‘INNO-NATIVE’TM: Combining innovation with the indigenous underpinned by
culture. Inside the mind of Joe Addo and Constructs R+D in Accra, Ghana.
C
onstructs R+D is a full service
Design and Development Firm
based in Accra, specializing
in ‘inno-native’™ solutions to
socio-architecture Design and
Construction. The role and interest
of the Firm has been influenced by
various investigations of ‘genus-loci’
and how architecture and design
can/should respond to this in
developing and building Projects which are both Site
specific and meet the needs of people who will inhabit
or interact with it. They are engaged in the discourse
of what is important to communities and how site,
climate, materials and their weathering with a designled approach will shape these projects.
Renowned founder and CEO of Constructs R+D Joe
Addo is an architect who refers to himself as a ‘design
socio-economist’. He was born in Ghana, and trained
at the Architectural Association in London. He worked
in Finland, UK and USA before setting up his own
practice in Los Angeles in 1991. He was a founding
partner of the A + D Museum in Los Angeles, whose
mission is to advance knowledge and to enable people
to understand and appreciate architecture and design.
He moved back to his native country Ghana in 2004
where he is the CEO of Constructs R+D, an ‘innonative’ (TM) research and development company and
Chairman of ArchiAfrika Foundation an organization
which is broadening the discourse on Africa’s built
environment to encompass the role of socio-cultural
design inspired development.
African Village: A recent project nearing completion, using bamboo for structure
and Pozzolana for the beautiful, warm finishes
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