My  name  is  Leila  and I'm  excited  to  introduce  the  second  panel, Social  Transformations working  between  architecture, fashion,  music,  and  writing. Hilario  Olympio  resisted  categorization  and embraced  the  productive  friction between  creative  practices. Employing  critical  fabulation,  she disrupted  omissions and  disciplinary  histories. And  allow  those  who  used  her  spaces  to reimagine  their  relationships with  the  built  environment. Centering  production  systems  that tended  to  be  off  secured  into  focus. She  expanded  these  into fruitful  networks  of  makers  and  craftspeople, ushering  in  an  era  of rebuilding  and  decolonial  world  making. Olympia's  inclusive,  polyvalent  practice countered  normative  modes of  architectural  production. Resulting  in  a  redefined  form  of social  entrepreneurship  that  built connections  across  disciplines  and  borders. The  first  speaker  of social  transformations  is  Nana  Bamaafusu. Nana  is  an  architect,  writer, and  director  of  Y  AA  Projects, an  architecture  design  and  research  practice dedicated  to  exploring  counter  histories, material,  and  diasphoric  culture. Speaking  and  writing  Architecture  YA  projects engages  in  intelligent and  contextually  rich  projects, centering  peripheral  identities  to create  a  more  inclusive, holistic  understanding of  the  built  environment. Recent  projects  include  tropical  modernism, architecture  and  power  in West  Africa  at  the  18th  Venice  biannual, which  was  selected  as  part  of Arc  Day's  top  2023, Pavilions  and  Installations, Interrogating  Architecture of  the  Global  South. The  second,  another  project that  is  pertinent, the  Arch  Africa  Pavilion and  the  Athea  Mcnish  Colors  mine, which  was  included  in the  Guardians  Best  Designers and  Designs  of  2023. As  part  of  the  curators  research  team  at the  18th  International Architecture  Exhibition of  the  Venice  Biannual, Nana  contributed  to  the  articulation of  the  main  exhibition  and  pinpoint an  archive  of  African and  African  Diaspora  practitioners focused  on decarbonization  and  decolonialization. Nana  has  lectured  widely in  the  UK  and  internationally, including  at  the  inaugural Venice  Biannual  College, Architectura  Kingston  University, and  currently  at the  Architectural  Association. In  addition,  she  has  been  a  critic at  Harvard  Graduate  School  of  Design. Her  practice  explores  identity, geography,  commonality, and  diasphoric  culture  through the  lens  of  building,  dwelling  and  materials. She  has  been  researching African  compound  housing  as a  building  spatial  and  material  typology which  can  inform  the  development  of future  housing  and  urbanism. This  includes  a  book  due for  publication  later  this  year. Her  practice  YA  Projects recently  presented  Common  Communal  Community, an  exhibition  in  Vienna showcasing  this  research. As  a  writer,  she  is  interested  in  the  social, political,  and  cultural  impact of  design  and  architecture. And  engages  with  leading  practitioners  in contemporary  practice  defining  a  critical, expansive,  and  open  discourse  on the  built  environment.  Thank  you. No,  thank  you.  Good  afternoon, and  thank  you  very  much,  Leyla, for  that  very  generous  introduction. I'm  really  privileged  and honored  to  be  here  this  afternoon. And  thank  you  very  much  to the  School  of  Architecture at  Princeton  and  to the  Women  in  Design  for organizing  this  amazing  symposium. It's  been  a  real  privilege to  listen  to  all  the  lectures and  discussions  that  have  taken  place yesterday  and  also  earlier  this  afternoon. This  morning.  Yeah,  I'm just  going  to  get  started  on  what  will be  quite  a  brief  presentation  then  I'm looking  forward  to  the  discussion that  follows  with  Leyla  Julio. And  any  this  presentation is  titled  Material  Fabrilations, Methods,  and  Constructions. I'll  begin  with a  very  brief  exploration  of  my  practice. I'm  an  architect,  I'm  a  writer, a  researcher,  a  curator,  and  an  educator. As  an  architect,  I value  what  it  means  to  practice. Within  my  studio  YA  projects. The  production  of  architecture  is considered  as  a  holistic  practice. We  make,  we  speak,  and  rewrite  architecture. This  multifaceted  mode  of being  an  architect  is something  I'm  learning  to  reconcile  back  on. This  multifaceted  mode  of  practice of  being  an  architect  is something  I'm  learning  to  reconcile. I  describe  it  as  a  reconciliation because  it's  at  odds with  my  formal  education  in  the  UK, which  conveyed  architecture  as a  discipline  without  the  body. While  my  early  upbringing  in  Ghana demonstrated  the  idea  of architecture  as  an  embedded  experience, I  learned  from  people  like Lara  Limpio  and  many  other  people, those  spoken  earlier  today  and  yesterday, on  how  to  kind  of  form  a  practice that  is  multifaceted  and  can bring  together a  more  holistic  way  of  thinking about  architecture  and our  collective  built  environment. I  wanted  to  share  this  quote  from Luttig  Witterstein's  1931  diary. It's  perhaps  an  unexpected place  to  find  meaning. But  as  a  third  year  student  of architecture  here  in  this  quote, in  an  even  lecture  given  by  Jamie  Faubert, made  it  possible  for  me  to understand  why  I  was so  drawn  to  architecture. It  was  a  way  of  understanding  me, my  heritage,  my  environment, my  place  in  the  world,  and  my  culture. I  began  researching  the  compound  house  as an  African  housing  typology  in  2019. And  it  was  around  the  same  time  that I  encountered  Ala  Limpio's  work. While  there  was  very  little  I  could find  or  immediately  access  online, there  was  an  interview  published  in  2012 by  a  journalist  called  Fabio  Chest  at  Arkton. In  that  very  generous  conversation, they  spoke  about  hilarious  practice. And  I  found  that,  that  really resonated  with  my  own, her  ideas  about  a  sustainable building  practice  rooted  in  place, climate,  and  local  craft  and knowledge  are  all  elements  I  have  uncovered. And  I'm  uncovering,  looking at  the  compound  house  as  a  typology, the  Asante  people  of  Ghana  have a  pattern  language  called  the  Adinkra. The  Adinkra  symbol, Fiancra  means  security  or  safety. It  is  also  the  symbol  for  home. There  is  a  saying  amongst the  Asante  people  which  goes, si  Fiancra,  which  translates  to, he  has  built  himself  a  house. This  is  important  because it  considers  what  a  house is  beyond  shelter.  What  is  the  house? Embedded  in  this  saying  is  the  notion  that a  house  is  an  act  of  self  actualization. The  making  of  a  home  is  more  than just  the  provision  of  shelter  or  structure, but  rather  the  creation  of  an  institution. Building  a  house  is a  cultural  phenomenon,  and  as  such, its  form  and  spatial  organization is  influenced  by  history, climate,  culture  of its  situation,  and  its  context. In  the  context  of  this  discussion, I  want  to  frame  this  compound house  research  as  an  architecture  of co  authorship  translation  and new  architectural  languages  towards a  decolonial  world  forming. It  is  an  architecture  that  is rooted  in  the  local. It  presents  the  house  as  a  living  archive. Its  plans  and  layouts  reflect the  specific  cultural  nuances, while  its  building, fabrics  and  mode  of constructions  speak  to  place, history,  material,  and  resource. On  the  left  here  is  a  quote  taken from  Thomas  Edward  Bodwit's  mission, from  Cape  Coast  Castle  to  Asante. On  the  right  is  a  photograph  of a  ground  and  column  detail I  took  last  month  when visiting  Kukubitta  Institute  while  on a  study  trip  with my  students  from  the Architectural  Association  in  London. Thank  you  Renee,  for  generously hosting  us  that  afternoon. It's  interesting  to  think  about the  time  between  these  two  images, Bodwicch  in  the  1800s and  Olympia  in  the  1990s. But  for  me,  what  is  remarkable  is Olympia's  understanding  of the  ground,  for  me, exemplifies  the  theme  of  this  conference activated  ground  in  that  I see  the  idea  of  the  Santa  belief  of  building the  idea  that  we  build  as  a  way of  connecting  not  only  to  our  land, but  to  ourselves  and  to our  own  spiritual  beings. This  was  a  quote  that  was  shared yesterday  by  Professor  Leslie  Loco. I  reiterated  here,  looking at  these  two  particular  images, houses  like  human  beings  are  created  from little  balls  of  earth  removed from  the  muddy  tissue  of  the  ancestors  body. They  are  said  to  be  both  earth born  and  earthbound. Ultimately  the  connection  I  see between  the  research  I'm  undertaking  and Olympia's  work  is  the  search  to  seek architecture  as  a  manifestation of  our  own  spirituality, beliefs  and  connections  to  a  greater  being, the  Earth,  from  which  we  came  from. I  want  to  talk about  this  particular  building, the  Auto  Besiata  Shrine  house, which  is  located  in the  Ajua  district  of  Kumasi,  Ghana. Second  biggest  city, The  Adjustal  Bessiasa  Shrine  House derives  its  name  from  its  location. Bess  is  a  noun  with a  proposition  meaning  under  the  cola  nut. Bess  means  cola  nut, the  fruit  of  a  cola  tree  that  is  native to  the  tropical  rainforests of  this  region  of  Ghana. It  is  often  used  ceremoniously presented  to  chiefs  and  guests. Finally,  as  means  under extending  directly below  or  behind,  or  hidden. The  adjusting  shrine  house, which  you  can  see  here  in  plan  axon, the  metric  are  the  foundations of  the  typical  Asante  house, which  were  originally  designed  for human  inhabitation  and  also  for  deities. It  comprises  four  separate rectangular  singular  buildings set  around  an  open  courtyard. The  inner  corners  of the  adjacent  buildings  are linked  together  by  the  means of  a  splayed  screen, whose  sides  and  angles  can  be  adapted  to allow  for  more  inaccuracy in  the  initial  layout. Typically  these  buildings completely  open  to  the  courtyard. While  the  fourth  building  is  partially enclosed  either  by  door  or  windows, or  open  work  screens  flanking  in  the  opening. A  striking  feature  of  these  buildings  are the  elaborate  mural  decorations. The  upper  walls  are  covered in  interlacing  geometrical  designs, while  the  lower  parts  are boldly  modeled  in  bas  relief, in  symbols,  with  the  large  variety  in  design, red  clay  polished  to  a  dull  shine. For  me,  what  I  find  really  intriguing  about these  buildings  is  the  ability to  convey  a  kind  of  collective  identity. And  as  well  as  working with  the  local  materials  that are  found  in  place  for  me, they're  really  formational  part of  an  appropriate  way of  building  in  this  context. And  there's  a  lot  I think  to  be  learned  from  them. And  that's  what  a  lot  my research  tries  to  pick  up  on. I'll  be  the  next  few  slides  go  through a  series  of  drawings  that  we're currently  producing  as  part  of  this  research. And  I'll  be  presenting this  particular  project  was  just  situated  in Sandme  12  compound  houses were  surveyed  as  part  of this  ongoing  project  Sanam to  the  upper  east  of  Ghana. It's  quite  different  in  climate  to  Kamari, where  the  other  building  I've  just  shown is  located  for  me. What's  really  interesting  about this  building  is this  a  really  small  building, but  a  really  powerful  building. It  really  speaks  to  a  way  of  living, a  way  of  communal  living, and  a  way  of  being  and building  around  this  compound. I  think  what's  really  pertinent  also  is a  care  for  everything  in  our  environment. Care  for  also  the  animals. The  sleeping  space  is  provided  for  them. The  compound  is  heavily  used. It's  useful  all  manner of  things  and  activities. For  me,  what's  really  interesting about  these  buildings  is the  ability  to  hold  different  uses. To  hold  different  imaginations, all  in  one  place. That's  it  there  in  axonometric. A  very  different  kind  of compound  house  is  one  that  we  found  in  Amma, which  is  in  the  Cape  Coast  region. So  one  thing  that  I'm  really interested  in  is  to  see  how  these  buildings have  been  translated through  time  and  translated for  the  different  regions they  find  themselves  in. This  is  a  contemporary, well  contemporary urban  kind  of  situation  of  it. And  as  they  evolve, they  become  houses  that are  locally  called  passenger  houses. And  they're  kind  of  now, rather  than  maybe  hosting a  singlar  family  or multigenerational  family  of, of  one  lineage,  they  might  host different  people  who  are  coming  and  going  or, you  know,  renting  in  large  cities. But  what  persists  about  them  is  the  way  that they  can  still  hold  a  array  of  uses, different  modes  of  living, but  also  their  adaptability. And  I  think  that  that's  something  that it's  really  important  for thinking  about  how  we build  and  also  how  we  build  in  a  kind of  more  democratic  way  of  thinking. That  it's  not  always  the  architect  in  charge, but  the  architect  also  has  to  leave room  for  others  to  be  able  to  add  to. And  a  building's  incompleteness is  not  a  loss  necessarily, but  something  that  we  can, that  can  grow  with  us, and  grows  over  time. That's  in  the  symmetry. And  you  see  the  ways  that these  historic  typologies  have  been translated  towards  contemporary  buildings. Now  this  is  also  in  Bantam  in  Kumasi. And  you  can  see  here  how that  traditional  compound  house  has been  expanded  to  have  different  set of  rooms  and  different  sets  of  uses. This  particular  one  was  really  interesting, it's  in  the  older  part  of  Kumasi. As  part  of  our  research,  we  also spoke  to  people  that  live  in  these  houses, the  guardians  of  these  homes. What  is  really  interesting  is they're  able  to  accommodate family  as  they  come  and  go. So  when  a  family  member finds  himself  and  commanded, they  always  know  that there's  a  place  for  them. And  this  house  is also  Another  thing  I  found  really  interesting about  these  buildings  is there  are  ways  that  they  can respond  directly  to the  economic  pressures  of  a  country. So  really  clever  in  their  use  of  space. All  the  shops  labeled  in  number  two, there  are  all  commercially rented  spaces  that  mean  that the  family  can  consistently generate  income  from  their  houses. I  think  that  this  is  something about  thinking  sustainably, not  just  in  terms  of  material, but  also  in  terms  of  economy. A  mode  of  sustaining people's  livelihoods,  which  for  me, are  also  very  key  parts of  thinking  about  sustainable  practice. I'll  also  now  just quickly  present  a  project  for  me that  seeks  to  explore  these  ideas of  co  authorship,  translation, and  well  building  in a  project  in  an  exhibition called  Common  Communal  and  Community, which  were  invited  to  put together  in  Vienna  last  year. It's  an  exhibit  ongoing. The  design  of  this  exhibition is  staged  across  three  rooms, and  it  takes  cues  from the  spatial  arrangement  of  this  typology. The  first  room  acts  as  a  veranda, a  space  for  negotiation  between the  city  and  the  main  room  of  the  exhibition. The  second,  the  main  room is  a  long  rectilinear  space, which  recalls  the  compound, the  external  space  central  to  this  typology. While  the  final  space, the  smaller  room  at  the  bottom, is  accessed  via  the  main  space, exemplifying  the  relationship  between the  courtyard  space  and the  interior  spaces  within  this  typology. And  you  can  see  here  in  drawing, how  the  three  rooms  are staged  and  how  they  respond  and show  different  parts  of  the  project. In  our  design  language, we  sought  to  use  a  system  of  elements, elements  that  we  sought  to  think about  as  things  that  could  all  go  back. We  started  that  as  the  initial provocation  of  this  project. How  to  think  about  materials and  how  to  use  materials  and construct  new  forms  of  material  compositions. Thinking  about  the  materials  themselves and  how  we  might  assemble them  so  that  they  can  be  re,  used. Now,  I'll  just  share a  few  slides  of  images  from  the  exhibition. Finally,  I'd  like  to  conclude  with  this  quote from  Donald  J.  Harroway from  staying  with  the  troubles, it  matters  what  matters. We  used  to  think  other  matters  with  it matters  what  stories  to tell  other  stories  with. It  matters  what  descriptions  describe. Descriptions  ties. It  matters  what  stories, what  worlds  make  stories For  me  in  thinking  about the  creative  productivity, cross  disminary, collaboration,  and  co  authorship. I  think  about  these  all  as ways  of  kind  of  forming  new  worlds. Forming  new  worlds  based  on  the  kind  of historic  understanding  of  ways  of  building. Thinking  about  what  we  can  learn  from history  without  necessarily  historicizing, but  thinking  about  history as  a  living  archive, a  place  to  search  from a  point  of  departure  for  building new  spaces  and  new  aspirations. Thank  you  very  much. Thank  you  Ana  for that  compelling  presentation. I'm  now  honored  to  introduce  irony  to  Silva. Irani  De  Silva  is a  Sri  Lankan  British  architect and  editor  based  in  Ghana. With  her  project  Loke, she  explores  themes  of  liberation through  building  and  writing. In  the  house  publication. In  the  in  house  publication, Loke  Journal  examines  the  art  of  making  as an  inclusive  cross cultural  and  global  pursuit. Offering  nuanced  perspectives  on the  complex  and  varied  realities of  international  design  and  production. Written  primarily  by  practicing  architects, it  draws  connections  between distinct  and  intersecting  spaces  of  making while  challenging  dominant  narratives in  architecture  and  design  criticism. Similar  themes  are  reflected  in her  built  projects  in  Ghana  and  Ronda. Previously,  Andy  was  founding  editor  of  BI, an  early  online  experimental architectural  writing  project. Which  was  the  project  and  was the  project  editor  of  the  Fat  on  titled  20th Century  World  Architecture  Presenting a  Global  View  of the  last  century's important  architectural  works. More  recently,  her  writing  has  appeared in  periodicals  such  as Domas  and  the  Architectural  Review. She  was  a  panelist  at the  Architect  newspapers  Symposium  on Contemporary  Architectural Criticism  last  year  in  Venice. Her  architectural  proposals  are discussed  in  Boudin's  with  Without  and  what? Keller  Easterlings,  Extra  Statecraft. She  has  lectured  on  her  work at  several  institutions  including the  University  of  Rwanda  and the  Toronto  Metropolitan  University. She's  a  graduate  of  London's Architectural  Association. Randy  was  someone  who supported  the  organization  of this  conference  since  July  2023. She  provided  students  with  suggestions  and resources  and  we  are  very grateful  for  her  valuable  insight. Welcome,  Andy. Thank  you,  Julia,  for  that  introduction. I'd  like  to  thank  Princeton SOA  Dean  Ponce  de  Leon, the  WDA  organizers, as  well  as  Courtney  Kaufman  for the  opportunity  to  be  here  and  to  be a  part  of  this  important and  very  special  event that  looks  at  Oleo  Olympio's  work. This  talk  is  called Spirited  Architecture  Becoming  Whole. It's  March  1,  which means  that  another  black history  month  is  ending. I  grew  up  on  a  small  island  in the  Atlantic  that  once  held an  enslaved  population  of both  African  diaspora and  displaced  Native  Americans. Early  lessons  came  in my  first  February  at school  from  Miss  Hayward, who  recounted  a  history  that began  at  sea  with  the  Middle  Passage. Bermuda  is  an  island  of colonial  architecture,  Sri  Lanka. The  island  that  my  family  is  from  is  also endowed  with  many  buildings of  European  provenance. These  are  some  17th  century fortifications  from Bermuda  and  then  some  modern, let's  say  in  19th  century  colonial  buildings. Then  this  is  a  classic  bermudianttage which  has  quite  a  bit  of  residence, tolero  Jamaican  villas. This  is  an  example of  colonial  architecture  in Sri  Lanka  and  this  is  another  one. When  arriving  in  Ghana  where  I'm  now  based, I  saw  similar  echoes  of this  global  architectural  history in  Akra  in  Cape  Coast, in  Elmina,  and  Basua  decades  later. Oops.  Oh,  decades  later  I  was  finally able  to  understand  more  about  what  life may  have  been  like  before the  journey  across  the  Atlantic. Visiting  the  slave  castles and  associated  coastal  infrastructure sharpened  my  understanding  of the  interconnected  histories of  colonized  people. The  British  Empire  could  not  dominate the  transatlantic  slave trade  without  the  rise of  history's  most  powerful war  waging  corporation, the  East  India  Company. The  search  for  that  which  has  been disrupted  or  lost  is  a  theme that  emerged  again  and  again  in the  20th  century  in the  realm  of  post  colonial  nation  building and  also  questions  of  architecture. It's  certainly  one  that  occupies my  own  work  as  an  architect  and  an  editor. Upon  visiting  Oleo Olympio's  Cocobte  Institute, I  was  once  again  brought  back  to  Sri  Lanka, this  time  to  Jeffrey  Bawa's  work. Particularly  the  Colombo  home of  Ana  De  Silva, a  renowned  batik  artist who  is  part  of  Bawa's  creative  circle. The  resonances  in  the  work of  these  two  architects  reflect the  shared  climate  and political  histories  of  Ghana  and  Sri  Lanka. But  they  also  travel  back and  forth  between  place  and time  fluidly  reflecting  their  authors experiences  as  global  citizens. What  stands  out  in  the  work  of  both  of these  architects  is  the  pursuit of  integration  through their  design  decisions. In  the  aftermath  of  colonialism, there's  a  necessary  drive  to  become  whole. Again,  these  works  of architecture  offer  approaches  of how  to  get  there. Like  Bawa  Olympia  departed from  trying  to  recreate western  paradigms  and instead  embraced  cultural  complexity. Her  designs  do  not  fit the  simple  categorization, they  don't  fit  simple  categorization. Occidental  references  are  sublimated by  a  synthesis  of  international  influences. This  is  a  Leo  again and  further  overshadowed  through a  focus  on  local, sustainable  materials, climatic  considerations,  and  typologies. The  work  emphasizes creativity  within  those  boundaries. Like  Bawa's  work,  these  are  architectures that  resist  narrow  western stylistic  categories. Both  architects  have  freed  their  work from  such  constraints  by  distancing from  the  myth  of  Western  dominance  and the  progress  that  was presumed  to  come  with  it. They  instead  make  room  to  inventively incorporate  tradition  into  their  worlds, reimagining  spatial  possibilities for  contemporary  life. I  feel  like  community is  an  important  theme  that manifests  in  and  around Olympia's  work  at  many  scales. At  Cocrabte  Institute,  a  collaboration  with anti  Rene  local  women  gathered  smooth  stones. These  adorn  the  foundation. They  root  the  work  in  its  place as  the  Ganean  architect  Jo  Durbin, Olympio's  menti  and  one  time  tenant relayed  to  me  her  community included  the  plants  and  the  trees. Aptly  his  only  memento  of  his  time living  in Olympio's  architecture  is  a  monstera. A  Monstera  that  he's  propagated over  two  decades  into  20  more  plants, several  of  which  flourish  outside  of his  East  Legon  architecture  office. Today,  I  didn't  know  Oleo, but  in  preparation  for  this  talk, I've  spent  some  time  getting  to  know  some  of the  people  who  in different  ways  have  been  affected by  her  and  her  work. Like  Jo, these  conversations  have  revealed  to  me an  architect  whose  spirit  and  approach can  help  us  to  materialize a  better  present  and  future. Durbin  met  Olympio  in  1998. He  had  just  completed  his  Master's  degree  at Kwame  Nakuma  University  and  lived in  one  of  the  semi  detached rental  units  in  Westlands. West  Legon,  also  known  as  the  Jamaica  Villas. Olympia  would  come  to  see  him there  to  discuss  her  future  plans to  start  a  movement to  build  small  houses  from  Earth. She  wanted  him  to  be  part  of  it. Their  conversations covered  diverse  topics  and geographies,  opening  up  possibilities. Opening  up  his  mind  to  possibilities. She  shared  her  thoughts  with  Durbin  on the  practicality  of Indian  approaches  to  vernacular  design. To  handmade  buildings  that were  done  with  bamboo, without  nails,  and  instead by  simply  using  ties. On  another  occasion,  Olympio  advised Durbin  to  read  Egyptian architect  Hassan  Path. Hassan  Path's  Architecture  for  the  Poor. An  important  reference  to  building  with  mud, but  also  for  reclaiming a  fractured  identity  through  architecture. About  his  work  Path  said, I'm  searching  for  architecture  and  urbanism. Searching  and  trying  to  find  my  lost  Arab, or  an  English  Arab  as  a  tenant  of  hers. Durbin  observed  that  Olympio's  architecture is  not  focused  on  finishing. It's  always  in  the  process  of  becoming. It's  a  vine  climbing  a  window, continuing  to  the  first floor  and  onto  the  roof. There  wasn't  a  need  to  plan  every  detail. Things  could  grow  without  the  need  to  prune. He  believed  her  to  be  similarly flexible  on  the  job  site  as  well. Her  school  friend,  Sarah  Asafuje, observed  that  Olympio's  architecture suspects  that  Olympio  was kind  to  those  who  worked  with  her. She  recalls  that  there  was something  wrong  with  her  Gaits  and Asafuje  was  complaining.  Olympio  said. Olympio  said  to  her, you  need  to  show  the  workers how  to  fine  tune  their  work. You  shouldn't  be  so  hard  because  maybe that  welder  hasn't  been shown  anything  better. Colonization  disrupted  existing  systems, including  those  of  production. Finding  ways  to  adapt  to what  is  left  is  a  necessity. In  this  context, a  simple  act  of  understanding can  be  a  catalyst  for learning,  but  also  empowerment. While  there  are  those  that  have known  Olympio  personally, there's  a  new  generation  of  Accra  creatives who  are  artistically engaging  with  Olympio's  works, such  as  Oseduro, the  Akra  based  clothing  designers who  are  focused  on  ethical  production. Their  hand  eyed  apparel  has been  worn  by  Michelle  Obama, Berna  Boy  too,  and  others. After  visiting  the  Jamaica  Villas, Osduro  co  founder  and  COO, Molly  Keo,  wanted  to  be in  dialogue  with  Olympio's  building. One  that  shares  their  interest in  the  handmade  and their  care  for  and celebration  of  the  environment. Keo  said,  I  was  excited  to see  local  materials  used  in a  contemporary  and  livable  way. The  beauty  of  the  space and  how  it  is  meant  to be  occupied  feels  deeply  considered. Billy  Mcternan  was  a  journalist writing  for  publications  like  The  Guardian. When  she  moved  into  one  of  the  units  at the  Jamaica  Villas  and  began a  career  transition  into  art, She  says,  The  House  gave  me  the  space to  dream  and  imagine possibilities  for  my  work. I  had  been  in  Ghana  about  five  years and  had  not  come  across  a  building  like  it. It  was  unlike  anything  that  I  had  seen. But  at  the  same  time,  there  was  something familiar  about  it.  It  made  sense. It  felt  natural  to  be  there  With its  material  selection  and the  greenery  surrounding  it, there  was  something  magical  about  it. It  opened  my  eyes  to  what  could  be done  with  space  in  buildings. And  if  I  ever  wanted  to  build  a  home, Olero's  work  can  guide me  and  what  to  consider. This  image  shows  the  home  when Billy  and  her  partner  were  living  there, but  also  using  the  space  for their  various  creative  explorations. United  Nations  responsible tourism  ambassador, Chef  Fat  Mata  Binta  offers immersive  nomadic fulani  culinary  experiences  with her  Nana  Matt  project and  is  concerned  with  building self  sufficient  food  systems  through her  Fulani  Kitchen  Foundation. She  and  the  artist,  Zora  Opoku, hosted  an  evening  together  when  Zora was  renting  one  of  the  units  in  Westlands. Binta  says  it  was  such  a  good  collaboration. Dine  on  a  Mat  is  about  storytelling. It's  a  concept  that  is  meant  to  get diners  to  reflect  on how  they  connect  to  food. People  don't  take  time  to  sit  at a  table  and  share  a  bowl with  the  person  next  to  them. Or  even  to  take  a  moment to  look  them  in  the  eyes  and  ask, how  was  your  day  they're eating  while  on  their  phone? My  concept  is  made to  make  you  stop  and  reflect. Alero  space  reinforces  that  aspect. Sitting  on  the  mat  in the  middle  of  the  garden  of this  artful  house  with so  many  trees  on  a  airy  afternoon, gave  the  guests  a  space to  just  drop  their  guard, all  of  their  attention,  and  just  connect. Sitting  on  the  mat  is  an important  part  of  the  experience, but  the  mat  must  be  in  the  right  setting. At  Alero's  place. It  was  within  art. That's  the  only  experience many  of  the  attendees  had  of  my  work. And  they  have  let  me  know  over the  years  that  it  has  stayed  with  them. This  is  a  house  that  is  meant  for  creatives. It  is  a  place  to  get  inspired. The  house  promotes  creative  production. It's  a  vibe.  Here's  a  couple of  images  of  Zora  working  in  the  space. This  sentiment  was  echoed  by  Durbin  who  said, it  seemed  like  a  place where  if  you  were  a  creative person  you  could  just  be. Her  buildings  are  in  secluded  places like  Coco  Bite  and  Westlands. Her  designs  are  heavy on  emotions  and  feelings. You  feel  the  spirit when  you're  in  her  spaces. They're  not  just  buildings. Olympia's  works  are  so much  more  than  just  their  materials. If  we  take  the  example  of the  Jamaica  Villas  and a  spate  of  relatively recent  creative  collaborators, we  find  individuals who  are  building  organizations and  doing  work  that  uplifts people  and  the  environment. While  Olympia  wasn't  a  mother in  the  conventional  sense, her  architecture  has  been  nurturing so  much  creative  work with  systems  that  reflect  her  own, with  value  systems  that  reflect  her  own. What  comes  across  is  that her  architecture  provides its  users  with  a  sense  of  well  being. Something  that  is  important  for processing  the  challenges  of  life, and  can  make  positive  contributions  to overcoming  the  painful  struggles wrought  by  colonial  legacies. This  brings  us  to the  contemporary  landscape  in  Ghana. Durbin  believes  that  Olympia is  a  figure  whose  work and  ideas  we  need  to  engage  urgently. For  those  who  want  to  follow  this  path, there  can  be  obstacles. Architect  Tie  Ancora, a  2018  graduate of  Ghana's  Central  University, who's  interested  in  sustainable  building, finds  challenges  in  pursuing  this  work. She  says  there  are  organizations  set  up here  that  are  doing the  work  of  training people  in  Earth  building, but  the  difficulty  is  that they're  not  accessible  to  Ganians. Communication  takes  place  through avenues  that  Ganians  aren't  tuned  into, But  also  prices  for  these  courses are  unaffordable  for  the  average  citizen. It's  unlikely  that  an  architect's  salary would  allow  them  to  meet  these  costs. Ankara  suggests  that  they  can  improve accessibility  by  establishing  a  local  price, or  a  special  rate,  for  architecture  graduates who  went  to  Ganan  schools. In  the  end,  Olympia's work  provokes  and  even  answers many  worthwhile  questions  of equity  for  architects  worldwide. With  this,  it  remains a  draw  to  people  with  progressive  ideas, seeking  positive  change  and fostering  inclusion  through  design. Hi  everyone,  I  can  kick start  the  questions  and  then I  think  also  Julia  has  a  question. It  feels  to  me  that in  looking  for  knowledge  that  has  been lost  or  erased  or is  simply  not  institutionalized, someone  has  to  look  in a  different  way  for  that  knowledge. And  it  seems  like  from both  of  your  presentations  that  one  of these  ways  is  to  look  at  anecdotes and  small  things  and inflate  their  significance. And  that  reminds  me  of our  contact  book  that  we got  from  Renee  in  the  exhibition  outside. Simply  mundane  object,  giving  it some  significance  can  open an  avenue  of  such  a  longer  history. We  are  currently  grappling  with  the  idea of  creating  an  archive  for  Leo, and  I  would  like  to  ask what  key  anchor  points or  ways  would  you  offer  or  would you  suggest  to  in the  work  of  creating  this  archive? I  think  Is  this  on  Yeah. I  think  to  begin because  there  are  so  many  people  who  are  here who  knew  Oleo  was speaking  with  Courtney  last  night  and we  were  talking  about  Minette  De  Silva. That's  where  the  people  around  them, they  would  no  longer  be  present. But  with  Oleo,  you have  that  incredible  resource. You  know,  people  who  are kind  of  a  huge  range  in  ages. So  I  think  they're  an  amazing  place  to  begin. I  mean,  just  in  the  number  of  people, the  small  number  of  people  that I  was  able  to  get  in  touch  with. I  mean,  it  was  so  illuminating  to understand  her  just  through these  kind  of  short  conversations. And  even  with  people  who  haven't  met  her, who  are  engaging  with  her  work,  you  know. I  mean,  she,  she  has this  creative  community  that's been  in  her  spaces  for, for  the  past  years  since  her  passing. I  mean,  there  is  a  kind  of life  that  is  continuing with  her  like  Tiene  was  saying. I  mean,  there's  these different  dimensions  that  are manifesting  when  she  was alive  but  also  afterwards. Okay.  I  think  what  add  to  that  is  perhaps, I  think  starting  with the  places  that  we  wouldn't  normally  look. So  I  think  it's  in  the  conversations, but  it's  also  in  the  kind  of physically  being  in  the  spaces  that  she  made. And  I  think  that  there's  something else  you  get  from that  that  is  about being  kind  of  present  there, experiencing  the  materials,  and  then  finding a  way  of  recording  that  as  well. And  I  think  that  sometimes  in  thinking about  other  architects  who have  been  really  written  into  history, there's  a  kind  of,  there's lots  about  them  already. There's  lots  to  be  found. But  I  think  one  of the  beautiful  things  about  this  work  and about  Larry  Limpio's  work  is  it forces  you  to  engage directly  with  the  material  that  is  present. Perhaps  because  it's  not  been kind  of  catalogued  in  the  same  way. And  I  think  that  kind  of  material present  and  that  kind  of  engagement directly  with  her  architecture and  her  sort  of  thinking  about making  things  physical  is a  really  important  thing  that the  archive  has  to  kind  of  grapple  with  and kind  of  think  about  it. For  me,  what's  been  really  interesting about  the  past  two  days has  been  both  the  thinking through  the  kind  of  material, the  physical  things,  but  also  the  stories. And  I  think  there's  something  really interesting  in  thinking  about those  two  things  in  tandem. The  kind  of  ways  that  we  build  worlds are  both  physical  but  also  with  words, with  language,  with  kind  of  storytelling. And  I  think  that  this  has  been a  really  engaging  sort of  two  days  of  discussions. And  I  think  it's  really  important  that An  archive  is  able  to  hold  those  and also  makes  space  for  new  stories  that  emerge. I  think  this  kind  of  new  kind  of creative  voices  that  are  finding the  kind  of  presence  in  the  place  like  Gana. Through  the  work  of  Alario, it's  really  interesting  how, how  buildings  in  offer  up space  for  others  to  become. And  I  think  that  the  archive  shouldn't be  something  that  is  finished  at  one  stage, but  it's  open  to a  incompleteness  idea  of  adding two  and  becoming  something  else.  Thank  you. It's  a  great  segue  also  to  my  question that  I  was  thinking  about as  the  two  of  you  were  speaking. Because  I  wanted  to  revisit this  incompleteness  and  unfinishedess. These  words  that  we've  been  talking  about that  you  mentioned  the  ins, you  said  incomplete. And  also  in  dealing  with this  search  for  completeness  or completeness  is  what  we're  looking  for if  there  is  a  final  form and  in  finding  what  is  lost. And  I  wanted  to  like  interrogate, see  if  you  could  interrogate the  term  of  what  is  lost  or  incomplete. For  us  as  students in  planning  this  conference, one  thing  that  we  thought  was  lost were  materials  and  things  and  knowledge. And  we  were  worried  that  they would  be  lost  forever. But  I  wonder  what  you have  your  thoughts  on  the  consequences  of losing  things  or  the  benefits  of  losing things  or  keeping  things for  archival  or  personal  reasons. I  mean,  I  think  with Alero's  work  and  looking  at  sort  of, you  know,  we're  kind  of  pushed really  to  look  at  what  is  here. You  know,  there  isn't this  huge  inventory  of  what  you  might  find with  an  architect  who  is very  established  in  sort  in, let's  say  in  a  Western  institutional  context. It  pushes  you  to  focus  in  a  way, which  I  think  is  actually  quite  nice. I  mean,  you  really  have to  pull  the  pieces  together. But  I  think  what  was  so interesting  in  speaking  to people  was  that  actually the  same  themes  kept coming  up  again  and  again. I  mean,  everybody  kept emphasizing  this  dimension  of  the  spirits. And  when  you're  in  the  space  that  you  feel this  inexplicable  energy  coming from  the  building  itself. I  mean,  I  think  it's nice  to  kind  of  be  able  to  focus  on what  is  really  available and  to  draw  those  things  together. Yeah,  I  think  this  question about  unfinishedness  and incompleteness  is  really  interesting  because it  brings  up  another  thing which  is  about  permanence  and whether  everything  has  to  be  permanent. I  think  one  of  the  things  that I've  certainly  learned  through my  research  looking  at compound  houses  that  are typically  historically would  have  been  built  on  Earth, is  the  idea  that our  relationships  with  buildings and  therefore  the  histories  of  the  curry with  are  continuously  moving  and  they  change. And  we  have  to  be  open  to  a  degree of  not  seeing  everything. It's  be  an  absolute or  needing  to  exist  forever. This  way  that  we  maybe  think about  building  and  something that  once  built  has  to  remain intact  and  never  changed  is also  a  problematic  and  slightly it's  a  Western  way of  thinking  about  our  environment. I  think  in  the  work  of  Olympia, you  see  something  that  is building  is  something  that's  living, that  is  present  that  can change  over  time  and  has  to  change  over  time. It  has  to  be  repaired,  it  has to  be  continuously  maintained. And  I  think  that  this  thing about  incompleteness,  unfinishedness, impermanence,  are  all  really  interesting  ways of  thinking  about  her  practice, but  also  a  future archive  that  celebrates  her  work. Yeah,  can  I  just  add  something? It  brings  up  for  me  this  idea. I  mean,  talking  about  this  impermanence as  a  Western  concept or  something  that  permanence is  something  that's  prioritized  in  the  West. It  makes  me  think  of  Jeffrey  Bawa's  archive, his  works  are  in  a  trust when  you  know  people  from. Western  countries  come  to visit,  they  say,  oh, you  have  to  set  up  climate  control. You  know,  you  need  to  preserve his  books,  his  records. But  actually  it's  written  into his  will  that  he  wanted  to  degrade, you  know,  because  that's  just part  of  the  process. So  I  mean,  it's  an interesting  thing  to  kind  of consider  because  it's  a different  perspective. Pit  up  to  questions. Thank  you.  I  just  want  to  ask  a  question. If  you  think  that  the  format  of Alero's  archive  will  be different  from  any  other  kind  of  archive, I  don't  know,  but  I think  it  has  to  have  a  degree  of openness  about  what  it  needs  to  be  and  it will  become  what  it  has  to  be. I  say  that  to  say that  it  might  not  take  the  form of  just  the  papers  or  collected  ephemera, but  it  might  also  involve thinking  through  her  architecture, engaging  directly  with  it. I  think  that's  also  a  form of  thinking  about  archives  that  they're not  just  kind  of  static  things  that  we  have a  kind  of  one  way  relationship  with, but  knowledge, if  that's  what  archiving  is  for. It's  formed  in  different  ways. It's  formed  through  our  kind  of  experience. It's  formed  through  kind  of  storytelling. And  there  are  different  ways  of  kind  of gathering  knowledge, significance,  and  meaning. I  don't  know  what  form  her  archive  will  take, but  I  do  think  that  it  has  to  be  much  more comprehensive  than  perhaps  the  ways that  we  think  about  archiving and  the  kind  of  Western  context  or something  to  kind  of  go  and  look upon  to  treat  with  soft  gloves. And  it's  not  have  to  be  activated. That's  a  really  interesting  design  problem that  comes  out  of  this  in  a  way that  I  never  thought  of  Leo's  work  as  being a  test  case  for  a  different  form  of  archive, but  in  the  same  way  that  her  architecture  was always  searching for  a  different  way  to  build. It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  brilliant  case. I  often  think  about  20  years of  passed  since  Leo's  passing. The  world  has  changed radically  in  those  20  years. What  impact  would  those  changes have  made  on  her  work? Is  the  archive  or  the  construction  of the  archive  a  way  to  test  that? I  think  it's a  really  interesting  design  question. Yeah,  I  wonder  whether it's  interesting  to  speculate  not  only on  the  design  of  the  archive  as  such, which  I  think  is  fascinating. This  is  for  the  archive, I  think  this  is  the  only  reason, but  also  for  those  of  you who  are  involved  in  it, how  that  design  might produce  a  different  kind  of  output. Because  we've  heard  a  lot about  writing  her  into  the  record, which  seems  given  the  open  speculation and  the  emphasis  on  orality, for  example,  that  was  really behind  my  question  for  you  about  the  video. And  somebody  who  said  something  beautiful about  you  can't  put  bad  news  on  Facebook. Archives  often  have  bad  news  in them  and  you  know,  those  kinds  of  things. So  I  was  just  imagining  not  just how  you  would  make the  archive  a  design  project, but  it's  reception  and  it's  dissemination. How  is  one  imagining  those  outside the  conventional  modality  of writing  somebody  into  the  record? Did  you  want  is  it  okay  if  I  just gave  you  back?  Is  that  al  right  with  you? Okay. All  right.  I  guess  I have  like  a  biographical  question, but  it's  also  a  conceptual  thing because  I  just  keep  wondering,  is  she  gay? It's  just  like,  I'm  like late  20th  century  homosexual. I'm  like  she's  gay,  right?  Since  she  gay. And  when  we're  talking  about archives  Queer,  I  don't  know,  right? But  I  think  when  we're  talking  about  archives it  reminds  me  of  queer  archiving  practices. It  reminds  me  of  lesbian  archives  and  act  up, which  is  often  flyers and  T  shirts  and  you  know, posters  and  things  that  feel  like  ephemera. But  I  wonder  if  part  of the  conceptual  rubric  that  we go  to  an  architecture  in  terms of  type  and  test  case, and  all  of  this  kind  of  makes  it  difficult for  us  to  kind  of  consider, you  know,  these  questions  in the  midst  of  the  T  shirts of  the  lesbian  archives,  right? Because  it's  as  if,  if  we  say,  oh  yes, she's  a  queer  architect  now, that  would  put  her  in  another  category. Right?  And  then  we'd  have  to  deal  with that  category  and all  of  its  kind  of  typological  outcomes. So  I  just  wonder  if  there's  something architectural  here  that  is over  determining  how  we  are  historic. I  mean,  obviously,  right?  The  answer  is  yes. But  I  also  want  to  know  what's the  way  out  of  that,  I  guess. I'm  thinking,  do  you think  that's  the  answer  she  queered? I  mean,  you  Hers,  Right. Okay.  To  me  I  feel  like  I  want  and being  in  the  closet  was  did  I  miss  that  day? Okay.  Okay. Mike  is  coming. I'm  still  churning  in  to Leslie's  question which  was  very  gently  posed, but  of  course,  as  you  can  see by  a  kind  of  coral  work that  is  developing  it  question. And  it  seems  to  me  a  couple  of  small  points, archives  have  a  lot  to  do  with  power. Then  the  question  is  incredibly  loaded. And  of  course,  I  suppose  there  is  a  desire  to archive  this  architect,  to  empower  her. But  of  course,  the  archive tends  to  work  the  other  way  around. It's  also  a  castle  project,  right? It's  like  creating  a  permanent  militarized, well  protected  legally, such  that  there's  all  sorts  of  dangers. So,  one  way  to  start  to  begin to  answer  the  question  in  several  ways, it  would  be  to  maybe assumed  that  the  opposite  is the  case  that  you're interested  in  this  person, precisely  because  some  kind  of counter  archive  is  already  in  place. This  person  represents  a  kind  of alternative  power  structure  that  is already  fully  realized  that  it's  not, let's  say  a  neglected, unloved,  closeted  there  actually. Or  even  if  closeted, there's  force  in  the  closet. The  closet  had  a  design  and  all  of  that. And  I  wonder  if  to what  extent  the  difficulties we  have  is  just  to  sort  as  it were  allocated  and  be  sensitive to  the  archiving  itself. Isn't  there  a  temptation to  consider,  for  example, the  school  as  nothing  other than  an  archive  archiving  practice, but  not  by  the  official  names. And  it  seems  somewhat  reluctant  to  assume a  more  classically recognizable  architectural  form because  of  that  would have  precisely  slow  down its  capacity  to  absorb. I  don't  know  what  I'm saying  is  leading  anywhere. But  it  would  be  just  to  say, to  sort  of  tune  in  to  the  success  of the  project  rather  than  to  portray it  as  a  victim of  white  northern  western  capitalist, whatever  ignorance. To  actually  just  in  a  way  treasure its  successful  modes  of  resistance. It's  highly  successful  modes  and  maybe  also celebrate  that  there's  not this  enormous  amount  of  work, that  it's  all  very  condensed  in a  very  particular  way, which  would  mean  oral  history  in  this  case. Maybe  unlike  other  cases, might  involve  oral  history  with those  that  are  still  there today  and  those  who  interact  with  it. Those  that  don't  like  their  building. The  Fisher  people's  point  of  view  would  be, seem  to  be  incredibly like  to  just  sort  of  build up  an  alternative  practice. Which  would  be,  in  retrospect  just  be  seen to  be  a  continuation of  the  architectural  project. If  anything  I  was  saying  makes  sense, then  in  this  case  the  project  would be  simply  to  continue  the  architectural  work, which  is  not  architecture  as would  normally  be  recognized. But  it  wouldn't  exclude making  stuff,  all  right? You  know,  not  like  making  an  archive, but  some  kind  of  continuation  of the  material  practice  which was  understood  as  a  way  of  treasuring, you  know, the  earlier  waves  of  material  breaks. I  suppose  that's  also  what  I  thought  you meant  when  the  idea  of returning  to  the  material  actually  is a  way  of  understanding. Anyway,  I  think  you  bring up  some  really  interesting  points. I  suppose  what's  really  interesting  for  me  is to  think  about  someone's  legacy and  to  think  about  what  they've  offered. And  I  think  that  alas  practice, the  archive  that  is  already  in existence  is  maybe  not  written, but  it's  there  in  the  way  that  people Sort  of  use  her  work  as  taken  off  point, as  point  of  kind  of  departure towards  other  ways  of  imagining. And  I  think  that  it's,  it's  already  there. And  I  think  in  the,  what you  see  today  are  people  kind  of returning  to  it  through  kind of  people  that  knew her  or  stories  they've  heard. And  I  think  there's something  incredibly  powerful and  very  situated  about that  way  of  gathering  knowledge. That  it's  not  that  I  have  to  have,  you  know, a  paper  presented  on  her  to  kind  of  know or  find  somebody  that  knew or  kind  of  trace  knowledge  in  that  way. And  I  think  it's a  really  important  way  of  archiving. It's  a  really  important  way  of  keeping a  person's  memories  and kind  of  achievements  alive. That  it's  not  to  be  seen  as  secondary, a  secondary  form  of  build an  archive  or  continuing  a  person's  practice. It  is  an  absolute  whole  way of  thinking  about  archives, but  also  thinking  about  the present  and  also  the  future. Oh,  sorry  Leslie. If  I  jump  in  front  of  you, I'm  holding  the  microphone so  I'm  going  to  feel  bold. I  just  wanted  to  because this  topic  of  archive  came up  and  all  the kind  of  comments  that  just  came  up. I  kind  of  throw  this  to  you and  the  panelists  because  I feel  like  I  have  a  comment  and  a  question. And  the  question  is  not  something that  I  think  you  can  answer  now. It's  a  question  about  the panelists  and  the  people who  kind  of  move  this  project  into the  future  if  they  could  take  action  on  it. And  the  comment,  I'm not  certain  that  Antiolero  would want  us  to  deify  her  in a  certain  classical  sense in  terms  of  making  it  about  her, even  as  much  as  we  want  to preserve  her  legacy. I  can't  speak  for  her, but  that's  somehow  I  feel, I  wonder  if  there's  a  way  in, as  much  as  we  want  to  preserve  her  legacy, we  can  channel  that  intent into  something  that is  bigger  than  her and  yet  extends  her  project. That  leads  to  my  question. I  saw  this  in  some  of  the  writing, so  I  think  the very  diligent  research  has  covered  it, but  I  haven't  heard  so  much  in  the  two  days. But  maybe  in  the  future, you  know  the  work  that  she  did  around protecting  Ghana's  forests  and forest  products  is unbelievable  and  no  one  knows  it. I  found  myself  without  the  time  and the  resources  and  the  energy to  do  that  research. But  to  me,  it's  so  important  and  critical. Because  for  me,  the thing  I  didn't  understand  then, and  it's  only  now  later  I  understand, is  that  for  her, it  wasn't  just  about  the  buildings. It  was  like  she  was pushing  sustainable  architecture and  renewable  materials. But  she  recognized  that  if  everyone  started building  houses  out  of  wood  in Ghana,  we'd  have  no  forests. She  was  very  invested  in  like  documenting all  the  tree  species  and educating the  entire  building  industry  about  it. Like  the  whole  ecosystem  in  Ghana today  around  that  is somehow  derived  from  her  leadership. And  so  that's  my  question  is  can there  be  some  way  maybe  that  the  archive, or  whatever  you  call  it, can  lead  to  a  kind  of road  map  or  blueprint  for Africa  around  the  forest. Because  in  Ghana  now  we  can't  even  drink our  water  because  we're polluting  it  to  get  gold. And  now  we  have  uranium  and  we  have  lithium. So  we're  literally  destroying  our  environment to  produce  America's  electric  cars. And  I  feel  like  if  there's  some  way  that in  terms  of  protecting  architecture, we  could  use  her  legacy to  protect  the  planet. I  would  really  love  to  see  that. I'm  not  sure  I  agree. I  agree.  I'm  not  quite sure  the  direct  question. But,  you  know,  I don't  think  that  the  purpose  of  thinking about  an  archive  is  to  sort of  ify  someone  is  to  make  it  an  active  thing. I  don't  necessarily  think about  a  kind  of  archive  in  practices, a  chapter  or  kind  of,  you  know, writing  the  book  and  put  it  in  a  way, but  it's  actually  a  way  of starting  to  engage  with  the  present. And  I  think,  you  know, the  past  is  always, should  be  always  so present  in  how  we  think  today. And  it's  not  because  you  want  to  kind  of historicize  or  deify  somebody's  practice, but  it's  to  kind  of  think  about  it  now. For  now,  the  past is  useful  for  where  we  go  next, it's  useful  for  how  we  think  and  act  now. And  I  think  all  the  things  that  you've brought  up  in  thinking about  Lara's  very  expansive  practice are  things  that  are pertinent  to  think  about  today. Thinking  about  kind  of sustainable  building  practice. I  think  somebody  mentioned earlier  this  kind  of binary  of  bad  materials,  Good  materials. And  not  thinking  in  such  kind  of  binary  ways, you  know, is  the  right  way  to  act  sustainably. Or  to  think  about  sustainability. Not  just  as  you  mention if  we're  all  building  in  timber, but  to  think  about  it  in  the  local and  the  specific  and  the  contextual. So  if  you're  building  somewhere  that  has, you  know,  kind  of  timber, that's  a  material  resource  that  you  draw  on. If  you're  building  with  somewhere that  has  more  lateralit  or, or  stone, that's  a  material  resources  you  draw  on. So  it's  kind  of  working in  a  really  specific  way, in  a  way  that  avoids  kind  of binaries  or  in  a  way that  kind  of  avoids  tropes. And  I  think  all  those  things  can  be  found. I  don't  see  the  kind of  practice  of  archiving  as  something that  is  about  corraling and  building  a  fort  around. But  actually  a  place  to  kind  of  imagine  from is  a  trained  architect  and  researcher  who creates  studies  and  documents architecture  in  Africa. She's an  Assistant  Professor  of  Architecture  at the  Tubman  College  of Architecture  and  Urban  Planning at  the  University  of  Michigan. Her  current  projects  include  a  book  about the  architecture  of  education  in  Ghana, and  a  study  of  the  formalization and  formalization  of architecture  in  West  Africa  using a  collection  of  endangered  archives that  she  has  recently  digitized. She  was  previously  a visiting  post  doctoral  scholar  at the  Center  for  Advanced  Study  in the  Behavioral  Sciences at  Stanford  University, and  a  post  doctoral  researcher  on the  African  State  Architecture  Project at  Sos  University  of  London. She  holds  a  Phd  from Sos  University  of  London, a  Masters  of  Science  and  African  Studies from  the  University  of  Oxford, and  Master's  and  Bachelor's  of  Sciences  and Architectures  from  Kwamiakruma  University of  Science  and  Technology. Her  academic  publications, creative  writing,  and  public  scholarship, have  appeared  in  African  Affairs,  Al  Jazeera, Aperture  Curator, The  Museum  Journal,  and  Tamford  Press. She  has  exhibited  at  the  curated  and  curated several  art  and  architecture exhibitions  around  the  world, including  recently  in  Ethiopia, South  Africa,  Ghana,  and  the  United  Kingdom. Her  most  recent  publication include  the  co  edited  book, Building  African  Futures, Ten  Manifestos  for Transformative  Architecture  and  Urbanism. Published  by  Wala  Books  and  Building  Classes, Secondary  Schools  and socio  Political  Stratification  in  Ghana. Which  was  awarded  the  2023 ASA  Graduate  Student  Paper  Prize. Through  her  Acro  Archive  project, funded  by  an  award  from British  Library's Endangered  Archives  Program, she  has  digitized  a  collection  of endangered  historical  architectural  material pertaining  to  architecture, construction,  and  urban  regulation  in  Ghana. She  curates  an  architecture  collective  that documents  Ganan  architecture  theory, research  and  practice. Co  founded  and  runs  Sociarchy, a  social  architectural  enterprise that  advocates  for  and provides  architectural  services  to  people who  ordinarily  cannot  afford  architects. And  serves  as  president  of the  Dokomomo  Acro  chapter. Hello,  my  name  is  Koko  Man Full  I'm  an  Assistant  Professor  of Architecture  at the  Topman  College  of Architecture  and  Urban  Planning at  the  University  of  Michigan. Today  I'm  going  to  speak  about some  of  the  work  I  do  around preserving  built  environmental  histories in  Ghana,  particularly  through  archiving. And  also  how  as  an  academic, I  use  archives  towards  studying the  histories  on  politics of  architecture  across  Africa. Of  course,  I  would  have  loved to  be  there  in  person, but  I'm  currently  in  a  crowd doing  field  research. I'll  start  with  my recently  completed  building, Early  Akra  project. This  project  Iran  digitized  a  collection  of endangered  archival  material  concerning  Akra, architecture,  construction, and  urban  regulation. It's  a  collection  of  administrative, architectural  archival  records. It  was  created  as  early  as  18, 94  from  when  Ghana  was still  a  British  colony known  as  the  Gold  Coast. They  are  among  the  earliest  collections  of bureaucratic  documents still  available  in  the  country. And  they  predates  the  formation  of Ghana  as  an  independent  nation  state. The  project  was  funded  with  a  grant  from the  Endangered  Archives Program  administered  by the  British  Library  and  supported  by  Arcadia. So  far,  the  project  has  created over  34,000  images  of primer  archival  material  in  the  form  of building  permit  application  dossiers submitted  to  what  was  then  known as  the  Akra  Town  Council, now  the  Akra  Metropolitan  Assembly  in  Ghana. The  material  we've  digitized  ranges  1904-1947 A  typical  building  permit  application, dossier  contains  an  application  form, some  form  of  architectural  drawings, site  drawings,  and a  decision  of  the  authority. And  sometimes  there  are  even handwritten  margin  notes  and directives  and  all  sorts  of little  chips  from  one  official  to  the  other. As  I  said,  they  are  among the  earliest  colonial  records  of indigenous  urban construction  and  contact  with city  planning  officials  in the  then  Gold  Coast, and  have  never  been  before, This  project  systematically  collected and  organized  as  a  repository  of  information. Of  course,  this  means  as a  vital  and  unique  resource  for the  study  of  the  histories of  urban  planning,  architecture, construction  law,  colonial  administration, land  and  home  ownership  in  Ghana, just  to  mention  a  few. Now  this  is  fundamentally  a  colonial  archive. Although  as  many  scholars  have  taught  us, we  can  approach  reading across  along  upside  down  archive  or grain  to  get  to  things not  intended  to  be communicated  through  the  archive. It  still  remains  that  it  is  instituted  and intended  as  a  record  of colonial  activity  in  Garner. So  I  undertaken  this  project  to first  digitize  this  collection of  colonial  records. I  had  my  own  ideas about  how  to  approach  and  work  with the  material  and  attempt  to think  of  all  those  who  were  silenced, diminished,  excluded  by these  colonial  urban  regulation  activities, but  also  the  very  act  of collecting  and  preserving  this  material. Over  the  years,  one  of  the  ways  in  which I  critically  approach  this  project  was through  knowledge  production around  the  archival  material. I  departed  from  the  standard academic  practice where  we  prioritize our  publications  from  projects. I  prioritize  guiding various  fellows  project  staff, interns  and  affiliates, especially  young  guardian  writers and  creatives  to produce  research  articles,  art, documentaries, and  other  creative  outputs  around the  material  and  broader  Ghanian  histories, predominantly  for  Ganian  audience. Some  of  these  authors  had  never written  a  research  essay prior  to  this  experience, so  it  was  quite  transformational. Some  of  them  produce  videos  of historical  architecture  in  Ghana  from the  point  of  view  of  people  who  live  and interact  in  these  buildings  all  the  time. Not  just  as  relics  from a  certain  colonial  past, but  as  places  where  present  day  ganians  live, work  and  raise  their  families. In  this  short  clip,  I'm  about  to  play Alice  Johnson  and  Divine  Fats  on  a  tour of  one  of  the  first  residences commissioned  during  the  establishment  of the  Gana  Atomic  Energy  Commission. We  also  organized  a  competition  titled the  Imagining  Early  Akra  Competition  to encourage  and  recognize  creativity in  the  use  and, or  interpretation  of  archival  material about  concerning and  related  to  a  in  the  late  1940s  to  1950s, it  was  open  to  adults  and  children  and  we received  a  range  of  entries  including  art, fiction,  non  fiction,  poetry,  and  even  music. We  also  exhibited  work  from the  project  constantly  through our  web  and  social  media  platforms. But  also  created  exhibitions around  themes  or  events. For  instance,  we  exhibited  drawings  at the  annual  general  meeting  of the  Ghana  Institutes  of  Architects. We  also  held  a  number  of  virtual  exhibitions, which  featured  archival  material  about  Kras, such  as  photos  and  maps, including  one  of  my  favorites that  included  that  featured a  collection  of  digitized historical  architectural  drawings revisited  and  redrawn  by current  young  Ganian  architecture  students. A  sort  of  communion  with  the  elders through  drawings  and  through design  sort  of  thing. Now,  as  a  scholar  of  the  history  theories, politics  of  architecture  in off  and  from  Africa, I  am  now  using  this  archive  in combination  with  other  sources for  my  current  research  project. The  title  of  this  project  is The  Formalization  and  Formalization of  Architecture  in  West  Africa. And  in  analyzing  this  archive, trying  to  think  beyond mainstream  modes  of  approaching  the  archive, of  what  the  material  represents  and what  stories  I  can  tell both  with  it  and  beyond  it. Keeping  in  mind  that  this  archive is  meant  as  a  record  of  colonial  activity, I  make  an  analytical  move. And  it's  a  move  I  make to  try  to  get  to  the  knowledge  that this  historical  colonial  process  of  creating this  archive  was  designed to  suppress  in  the  first  place. I  contend  that  this  is  not only  an  archive  of  the  process  of formalizing  architecture  and  building construction  in  the  then  Gold  Coast and  later  Ghana. But  also  an  archive  of  a  process  that  I  have named  the  Un  Formalization of  Architecture  and  Construction. I  define  Un  formalization as  a  diminution  ather  in an  exclusion  of  knowledge  and  build  forms  of indigenous  peoples  by  a  colonial  power or  other  institutions  of  power. This  othering  and  exclusion  diminution of  indigenous  architectures  and construction  technologies happened  in  Ghana  and  more broadly  across  Africa  and actually  in  many  formerly  colonized  regions. For  example, from  the  Accra  Architectural  Archive that  I've  talked  about that  has  been  recently  digitized, we  see  here  a  building  permit  application submitted  on  28  June, 1902  to  build  a  single  room  in  swish. Swish  is  just  a  raw, if  traditionally  used  in which  was  thermal  wall  suited  to  the  context. You  see  from  the  building  permit that  the  swish  has  been crossed  out  and  then  notice  inserted, asking  for  new  walls  to  be  in brick  and  to  be  whitewashed. When  I  step  further  away from  the  building  permits  that I  focus  on  and  look  at  the  broader architectural,  colonial  legal  context, I  find  that  meanwhile  annual  reports submitted  to  the  houses of  British  Parliament  in, from  about  19:02  to 1910  report  study  increases in  imports  of  building  materials, particularly  from  the  metropole  from the  United  Kingdom  to  the  Gold  Coast. From  just  a  brief  snippet  and other  examples  and  sources that  I've  uncovered, it's  clear  that  the  aims  and outcomes  of  the  colonial  control  of the  built  environment  are  not just  cultural  or  ideological, in  that  indigenous  African  architectures are  suppressed  and  replaced, but  also  economic. In  that  the  British  Empire  is profiting  from  exporting architectural  and  construction  materials, technologies,  and  even  expertise to  the  colonies  such  as  in  Ghana. And  I'm  able  to  find  this and  more  by  approaching the  archive  as  something  that  can  be intended  to  obscure  as  much  as  it  reveals. Of  course,  no  one  archive  can  be a  complete  repository  of  information, even  when  the  creators  have the  best  of  intentions. It  is  up  to  us  who  make  and  use  such  sources to  ask  difficult  questions about  who  we  cut  out, who  we  include,  and  why. I'll  end  here  with  the  hope  that  Sharon, the  snippets  of  my  work of  both  making  and  using  archives  in the  Ghanian  context  helps you  think  through  some  of  the  themes  of this  conference  and  connects  to the  great  conversations  that I'm  sure  you've  been  having. Thank  you  and  goodbye  Ku. Know  that  this  is  actually  more  apt  than I  think  she  could have  probably  ever  imagined. Unfortunately, the  speaker  we  have  scheduled  next, Dr.  Ola  Docu  will  not  be  able  to  join  us. As  that  being  the  case, we're  going  to  continue  on  to our  final  concluding  presentation. I'd  like  to  invite  Jocelyn up  to  introduce  your  final  speaker. Hi  everyone.  Okay,  so bringing  this  amazing  couple  days  to  a  close, I'm  honored  to  introduce  Dr.  John  Ennis. So  John  Ennis  is a  curator  and  activist  based  in  Edinburgh, Traveling  within  Scotland  and  beyond to  promote  well  being  and  sustainability. He  has  led  cultural  initiatives  reaching across  art  design  and  industry. John  trained  at Edinburgh  University  Medical  School, graduating  in  1990  and  pursuing a  subsequent  20  year career  in  family  medicine, health  services, research,  and  medical  teaching. John  stepped  aside  from  medicine  in 2012  to  found  journeys  in  design linking  well  being  and  design through  exhibitions  and  events motivated  by  the  evidence of  health  benefit  for those  coming  together  in all  forms  of  creative  fellowship. His  current  work  seeks  to develop  regenerative  design  projects, those  with  nature  systems, diversity,  and  locality  at  heart. Working  with  key  allies around  Scotland  and  beyond, making  new  contributions  to our  shared  material  culture and  strengthening  international  links. John's  work  with  Leo  was as  a  business  partner  in  Ghana, founding  a  small  design  and build  an  enterprise  in  acre  called S.  Olympio  PLC  by securing  brickmaking  machinery from  Auroville  in  India. Land  upon  which  to  build  an  Akra. Local  teams  trained  to make  laterite  based  bricks  on  site. S.  Olympio  became  a  nest  for Leros  design  and  architectural skills  focusing  on  local, holistic,  and  nature  based  systems. John's  current  program  called Concrete  Designs  to  Thrive  is inspired  very  much  by his  early  work  with  Leo. And  looks  at the  intimate  link  between  urban  design and  the  health  of individual  community  and  planet. I  was  lucky  enough  to  meet  with  John last  fall  on  a  trip  to  Edinburgh. I'm  so  grateful  for  his  warmth, generosity  and  support  of the  conference  between  that  time  and  now. And  I'm  honored  to  introduce him  since  you've  been  here  comes son  comes  a  son  out saying, thank  you,  Jocelyne. Thank  you,  Allo.  Thank  you everyone  who's  here  and  who  couldn't  be  here. It's  just  over  30  years  since  I  met  Allo. Just  under  20  years  since  she  passed. Ten  years  since  I  stepped aside  from  medicine  to explore  the  world  of  design  and  well  being. Seven  years  ago  I  visited a  Ra  and  Coco  Bet  In  April  7  years  ago, I  set  up  our  journeys  in design  initiative  in Edinburgh  in  that  September. Is  all  this  related? I  don't  know,  but  I  saw  in  Leo  how  to  meet people  as  they  are  and  how  to  move with  good  energies  as we  meet  people  en  route. A  little  bit  about  journeys  and  design. It's  a  set  of  rolling  programs, each  offering  a  material  led  focus  in exploring  heritage  and contemporary  design  with  flax  futures, about  flax  and  other  bast  fibers  and regenerative  textile  design with  salvage  Scotland around  maritime  ecology  and the  potential  of  seaweed  as a  material  in  design with  concrete  designs  to  thrive. About  urban  design  for  well  being and  healthy  building  materials other  than  concrete. Through  exhibitions,  walks, talks,  and  workshops. The  core  offering  is  connection, enabling  simple  acts really  of  creative  fellowship, aiming  to  make  real  the  powerful  link between  individual  community and  planetary  health. How  much  of  this  is  a  direct  result of  precious  time  I  spent  with  Leo? Again,  I  don't  know,  but  I  know that  she's  smiling  recently, I've  been  keen  to  study  more about  regenerative  design  and working  with  the  regenesism students  Santa  Fe  and  across  and  Lisbon. I've  been  exploring  what that  might  mean  for  my  practice. Do  you  ever  get  annoyed  about  words that  are  undermined  by  over  use, or  worse  still  monetized? I  find  I  can  be,  and  I  think the  word  regenerative  might be  going  that  way, but  at  its  heart, this  is  a  way  of  being  in the  world  that's  about  locality, diversity,  co  creation,  and  nature  systems. I  also  know  La  would  smile  at  that, defining  a  way  of  being  in the  world  that  was  hers, I  suspect  from  birth. Oh,  there  we  go. Princeton.  Thank  you.  Thank  you  very  much. My  first  visit  to  what  is a  very  beautiful  campus,  the  sun  was  shining. As  I  took  an  early  walk and  thought  about  what  I  might  talk about  allo  as  often we  might  have  done  in  Edinburgh. I  join  with  my  other  co  presenters today  to  thank  Dean  Monica  in the  School  of  Architecture  and the  extraordinarily  hardworking  team which  is  WDA  24. Thank  you  for  this  act  of  bringing people  together,  linking  like  minds. Quite  a  layed  journey in  time  and  place  for  some  of  us, an  act  of  creative  fellowship. Thank  you  for  the  rigor and  depth  of  this  program, for  co  creating  this archive  and  opening  up  possibilities. Thank  you  for  the  small but  perfectly  formed  exhibition. It's  really  beautiful.  I  particularly love  the  clever  grid of  five  projects  and that  joyous  mapping  of  Africa,  West  Africa. Thank  you  for  the  chance to  break  bread  together. Last  night  I  had a  hoot  sharing  time  with  Josslyn, with  the  rest  of  my  table,  inquiring minds  from  WDA. This  is  my  hometown.  These  slides  aren't just  to  show  that  it  is  sunny in  Scotland  at  times. This  is  where  Leo  and  I  met. This  is  where  we  walked  and  talked. This  is  where  we  hatched work  plans  and  where  we  became  friends. You're  welcome  is  an  invitation. Joslyn,  I  thank  you  for acknowledging  your  visit  and  we really  enjoyed  having  you  in Scotland.  We  hope  you  come  back. Anyone  visiting  will  always  find a  spare  room  and  anyone  keen  to collaborate  will  always  find  like  minds and  capacity.  Four  women. One  barely  needs  introduction.  Rene  Net. Thank  you  for  your  persistence,  your  insight, your  eloquence,  and  your  hope and  your  friendship  from  my  heart, More  stocks,  very  sadly  not  able  to  be  here today  sends  her  gratitude  and best  wishes  to  everyone  going  forward. Asked  me  to  say  some  words  of  eulogy  after Alero  passed  and  I  sought her  blessing  for  speaking  Today, we've  already  heard  from  Leslie  of  the  time Allo  shared  with  more in  Leopold  Place  in  Edinburgh. It  was  a  creative  furnace and  a  loving  sanctuary. While  of  course  to reflect  in  one  or  two  points that  have  been  made. Race,  gender,  sexuality,  and  class  can all  help  define these  two  women  and  their  love. Something  about  Allo  and more  Ag  still  seems  to  transcend labels  ahead  of  them all  is  a  generosity  of  spirit. Thank  you  Mog.  Of  course, I  knew  Nina  before  I  knew  Leo, but  the  mix  of  music shared  by  Leo  broaden  my  world  view. Nina  Simone  played a  particular  part  in  Leo's  life, her  art,  and  her  drive.  Here  comes  the  son. A  special  bam  in  her  last  weeks, I  did  not  know  me,  Angeli, before  Leo  introduced  me, I'm  from  a  middle  class,  white  Irish  family. You  can  do  the  maths.  Way  before platudoniust  posts  on  social  media. Allo  shared  potent  words  with  me. We  heard  from  Leslie  how  women  in  Africa have  been  othered,  taught  to  falter. Well,  this  young  gay  man  in  Ireland felt  his  version  of  that  too, all  after  Angelou  said, if  you  must  look  back,  do  it  forgivinglyfmt. Look  forward.  Do  so  lovingly. However,  the  wisest  thing  you  might do  is  to  be present  gratefully.  Thank  you  Allo. Oh,  I've  skipped. Let's  see  where  we're  going. Great.  Okay,  so  look, this  is  such  a  great  image, I  love  it  very  much. I  wonder  who  conceived  the  title  for this  year's  U  Yes  Sessions. Allo  Olympio  Activated  Matter. It's  inspired.  I  love  it  too. I  love  the  words  I  see  in that  title,  Activism  and  Action. A  little  bit  about  my  work  with  Allo. About  a  year  after  meeting  in  Edinburgh, we  met  in  Akra  in  Cocroti. Was  that  quick,  a  seduction? I  was  transfixed  by  the  vision, offered  local  materials, local  labor,  local  enablement, 35%  of  the  land  in  Ghana, around  that  is  later  little  25% of  cement  is  enough  to  stabilize  that, to  make  mud  bricks  away  with the  imported  breeze  Brock  block  mentality that  we've  heard  about  today. Simple,  right? Transfused  with  integrity. A  year  later  we'd  set  up  Olympia  PLC, bought  some  land  made  bricks,  trained  teams. Allo  became  unwell  when  she  passed. Morregani  transfer  funds  into the  Alero,  Olympio  Trust. Maybe  about  ten  years  later  this  photograph, a  sweaty  bunch  flying  into  coat. Clearly  unused  to  the  hard  graft  in  the  sun. Helping  to  complete the  Alero  Olympio  Design  Center  at Coca  Bury  Institute  for  lunch  in  April  2017. There's  more  ag,  a  particularly  sweaty me  in  the  middle  just  to  introduce  berth, this  is  an  example  I  think, of  the  energy  which  might  cascade out  as  a  result  of allos  person  and  place  burnt. Is  now  a  professor  of  Head  of Mathematics  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh, but  he's  to  be  found  at times  in  Africa  helping to  lead  the  African Institute  for  Mathematical  Studies. Allos  energy bleeding  creatively  across  disciplines. We're  pausing  now. I'm  going  to  ask  Jocelyn  to  come  back  up. I'm  more  than  happy  to  join  this  panel, but  I  wanted  to  just  offer you  something  of  Allo  the  person. Allo  the  friend,  Allo  the  activist, and  all  the  woman  of  action. Thank  you  for  the  opportunity  of  being  part of  this  extraordinary  symposium. I  hope  paths  will  continue to  cross.  Thank  you. Thank  you,  John,  for  sharing your  really  wonderful  insights into  Lero's  life  and  work. As  we  are  coming  to  a  close  of the  eighth  annual  WDA  conference, we'd  like  to  take  a  moment  to thank  everyone  who  participated  in these  past  few  days  in celebrating  the  legacy  of  Leo  Olympio. It  has  truly  been an  incredible  day  of  scholarship, professional  and  personal  reflection. And  we  would  not  have  been  able  to  make  it possible  without  you  here.  Thank  you. Oh,  wow.  Okay.  So  instead of  a  formal  panel  to  close  the  conference, we're  hoping  to  open  up the  room  which  we've  happened. It's  already  opened. But  to  wider  conversation  and  dialogue, we  welcome  any  participants,  or  public, or  visitors  who  are interested  to  join  us  in  this  conversation. If  people  are  interested in  coming  to  the  front  of  the  room, we  have  extra  chairs  at  the  table. In  the  spirit  of  Leroy, I  guess  to  begin, I  mean  this  is  almost coming  off  of  Mark's  point. In  some  of  this  conversation  we had  about  archiving and  what  is  an  archive  in  this  context. But  also  the  operations of  something  like  this. Like  the  operations  of  a  conference. But  then  not  only to  just  be  reflecting  on  what  has  happened, but  what  we'll  come  after,  I  think, which  is  really  the  important  part  of  this. How  does  Alero's  memory  manifest within  the  people  who  have  come  and presented  at  this  conference between  others  that she  touched  with  her  life  and the  communities  in  which her  practice  operated. What  is  the  role  of  memory? Verbal,  active,  inhabited,  in  contrast to  the  more  formal  archival  practices of  documentation  and  record  making. Is  the  archive?  I  mean, definitely  on  Mark's  point, is  the  archive  always  necessary in  the  form  that  we  might  know  it  with particularly  like  these  types  of institutions  or  in  a  different  kind  of  thing. Is  the  yeah,  what  role  or  what  place  does the  archive  take  up  within these  very  special  conditions? Or  at  least  special  to us  who  are  unfamiliar  with  her  work? I  open  that  up  to  the  room. I  opened  up  to  John, and  then  anyone  else  who  has  questions, feel  free  to  speak  them. This  one.  Okay.  Yeah.  Does  that  me? Yeah.  So  I  think the  high  Alero  was  in  the  world  is  such a  great  starting  off  point  when everyone's  touched on  that  in  the  conversation that  we  were  joining  in  earlier. And  fundamentally  it  has  been about  the  stories  around  relationships. I'm  absolutely  no  expert in  architectural  archives, but  I  can't  imagine  there  isn't  a  place for  a  series  of  creative  conversations. Recording  in  whatever  way  feels  viable. I  was  really  struck  by  and  I'm  going to  have  to  check  my  little  name  check. Because  not  Nana,  but Nana's  colleague  who  is  also  speaking. And  Andy  brilliant  stories  of how  her  buildings  have  induced creativity  and  that  wonderful  nod to  the  serenity  and tranquillity  of  place induced  by  her  buildings, that  allows  for  creative  practice. I  thought  they  were incredibly  powerful  stories. Yeah,  yeah. In  the  research  that  came  up over  the  course  of  this  organizing, I  guess  we  also  became  quite interested  in  hearing  about the  translation  of  her  work and  these  techniques  she  developed  in Ghana  when  she  was  in  Edinburgh because  she  had  a  couple  build  projects, I  guess  that  we  don't  know  much  about. But  if  you  knew, I  see  Helen  is  here. I  want  to  just  apologize  to  Helen. You  were  working  hard while  we  were  sweatily  shifting. You  were  creating  a  wonderful  meal  so we  could  break  bread  together. Thank  you  Helen. That's  right.  So  this  is  the  irony  of the  extraordinary  talent  where  there  might be  a  national  park  and an  institute  on  offer  for  Oleo  in  Ganga, the  challenges  of  a  young  woman  architect meant  there  wasn't  work. And  often  it  was a  very  modest  interior  redesign, a  very  small  addition  to  a  garden  plot. I  don't  have  a  listing  or experience  of  those  projects, but  I  knew  they  were  small. I  think  also  part  of what's  come  up  in  the  conference  a  lot  has been  that  we  have learned  from  Leo  has  helped  us  to  see how  to  read  from  the  environment  and the  sort  of  productive  capabilities around  reading  from  the  environment. And  God  especially  became using  Earth  and  tight. I  guess  I  would  be  interested  to  hear  also from  anyone  and  everyone who  talked  today  as  well  about  what  it, what  it  means  now  to  read from  the  environment  today  and  how the  materials  perhaps  that  have come  up  a  lot  of  times  that  were originally  colonial  constructs  like trash  and  as  a  material, corrugated  steel  are  now  endemic  in Ghana  and  have  become part  of  that  material  environment. And  they  are  also entering  into  circularity  in a  different  way  and reuse  and  what  it means  to  engage  with  those  materials. And  if  Alero's  techniques about  this  learning  from the  environment  and  if there's  a  hesitation  with these  materials  or  just  thoughts about  these  new  forms  of  environment  today, I  kind  of  want  to  put  Julia  on  the  spot. I  feel  like  there's  an  empty  chair that  you  would  be  a  great  person in  it  because  you  actually  went  there and  brought  back  so  much  of  the  materials. And  maybe,  can  I  just  say something  while  you're  getting  up  there? You  know,  I  think  one  of the  things  that's  really  wonderful is  we  keep  hearing  from  non  architects. And  I  think  it  speaks to  what  a  great  architect  she  was. I'm  always  a  bit  skeptical  of architects  who  just  spend all  their  time  with  other  architects. And  she  clearly  was  not  that  person. And  that  said,  I  don't  want  that  then  to erase  the  role  of her  architectural  methods because  there  was  so  much  there. So  Julia,  if  you  could please  share.  Thank  you. Well,  thanks  Mitch. I  think  the  thing  that  I  was thinking  a  lot  about  in the  closing  comments  in the  later  presentations  was about  the  role  of  the  institution. Something  that  students  we've been  talking  a  lot about  in  building  an  archive. And  if  we  are  going to  rely  on  the  institution  to  do this  kind  of  work  and  kind  of use  these  systems  to  our  advantage. But  I  think  in visiting  the  houses  and  talking  with the  people  who  lived  in the  homes  that  Leo  built, the  people  who  lived there  weren't  architects. And  they  said  that  to  me  many  times. And  they  would  say  I'm  not  an  architect, but  I  knew  Leo and  would  tell  me  all  these  things. And  then  they  would  speak  really profoundly  about  architecture. And  I'm  like an  architecture  student  and  I  was like  stunned at  how  they  would  be  able  to  do  that. And  so  I  think  it  really  relates  to this  issue  of  education  and  like what  it  means  to  be an  academic  versus  to  be  educated. I  think  it  relates  also  to  a  lot of  conversations  of  how  she educated  people  on  site  with  informally. And  then  also  this  formal  education  that  we rely  upon  with  titles  and  names. And  how  we  value  that over  kind  of  the  education  that Oleo  was  very  much,  you  know,  practicing. And  I  think  that  just  relates to  I  don't  really  know  where  I'm going  with  this  but  I  think there's  something  there  that  I'm  still like  trying  to  process. I  love  those  points  and  I  love  this  point. And  there  there  was  a  humility  and a  lack  of  arrogance  about her  status  as  an  architect, which  was  very  generous  of  spirit. And  I  think,  you  know, Leslie  and  and  Renee  both  touched  on the  teaching  aspects  of  it, just  innate  to  Leo. I  was  intrigued  by  the  book offered  to  one  of  the  colleagues. I'm  rereading  this,  Leo  gave me  this  about  a  year  after  we  met. It's  Fritz  Schumacher.  Small  is  beautiful, 50  years  old  last  year. Words  of  wisdom.  And  in the  same  way  as  Alia and  I  were  going  into  business, and  she  wanted  me  to  know  this  book  about subtitled  a  study  of economics  as  if  people  mattered. So  she  offered  a  book  to  another  colleague  to read  so  that  generosity  was  Yeah.  Big. Yeah.  I  mean,  even  going through  like  the  documents  that were  in  Rene's  boxes that  are  held  at  the  Cooker  Beta  Institute, You  could  see  she  was  the  architect, builder,  and  she  also  like, I  don't  know  if  these  were  realized  projects. I  couldn't  really  tell  because  they  were just  unstapled  papers  and  unlabeled, but  they  were  all of  the  finances  were  worked  out,  right? And  they  might  have  been  projects that  you  worked  on  together. And  I  saw  a  lot  of  Edison  there. And  so  I  wonder  if  you could  talk  more  about  like, what  it  was  like  in  a  day  to  day, you  know,  in  the  field  working  with  B. At  this  point,  I  was  still practicing  as  a  Dr. and  I  was  stealing  visits  to  Ghana, but  speaking  on  the  phone and  really  just  happy  support. I  mean,  there's  a  Scottish  word,  it's  canny, and  it  means  kind  of  somewhere between  street  wise and  aware  of  economics. I  think  our  initial  working  relationship  was as  someone  to  fund  her  projects, and  then  our  friendship  developed  after  that. So  in  that  sense, I  didn't  delve  into  the  detail. I  had  a  belief  in the  work  of  faith  that the  right  thing  was  happening. Any  other  questions  from  the  room? Okay,  great. Thank  you. I  just  wanted  to  bring  up  a  quote from  auntie  Renee that  always  stuck  out  with  me. And  I  was  she  didn't  bring  it  up  today. So  now  I'm  going  to  bring  it  up  and hopefully  prompt  you  John, and  maybe  aunt  Rene  to  jump  in. But  she  once  said  that  developing the  Coker  Beat  Day  Institute  with  Alara was  like  cooking  with  your  best  friend. And  in  she  was  referencing  the  intuition  and kind  of  collaborative  instincts that  come  with  that. So  I  wonder  if  you  can speak  more  to  cooking  with your  best  friends  and developing  projects  together. And  Anti,  Renee,  if  you  want this  microphone,  you  can  take  it. I  think  you  must.  I  would  just  emphasize again  the  kindness  that came  with  working  with  Leo. There  was  a  kindness, a  desire  to  meet you  as  you  were  and  me  as  I  was. And  to,  you  know, quite  openly  share  stories  that  let, with  an  eye  to  the  project, but  a  kindness  that  let  good  things  unfold. It's  hard  to  find  the  words  for  that, but  that  was  an  important  part of  how  she  was  in  the  world. Essentially. I  can  just  underscore  what  you  said,  John. I  mean,  it  was  just  a  kind  of  openness. Every  opinion  mattered. There  was  always  the  notion that  any  contribution  or your  contribution  could  be  as  valuable. She  was  obviously  the  architect,  but  it  was, it  was  a  working, delightful,  evolving  process  of  engagement. You  know,  and  you  were  in  it, but  you  had  the  opportunity, it  was  just  part  of  life, to  sit  back  and  discuss. You  tasted,  was  it  good? Very  good. I  have  a  question  for  John  in  particular. Can  you  hear  me?  Hey,  Colin. Hi.  How  are  you  doing? So,  you  know,  coming  from the  medical  profession  in particular  and  then  knowing, you  know,  las  life  and  you  know, from  beginning  to  the  end  of  life, I  guess  I  should  say,  I  wonder  what  do you  feel  or  anyone  that knows  or  feel  a  sense  of  urgency. Because  in  the  context  of, I  guess  when  I  think about  the  medical  profession and  then  also  think  about buildings  as  you  know, beings  when,  I  mean we're  living  in  a  system,  right? And  the  building  has  to  be  as  the  healthier, the  building  is,  healthier  we  are. And  I  wonder  if  that  was  also  the  context  of this  holistic  understanding  of nature,  life  and  living. And  then  understanding  her  connection  to  it. If  there  was  any  kind  of  a  parallel and  understanding  from  the  medical, your  medical  background  and if  there's  any  parallels  in  that. Well,  I  mean  there's  absolutely, there's  a  very  strong  evidence  base linking  good  design,  well  being  and What  can  I  say? Recovery  from  a  hip  operation. The  length  of  time  is reduced  if  you  have  a  garden  view. So  the  sense  of  the  biophilic  being therapeutic  is  very  significant. And  there's  just  a  very  deep  literature  now linking  nature  systems  where I  think,  you  know  this  is, can  we  be  guilty  of  presentism  by  taking those  definitions  of regenerative  design,  hyper  locality, co  creation,  diversity,  and  applying them  to  what  that  person  gave. It  just  was  innate  and  there  was a  generosity  of  spirit  and a  capacity  for  community. I'm  sounding  trite,  I  mean, I  can't  find  the  words  that mean  more  than  those  words. But  my  own  sense of  medical  practice,  it  was  a  great  career. I  met  fantastic  people. It  was  a  privilege  to  support  people  at nodal  points  of  difficulty. But  ultimately  the  systems in  which  clinicians  work have  become  more  and  more  rigid, more  and  more  protocol  driven,  monetized, and  lack  the  humanity  that  I think  good  design  brings to  individuals  and  communities. I  really  believe  that  the more  that's  linked  with  nature's  system, so  that  there's  a,  a  drawing together  that  we're  not  other  than  nature, we're  all  of  nature. Allo  had  that  from  the  word  go and  it  appealed  to  me  very  much. I'd  just  like  to  add  a  couple  of  words about  the  last  question  of  what's  next. And  coming  to  this  conference, and  I'm  very  appreciative that  this  was  open  to  the  public. I  was  not  connected  with  Princeton, I'm  not  an  architect,  is  that  they? My  reflection  of  this.  This's  bout a  story  of  an  amazing  person. Her  architecture.  It's  interesting because  you're  all  architects  and  it's  there, but  that's  probably not  the  most  important  thing. She's  left  as  her  legacy,  I  think. And  I'm  wondering  if  one of  the  questions  about  this, how  to  archive,  how  to  preserve  her  story, her  legacy,  however  you  want  to  describe  it, is  to  consider  also  who's  telling that  story  now  in the  presentation  because  archivists, and  they  selectively  collect, it's  not  just  everything  that ever  mentions  your  name, you're  going  to  put  into  it. And  at  the  other  hand,  who's the  audience  for  which  that  is  there? And  I  think  we're  at a  moment  right  now  in  history where  technology  lets  the  whole  world  know. And  one  of  the  needs  or draws  here  is  how  would  you  get  more  people? And  as  we're  just  sitting  here, somebody  who's  interested  in it  because  of  conservation, because  of  environmental  needs, because  of  cooking  with  a  best  friend, with  the  notion  of  the  caring and  love  of  music  that  comes  in. What  might  be  another  media  to  do  that? And  what  if  anybody, would  consider  a  documentary  film? A  documentary  film  that  could  be streamed  and  you  know  the  title, Renee  might  be  cooking  with your  best  friend  or  daughters  from  Africa or  something  of  the  sort  which  hits  on  a  lot of very  important  contemporary  questions and  interests. So  I  just  throw  that  as  a  Oh,  sorry. I  just  wanted  to  say that  I've  been  very  blessed  to have  been  to  Coke  rib  five times  over  a  very  long  period  of  time. And  I  was  able  to  spend  a  little  time  with Leo  and  knew  then  that  she  was  special. And  also  when  she  was  ill, she  and  her  mother  came  to  visit  me. But  what  I  want  to  tell  you  all is  that  it  is  alive  and  bursting. When  I  went  to  put  this last  time  just  in  December, I  was  blown  away  by  what  I  saw. Each  time  I  went, there  was  something  new,  a  new  space, a  new  build,  a  new  building,  something  new. And  I  couldn't  believe  when  I  went  this  time, how  magnificent  it  is  and what  Renee  has  continued to  grow.  I  saw  the  garden. We  ate  every  night  from  that  garden. The  best  food,  the  most  delicious  food, the  most  healthy  food. We  stayed  in  one  of the  buildings  and  I  laid  on my  bed  and  I  took  pictures  of the  ceiling  because  it  was  so  beautiful. I  took  pictures  of  the  door  because it  had  a  print  on  it  that  was  outstanding. I  looked  at  the  bureau  which  was yellow  and  had  an  elephant  on  the  side. There  wasn't  any  place  I  looked  that  wasn't beautiful  and  somehow  connected to  Leo  and  Rene. So  it  is  alive  and well  and  so  is  Leros  spirit. Maybe  to  conclude,  I  could throw  it  to  the  members  of WDA  to  find  some  kind  of  takeaway. This  was  a  huge  collective  effort. Anyone  want  to  say  anything  they  want? Yeah,  hi. I  am  honestly  just  so overwhelmed  by  this  room and  everybody  who  traveled  from  so  far, maybe  near  to  be  here. I  think  the  theme that  just  keeps  coming  back  and  I think  it's  so  important  to  recognize and  say  again  because you  can't  say  it  enough. Seeing  others  is  so  critical  to what  Oleo  has  made and  the  legacy  that  she  has. That's  become  exceptionally  clear today  where  it  seems  like  somehow everybody  has  found  a  way  to  be  seen  even if  they  hadn't  personally  seen her  in  real  life  or  had a  conversation  with  her. And  I  think  that's  something, especially  as  students  trying to  learn  how  to  do  the  thing  that  she  did, we  can  easily  lose. I  think  as  we  kind  of  go  through  academia, we  learn  the  tools, but  the  tools  that  are  also sometimes  used  to  exclude. And  I  think  that  touches on  your  point,  Julia, about  being  an  academic  and  being educated  and  how  you  can gain  knowledge  in  so  many  places that  do  not  look  like  this. That's  the  biggest  takeaway  I've  had  today is  that  radical  belief,  I  heard  that  today. And  seeing  one  another fully,  whether  you  are, you  want  to  be  seen  as  architect, as  designers  person,  as  mom. I  think  that  is  truly  the  thing  I  think, especially  students  we  should definitely  be  carrying  with us  after  this  conference. Thanks.  Anybody  else? All  right,  thank  you  everyone.  I  don't  know.