Dissertation
RESEARCH STUDY
In June-July 2019 I travelled to Uganda for a month, from lake Bunyonyi through the Bantu speaking regions where I spoke to people in rural communities about their culture, opinions and values. I then spent two weeks living and working within a school called Nakanyoni Primary school Jinja, Uganda. During our time there we interacted with the children of the school learning with them as well as constructing an educational playground. Children aged ten to fourteen were randomly selected to take place in my study which aimed to see how identity and cultural of a place shapes drawn perception of space. The pupils were asked to draw ‘your house’ to see how they would represent building and their surrounding context. Children from The Canterbury academy, Kent were also chosen so the drawings could be compared. These two drawing studies are contrasted to help gain an insight into children understanding of their built landscape and to see how these cultural identity of a place affects this.
In June-July 2019 I travelled to Uganda for a month, from lake Bunyonyi through the Bantu speaking regions where I spoke to people in rural communities about their culture, opinions and values. I then spent two weeks living and working within a school called Nakanyoni Primary school Jinja, Uganda. During our time there we interacted with the children of the school learning with them as well as constructing an educational playground. Children aged ten to fourteen were randomly selected to take place in my study which aimed to see how identity and cultural of a place shapes drawn perception of space. The pupils were asked to draw ‘your house’ to see how they would represent building and their surrounding context. Children from The Canterbury academy, Kent were also chosen so the drawings could be compared. These two drawing studies are contrasted to help gain an insight into children understanding of their built landscape and to see how these cultural identity of a place affects this.
ABSTRACT
This dissertation sets out to discover and contrast how different socio-cultural settings impact children’s understanding of their built environment. Starting with an examination of the historical background surrounding British colonialization in Uganda, it explores how this played a part in the formation of Ugandan culture. It goes on to discuss the condition of housing in Uganda in contrast with typical domestic structures in England, which helps to contextualise the study where children’s drawings were analysed in relation to style, materiality and building form. The main body of the dissertation explores how the culture of a geographical location helps dictate a child’s understanding of their built environment.
Due to lack of secondary resources and archival information for architectural housing studies in rural Uganda, my research has centred upon interviews and two drawing studies in both chosen locations of study. This drawing study took place in Jinja, Uganda and Kent, England. It aimed to investigate both chosen groups and their attitudes to history, culture and technology. Culture plays a huge role in how we view space and what we associate with our surroundings,1 thus how we understand elements in our landscape affects how we experience our tangible reality. This dissertation goes on to ask whether these two cultures can learn from one another.
Through the analysis of the children’s drawings comparisons can be made about ideals and cultural identity. Based on the work of Jean Piaget and Bӓrbel Inhelder ‘The Childs conception of space’ and Maureen V. Cox. ‘Children's drawings’, the analysis is organised around a specific set of common motifs found in the drawings. The main areas of the drawings discussed are adjacent buildings, external environment, perspective, and textures. From percentages in the study, it was found that Ugandan children have a better grasp of community as well as a wider ability to depict depth through perspective. Children raised in Jinja also seemed to notice and draw more details in their depictions, suggesting a greater understanding of materiality and form. Ultimately, the dissertation will compare and uncover that although growing up in very different places these two cultures can learn from each other. The observations highlighted in this dissertation aim to comprehend children’s perception and gather a wider understanding of community, environment, and sustainability as well as exploring how cultural identity plays a part in this.
This dissertation sets out to discover and contrast how different socio-cultural settings impact children’s understanding of their built environment. Starting with an examination of the historical background surrounding British colonialization in Uganda, it explores how this played a part in the formation of Ugandan culture. It goes on to discuss the condition of housing in Uganda in contrast with typical domestic structures in England, which helps to contextualise the study where children’s drawings were analysed in relation to style, materiality and building form. The main body of the dissertation explores how the culture of a geographical location helps dictate a child’s understanding of their built environment.
Due to lack of secondary resources and archival information for architectural housing studies in rural Uganda, my research has centred upon interviews and two drawing studies in both chosen locations of study. This drawing study took place in Jinja, Uganda and Kent, England. It aimed to investigate both chosen groups and their attitudes to history, culture and technology. Culture plays a huge role in how we view space and what we associate with our surroundings,1 thus how we understand elements in our landscape affects how we experience our tangible reality. This dissertation goes on to ask whether these two cultures can learn from one another.
Through the analysis of the children’s drawings comparisons can be made about ideals and cultural identity. Based on the work of Jean Piaget and Bӓrbel Inhelder ‘The Childs conception of space’ and Maureen V. Cox. ‘Children's drawings’, the analysis is organised around a specific set of common motifs found in the drawings. The main areas of the drawings discussed are adjacent buildings, external environment, perspective, and textures. From percentages in the study, it was found that Ugandan children have a better grasp of community as well as a wider ability to depict depth through perspective. Children raised in Jinja also seemed to notice and draw more details in their depictions, suggesting a greater understanding of materiality and form. Ultimately, the dissertation will compare and uncover that although growing up in very different places these two cultures can learn from each other. The observations highlighted in this dissertation aim to comprehend children’s perception and gather a wider understanding of community, environment, and sustainability as well as exploring how cultural identity plays a part in this.