ADINKRA SYMBOLS AND UPCYCLING TO DESIGN BEAUTIFUL, ACCESSIBLE SPACES FOR YOUNG AND OLD ADULT RESTAURANT FREQUENTERS: CASE STUDY OF FREETOWN RECREATION CENTER, RUAI.

Designing is about satisfying a need. While it is important for a designer to address the worldly and widely provided ergonomic instructions and guidelines of design, it is also important to acknowledge that disability is more pervasive than people acknowledge and any individual is perceptible to disability, whether temporary or permanent. Data shows that “10% of the total world’s population, 650 million people, live with a disability” (Munene, 2017). To add to this, 62% of people that dine out encounter physical obstacles (Rossetti, 2009). This goes to suggest that the world has been built for the more abled group of people. Population is growing and designers ought to view every space as usable and accessible.
Products and designs ought to be durable, with minimal and efficient use of energy, with monitored waste management processes. This is an approach the researcher has discussed to render designs more aesthetic as much as they are usable using upcycling methods. With this, the researcher looks to promote creative thinking processes and problem solving opportunities that achieve long term durability and usability.
While Universal Design is a major focus for this study, the researcher incorporates the aesthetic-usability phenomenon. It describes the way in which people perceive more appealing designs as easier to use than less appealing ones, whether they are or not (W Lidwell). The researcher, discovered that there has been no particular effort made to preserve most of African art as none of the indigenous communities that created them coveted the objects as aesthetic accomplishments (Evans, n.d.). However, unveiled African art forms have indicated a significant legacy left behind, the concept of beauty according to the African Culture that had probably not been discovered or realized by the indigenous communities for accomplishment. This concept of beauty in African Philosophy is relational and functional (Ibanga, 2017). This implies that there is simply no beauty for beauty’s sake as per the African culture, in that beauty is considered in terms of good conduct and physical attractiveness. This ideology motivated the researcher into using African symbols (Adinkra symbols of Ghana) in the context of producing aesthetic and usable designs.
The study uses a descriptive research design to show how Freetown Recreation Center seems to have an unmet potential towards Beautiful Universal Design. Qualitative methods have been used to collect primary data from respondents during interviews conducted, participatory observation and documented sources. Quantitative methods have been used in data presentation to showcase findings, arranging them in the form of tables, bar charts and pictograms. Key informants were obtained using a purposive sampling technique because they had specific information required regarding Freetown’s attendance and history. The rest were obtained through a convenience sampling technique, those of who were accessible, present by chance and convenience.
This study has shown that sustainable design provides necessary constraints that render design more engaging and vital for the healthy existence of every living thing. In reference to this information, the study also established that beautiful universal design can be bestowed on an appreciation of African art and design, especially during this era of African Renaissance, with little to no waste and sincere empathy towards the diversity of human beings. In order to improve the state of design at Freetown Recreation Center, the researcher has made recommendations on the four thematic areas of study, furniture design, landscape architecture, interior architecture and exhibition and display, as per the main topic discussed by the researcher, Beautiful Universal Design, using Adinkra Symbols of Ghana and upcycled texture.