Officials from Adjaye Associates have visited the College of Art and Built Environment (CABE) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) ahead of a public lecture to be delivered by internationally acclaimed architect Sir David Adjaye.
The visit formed part of efforts to strengthen collaboration between the college and the architecture firm as both institutions seek to bridge the gap between academia and industry practice.
Speaking during the visit, Chief Executive Officer of Adjaye Associates Accra Studio, Mr. Kofi Bio, said discussions between the firm and the college had been ongoing for some time.
“For the past year or two, we have been engaging in conversations about how we can collaborate,” he said.
Mr. Bio noted that the visit marked an important step towards formalizing the relationship between the two institutions.
“I think we’re just excited and elated when we finally said we need to cement this relationship so we are here today very simply to say thank you for the invitation and we are here to honor the invitation,” he added.
College Registrar, Mr. Anthony Adjapong, said the institution remained committed to creating platforms that promote academic and professional engagement.
“As an institution, we want to advance academic work, and part of that is creating platforms like public lectures to share what people can benefit from us and what we can also learn from them. Through such partnerships, we can contribute to shaping responsible citizens and future leaders for our country,” he stated.
Mr. Adjapong explained that the collaboration would create opportunities for mutual growth and contribute to national development.
“We invited you to come over and engage in dialogue with us, and to let the public know what we are doing here and how we can partner with one another for the progress of both you and the university,” he said.
The Provost, Professor Christian Koranteng, emphasized the importance of industry partnerships in training well-rounded students.
“Part of our mandate as a college is to ensure that we work closely with industry players. We cannot remain within academia, train students in isolation and expect them to come out well-rounded,” he said.
He further stated that the college was actively inviting practitioners and professionals to partner with the institution in strengthening built environment education.
“As a result, we have opened our doors and extended invitations to practitioners and professionals who want to collaborate with us, and we are ready to work with them,” he added.
According to him, bridging the gap between theory and practice remains critical in preparing students for the demands of industry.
“Theory alone is not enough and practice alone is not enough. The key is finding ways to bridge both effectively through curriculum development, professional engagement and strategic positioning,” he said.
He explained that the engagement marked the start of what the college hopes will become a long-term collaboration.
“We see this as only the beginning. This is the warm-up phase and we look forward to deeper engagements, seminars and interactions with departments and staff to identify the best ways we can work together,” he said.
