The exhibition by YAA Projects titled Common, Communal, Community will be on view this week at MAGAZIN in Vienna. The exhibition is based on an ongoing research project that investigates the historical and contemporary condition of the compound house typology.

Staged across three rooms, the exhibition explores this typology through fragments, drawings and photography which document three compound houses from various regions in Ghana. The research was gathered during a three-week research visit in 2022. A palette of everyday materials – earth, brick, timber and corrugated roofing sheets – is used to create simple construction forms which reference the utility of this building typology.

The exhibition also reflects on the ephemeral and spiritual qualities of the compound house. Through material, form and spatiality, Common, Communal, Community highlights the key attributes of this dwelling type. These characteristics – in particular, the central compound space and the veranda – create a layering of public, semi-public, semi-private and private space. This exposure to both public and private life within the home fosters a sense of civility. The house becomes both a private domain and a civic space.

The research project investigates the compound house typology not only as historical artefact, but as an adaptable housing typology that appropriately translates history, climate and culture; one that could be translated in the future of urban development in African cities as well as in Europe, where it could promote more communal forms of dwelling.

Nana also took part in a panel discussion which was held on 11 November, as part of the second Sharjah Architecture Triennial on The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability, curated by AA alum Tosin Oshinowo. The discussion followed the film screening of Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa. Nana co-directed the film as part of her curation and design of the V&A Applied Arts Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice; a partnership between the AA, V&A and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The film, which was shown at Mirage City Cinema, critically reflects on the imperial history of Tropical Modernism through an analysis of the work of the AA’s Department of Tropical Architecture, as well as key projects built in Ghana. More information on this event can be accessed here.

Common, Communal, Community will be on view from 3–6pm CET, 13 – 18 November at MAGAZIN.
Click here for more information on the exhibition.

Image: Main exhibition space, Common, Communal, Community, by YAA Projects, 2023. Image Credit: © Simon Veres.