By Megha Paudyal and Niall Coleman
Research Methods - Accra Futurism
Manchester School of Architecture - University of Manchester - Manchester Metropolitan University
During the 1960s, Bulgarian Architects Glavproekt were commissioned to design a masterplan for the Marine Drive area
in Accra to represent the new post-independence Ghana. Glavproekt’s proposal was driven by the detailed design of
monumental landmarks, each encapsulating the socialist vision rising in Nkrumah’s Ghana. This essay aims to speculate the
context of which the masterplan was designed by analysing the range of sources accessible, particularly through utilising
GIS to digitise the masterplan [Figure 2] and compare it to other cartographic materials. The research raises questions on
whether the architect’s approach to master planning through individual buildings was justified. Was this due to a lack of
sources available to them as a foreign design team or the post-modern architectural culture of the time?