The premise of progress

Abstract: Nima is a distressed neighbourhood located north of central Accra, the capital city of Ghana in West Africa. Nima is an extremely dense community, where land is very scarce. Single floor, clay built compound houses occupy the entire neighbourhood. Spatial planning is lacking, infrastructure is limited and overcrowding proposes a severe problem. Nima, a neighbourhood which is a direct result of rapid urbanization which occurred after the second world war, has long been considered an illegal squatter settlement with a reputation as a place undergoing rapid physical and social decay. Furthermore, academic achievement within Nima is shown to be very low, a large percentage of the population has never received any education. This knowledge, along with Nima´s bad reputation has created a shared frustration among the youth due to lack of jobs and opportunities. It is time for Nima to create its own opportunities and unlock its potential by providing further education for its youth. Today most children of Nima attend primary school but then drop out after the age of twelve, both because of economical as well as geographical reasons as there are no secondary schools within the neighbourhood. Therefore, as a step towards improving the neighbourhood, this thesis proposes to build a much needed Junior high school within Nima, where children can continue their studies locally. It does so buy looking closely at the neighbourhood, viewing its potential and by implementing a site specific design solution which challenges the concept of the school as an institution while provoking new ways to approach densification. A new typology is created as a response to the severe lack of space. A junior high school, built with local traditional building materials is built on columns and therefore occupies the otherwise unused space above the existing local market, creating a dynamic mix of people, functions, tradition and innovation on site. Inspired by the words; “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress. In every society, in every family.” by the Ghanian diplomat Kofi Annan, the project hopes to support Nima to develop its image and help its youth to create a more prosperous future for themselves.