design technology 11
London, england vs. The gambia
During the course of 16 days I traveled with a group of 12 people to The Gambia in Africa which is one of the top 10 poorest countries in the world. On the journey there we stopped in London, England for 2 and a half days. Seeing the Contrast in architecture and built environment between these two extremely different places was mind blowing and unforettable.
Innovative design for the Channel 4 headquarters in London
general buildings :
Houses, flats, business buildings and other buildings aren't extremly different in London than they are at home in Canada but they can be a lot more elaborate with detailed architecture and innovative design. In London, considering people have quite a lot of money they want their built environment to be visually pleasing, inovative and funcional, even if the design takes years to finish.
Whereas in the gambia there is much poverty,and no elaborate cities. The people there are looking for designs that are functional, inexpensive, fast and easy, using materials that are plentyful and cheap.
Parliment building & tallest building in London
city of Banjul & some houses and small shops along a street in Banjul.
Homes :
Many homes in London, especially older homes have lovely architecture in a victorian and elegant style. once again, visual appeal is a large factor in the built environment of London. Many look for high ceilings and beautifully carved window sills. There are also many homes similar to the ones in Nova Scotia, which are plain and simple but quite expensive and well thought out. Another huge portion of the homes in London are flats which are 1 or multiple room living spaces that are easy to take care of but can be anywhere from really cheap to extremely expensive.
In the gambia many people live in homes called compounds which generally consist of a wall or fence enclosing several buildings that face an outdoor communal area used for sitting, eating, doing laundry, saying prayers, and every other activity. they are normally occupied by members of the same family. In the cities these compounds are usually made of concrete or mud bricks with aluminum roofing, but up country it is more common for these homes to be more like a mud hut with straw roofing.
homes along the strets of London
A compound in the city of Banjul & traditional housing in Janjanbureh
schools :
Schools in London are much like the schools throoughout Canada and America. Though private schools are much more popular oppossed to free, public school. These are all very sturdy and high maitenence buildings. Many also incorperate inovative and high-tech design aspects and a lot of money and time are put into these buildings.
Schools in the gambia are much different than the ones we are used to back home, they are built in a way that is cheap and easy resulting in more of a concrete box sort of look, some are painted but many are not. These schools are built to last but in the most inexpensive ways possible, they dont look for innovative ways to fill water bottles or fancy bathrooms with automatic soap dispensers. The schools have a well, if they're lucky and most times just holes in the ground in stalls for toilets.
two highschools in London ,England
St Josephs, girls secondary school in Banjul.
Kids playing simon say in classroom at Kunting school upcountry.
hotels:
Hotels in London can be some of the nicest in the UK. Since London is such a big tourist desination and advanced city, hotels usually go all out to try to attract visitors. Some aspects I noticed were flashy lights, modern / strange looking decorations and then theres also the historic and victorian looking bed and breakfast or hotels with amazing architecture.
In the Gambia there arent very many big hotels. There are a few resorts along the coastline, one of which I stayed at which are decently nice but nothing compared to the resorts we're used to from family vacations. These resorts have just the basic accomedations and usually arent very expensive to stay at. Once you start going upcountry to places like Janjanbureh, it becomes very difficult, if not impossible to find anything that resembles a hotel or resort like in the city, because very few tourists travel there. The place we stayed at was Boabalong "camp". These types of places are all along the Gabian river for the people who do bird watching tours and are usually concrete buildings with thick straw roofing that have a very dark interior with few windows to keep the room cool.
Double Tree by Hilton, (our hotel in London)
Sunset Beach Hotel (resort in Banjul)
Boabolong Camp (Janjanbureh)... Sunset beach felt like the Hilton after stayng here!
Shopping areas :
Since London is such a popoular shopping desination there are huge malls and shopping strips all across the city. Such as one of the biggest malls, the Westfield London. These shopping malls are filled with some of the highest and most expensive brands in the industry. they are huge shiny buildings with lots of windows to attract people in with only set prices on the items.
Shopping in The Gambia was unlike anything I've experienced before. There are no malls or "big brand" stores, It's mostly huge markets full of independant sellers with their own stations set up selling everything from oranges to underwear. There are a few specific markets for wood carvings or traditional gambian clothing or food products but it is mostly just sparatically laid out stations and small shops.
Harrods Department store on Brompton rd & Westfeild London shopping centre
Part of the Senna Gambia market & a large fish market by the ocean