Contemporary Responses to 21st Century Pressures
An ex-centric study by Benedetta Rogers | Lucy Paton | Anthony Staples | Matthew Eberhard
London is facing increasing pressure from a changing and globalising world, our communities struggling to accommodate the flux associated with population growth, migration and economic uncertainty. Yet as a society we continue to view the Western city as the model of development — at the forefront of modernisation and progress.
In March 2016, we [Rogers, Paton, Staples, Eberhard] travelled to Accra in Ghana, looking to this rapidly growing African city for an ex-centric study of contemporary responses to 21st century pressures.
Echoes of Accra Exhibition London
Using interviews, sound, imagery, drawings and ephemera we present a series of part real, part imagined walks through the city [Accra].
The exhibition presents a collection of personal stories from across Ghana’s capital, which heard together; tell broader narratives about the city, its diverse and distinct communities and idiosyncratic inhabitants.
Despite its challenges, we found communities within Accra that remain resilient and expectant. Characteristics that manifest themselves in a highly social urban landscape able to integrate strangers, accommodate change and above all adapt.
The exhibition is showing at Doomed Gallery, 65–67 Ridley Road London. The opening night will be Thursday 16 of June, showing until Sunday 19 June 2016
Words and images: Benedetta Rogers, Lucy Paton, Anthony Staples & Matthew Eberhard — Architects working in various firms in London
This exhibition is part of the London Festival of Architecture 2016
The study was funded by the RIBA, the Arts Council England and the British Council.
