Architecture · Heritage · Urbanism in West Africa
AHUWA is a research centre based at the Liverpool School of Architecture, University of Liverpool. It brings together an interdisciplinary network of scholars and practitioners across architecture, urban studies, and the social sciences, alongside policymakers and local stakeholders across West Africa.
Who We Are
The Architecture, Heritage & Urbanism in West Africa (AHUWA) centre was established to address a critical gap in global architectural scholarship: the systematic documentation and analysis of West Africa’s vast, diverse, and endangered built heritage.
A group representing their family in green-white colours at the Fanti Carnival
Photo Credit: Nura Ali
Our Research
At the core of AHUWA’s work are three guiding questions:
How can heritage inform responses to climate change, inequality, and rapid urbanisation?
How can we map and interpret West African urbanism, and how do these insights travel globally?
A snapshot of the vibrant atmosphere at Fanti Carnival, April 2026
Photo Credit: Nura Ali
Flagship Project
AHUWA adopts an approach that thinks from West Africa outward, positioning the region not as a case study, but as a site of knowledge production.
Research Themes
Years of Fieldwork
Research Areas
Prof. Ola Uduku — AHUWA Founding Director
Adeyemo Shokunbi explains New Alternative Nigerian Architecture – a philosophy that seeks to reframe Nigerian architecture through cultural consciousness, local materials, and contextual design.
Written by Adeposi Adeogun When Rem Koolhaas and his Harvard Project on the City team visited Lagos in 2001, they made a provocative claim: “Lagos has no streets.” When this was said, it referred to Lagos’ resistance to the neat
