East Legon Past Forward

A collaborative research and community exhibition project exploring the spatial, social, and migratory dynamics of Abotsiman, one of the last organically grown neighborhoods within Accra’s increasingly exclusive East Legon district.

Once embedded in farmland, Abotsiman now finds itself surrounded by gated compounds and speculative real estate developments. This transformation has put pressure on shared spaces, land ownership, and the community’s ability to shape its future. The project documents these tensions through mappings, interviews, and site-specific installations, offering a grounded lens into the politics of urban change.

At the heart of the project was an on-site exhibition, developed and hosted in Abotsiman. Using local materials and installed in public and semi-public spaces across the community, the exhibition created moments of encounter—bringing maps, drawings, and narratives back into the very spaces they describe. Residents engaged directly with the work, prompting reflection, critique, and conversation across generations. The images presented here are taken from this community exhibition, which stood as both research output and spatial intervention.

By foregrounding everyday urbanism and informal spatial practices, East Legon Past Forward frames Abotsiman not as an anomaly but as a microcosm—revealing how small, rooted communities across Accra and beyond contend with the pressures of speculative urban growth.

Research Lab East Legon Past Forward by [Applied] Foreign Affairs

Teaching & Curation: Baerbel Mueller (head), Juergen Strohmayer / Year: 2018 - 2020 / Affiliation: [Applied] Foreign Affairs, Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna