Banality of Good
International New Town Institute (INTI)
LOWDO
Tema Development Corporation (TDC)
Architecture involves planning, designing, and constructing form, space, and ambiance to reflect functional, technical, social, environmental, and aesthetic considerations. It requires the creative management and integration of materials and technology. The structures produced reveal much about a particular environment, including its climate, weather, history, ceremonies, artistic sensibility, and daily life. Architecture has an enormous impact on our lives because we constantly interact with it in our daily routines.
According to Darren:
“The impact architecture plays in our lives is most often taken for granted, yet nearly every moment of every day is influenced by it. This is because we are constantly in and surrounded by buildings, and these spaces affect how you feel and act. The size and layout of a space can affect your ability to undertake a task. In contrast, we have all experienced a beautiful space, admiring and appreciating it, and with that felt joy in occupying it for that time. This happens both on a conscious and subconscious level. Our survival depends on it; more so when we were primitive creatures living in the wild. Since evolving from the cave to the built environments we have created for ourselves today, our assessment of our surroundings has evolved to be more often about judgment, not necessarily of a threat, but the effect a space or our surroundings have on our mood.”
Since the 1980s, the complexity of buildings has increased in terms of structural systems, services, energy, and technologies. Such sophisticated buildings are often found in urban cities and planned communities or new towns. City planning and construction play a significant role in social and economic development. Good infrastructure visibly promotes prosperity by linking people to one another and to resources, facilitating industrialization and trade, and ensuring the proper utilization of space.
The Banality of Good is an exhibition organized by the International New Town Institute (INTI), a non-profit scientific knowledge institute based in the New Town of Almere, near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The exhibition showcases prototypes of selected New Towns and aims to improve the quality of global urban development with a focus on New Towns. INTI believes that lessons can be learned from existing New Towns to improve the quality and sustainability of future developments.
Exhibition Highlights
The installation featured six cities built between World War II and the present day, displaying their extraordinary diversity against the spatial, demographic, and economic formulas that shaped their development:
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Stevenage, UK (1946): A post-war New Town that became an example for hundreds of cities worldwide.
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Tema, Ghana (1956): A Western-style industrial city representing progress and independence after Ghana's liberation.
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Almere, Netherlands (1976): A suburban New Town promoting individualism and personal choice.
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King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia (2006): A desert city attracting foreign investments.
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Songjiang, China (2001): Developed to control population growth, providing housing for the middle class.
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AlphaVille-Tamboré, Brazil (1973): A gated community addressing urban congestion and crime.
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The exhibition included architectural elements, models, and bold typography to present the density and challenges of these modern cities.
Programs and Engagement
The exhibition opened on 15 October 2015 at the Nubuke Foundation. A lunch discussion on the state of architecture in Ghana featured speakers such as D.K. Ossed-Asare, a renowned architect and TED Fellow, and Joseph A. Abbey, head of the Tema Development Corporation.
A workshop for students from La Bawaleshie Presby School allowed children to create architectural drawings of their communities and envision their ideal surroundings. This program aimed to spark curiosity and foster an appreciation for their environment, highlighting how architecture influences behavior and thought.
Conclusion
Architecture is an inevitable part of daily life, shaping and reflecting our environments. The Banality of Good brought together key players in the architectural industry to discuss New Town concepts and showcased the importance of integrating children into such discussions. This initiative was made possible by the Nubuke Foundation, whose mission is to record, preserve, and promote Ghanaian art and cultural heritage while bridging the gap between art and science.