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This Accra based architectural firm is pushing the boundaries of work and motherhood

In an overwhelmingly male dominated field, a group of female architects in Accra stand out. Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu meets the women behind Arch-Xenus.

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In an overwhelmingly male dominated field, they stand out.

The architectural firm, Arch-Xenus has twice as many female architects as male, of the 12 architects and eight of them are women. The rest of the workforce is young; the average age is about 29.

“[Most clients; after seeing our work] or when they are meeting the architect for the first time expect an older man. Usually it is a surprise when they see us. They come and it’s all these young people,” - Nana Akua Birmeh; the principal architect told pulse.com.gh.

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The firm has previously worked on projects for Universal Merchant Bank, Premier Place and Imperial Lodge.

Motherhood

“When you are pregnant or have a baby, you can still work; you are still relevant. You still have something happening in your head,” – the mother of three boys said.

When Nana Akua started the firm five years ago, her first child lay in a cot right beside her. She had previously worked at a firm where she felt the work environment did not support motherhood. So at Arch-Xenus, she made sure it did.

The concept of motherhood and family life is very much encouraged alongside work. At the time of our interview earlier in July, the company had just welcomed a baby. Born on July 1 (to the company’s administrator), it was the third baby at the firm this year. More babies are expected according to the company’s project coordinator, Agnes Otto-Boateng.

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Breastfeeding mums signing cheques, while nannies and toddlers running around are commonplace at the firm and before we began our interview, Nana Akua’s own children galloped through the open spaces. There are plans to start a playground soon on the lawn of the company’s offices, as the children are growing up.

Although the business did not set out specifically looking to hire women, Nana Akua attributes the reason why it is predominantly female (also in other departments of the company) to these systems.

“I think women are comfortable here. We have never made it a conscious effort to go after women. It just happened. It is interesting [we have more women] but that is as far as it goes.”

Male dominance

“When I wanted to do architecture and I applied; a lecturer actually told me that it is not easy work. So as a woman, he will advise that I didn’t do it,” – recounts Otto-Boateng; who ventured into architecture because she wanted to change the skyline of her native Kumasi; Ghana’s second largest city.

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Classes at the department of architecture of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, (where the majority of Ghana’s architects studied) are overwhelmingly macho.

According to Nana Akua, the classes usually start out as 30 percent girls and after graduation very few continue in the practice, or they divert to what is considered more ‘womanly’ aspects, such as interior design.

“In fact, a lot of the girls that came in here, initially wanted to do interior design. There is a sense, when you are in school that you are a girl, you have to do interior design and decor. But then we put them on site; they build seven storeys; deal with structural engineers; deal with everybody else.”

Those who decide to stay in architecture face many hurdles.

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“When I started out, there were offices that I knew who wouldn’t employ females because they will go on maternity leave or have menstrual cramps and you can’t be on site when you have work. So they will rather not deal with all of that”; Boateng says.

We still wear our heels and still do the makeup’

The journey to addressing this imbalance in the field begins with sparking an interest in young girls in the first place. When that eventually develops into a passion; they will need to see people who look like them in the field. According to Nana Akua, female architects will play a very important part by acting as role models and mentors.

“For one thing, they [girls] need to see a lot more women at it and still being women. For some reason, maybe, because we work with masons, [there is an assumption] if you are a girl, there is a way you will end up becoming or looking.

“No; we still wear our heels and still do the makeup. Education wise, they should see more women in the field.”

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The Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid served as an inspiration for Nana Akua, her team and many other female architects around the world.

“She represented us [in the sense that] at least there was one female architect whose name can be mentioned because it is filled with men but she was right up there matching them boot for boot.

“She is definitely an inspiration for every single female architect in this world. It is not even about her style; but of course she is a superb architect; but just the fact that she has broken all the boundaries and she is right there with all of them.”

Hadid was the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize (informally referred to as the Nobel Prize for architecture) in 2004. Her numerous designs include the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the Guangzhou Opera House in China. She died in March 2016 in a hospital in Miami where she was being treated for bronchitis.

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As such Nana Akua has become involved in a lot of girls’ empowerment programmes in a bid to encourage more girls to take up pencils and notepads and start sketching. The firm is also very receptive towards interns who look up to the senior architects.

We have the power”

In a historically patriarchal society such as Ghana’s, the possibilities for young girls can be very microscopic and for Nana Akua, her mission is to work towards empowering more girls to believe that they can achieve anything they want.

“…I am sensing that for a lot of girls, the future looks very limited. There is always that sense that some man has to come and take over and do something for you. If you picture a certain kind of life, you may need a man of some level; [but] you can literally do whatever you want and get whatever you want without depending on anybody else or a man.

That is how I want to empower young girls; to just see themselves as on their own they can achieve something. It really [doesn’t have] to be what a man did for you. We have the power in our hands the same way men do. I believe you can be whatever you want to be.”

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Our names should be called’

The aspirations of the firm are certainly huge.

“When the names are called on the international stage, our names should be called. Of course, having that means that we work a certain way towards that kind of leverage. I foresee a much bigger practice beyond the shores of Ghana. So Arch-Xenus New York; London; Tokyo and so on”; Nana Akua said.

For Agnes, it is to fulfil the dreams of her younger self; to go back to Kumasi and influence its landscape.

So whenever you pass by any of Accra’s luxury apartments, take time to wonder if it was designed by Loredana Giaccaglia, Agnes Otto-Boateng, Sefemor Aku Akoena, Lydia Addotey, Opokua Prempeh, Joycelyn Adugu, Deborah Dennis or Nana Akua Birmeh.

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