, indeed this is the Ghanaian professional way of advising their people, without research just because they have seen or heard someone doing or talking about it they think is ok.
  Or they always think they have to say something to fill important in the society

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• Akosua Obeng 11 years ago

  Thanks for reading the article. I hope you learnt soemthing from it. But in the usual Ghanaian way you are also commenting without background information. I will suggest that you to visit the buildig research institute in Ku ...
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  Thanks for reading the article. I hope you learnt soemthing from it. But in the usual Ghanaian way you are also commenting without background information. I will suggest that you to visit the buildig research institute in Kumasi to find about the mountain of research that has been done on local building material. Also kindly be informed Architecture is not just an art but an science.

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