Through the analysis of Nigeria's architecture as a landscape of repressed memories, this thesis advocates the reconstruction of Nigeria's conservation system by decolonising legislation and establishing a model grounded in local values, with an agenda to conserve cultural identity in architecture.
The basis of discussion arose in conversation around a symposium in Lagos on 22nd December 2019, entitled Forgotten Histories: Architecture and Memory in Postcolonial Nigeria, where conversations were initiated to acknowledge the condition of Nigeria's built environment and explore critical ways to respond. By analysing the history and colonial roots of architectural conservation in Nigeria and psychoanalysing the function of colonial buildings, the concept of traumatic memories in architecture is established and forms a premise to advocate national recovery through conservation.
The thesis seeks to expand the analysis of architectural conservation beyond the physical edifice, towards the acknowledgement of, and response to, traumatic memories embedded in architecture - namely those associated with the colonial era. The proposed model also promotes the importance of civilians as collaborators in conservation practices. By employing primary research methods, the thesis learns from, and builds on, the observations of people who have lived, worked, studied and experienced Nigeria's built environment first-hand. The thesis concludes by speculating ways that conservation can subvert colonial values and promote a process of catharsis by confronting past traumas narrated through the architectural landscape.
