ADD Building debate in The Cutting Edge

While agreeing that the landscaping on the main campus of the University of Nairobi is excellent, Mathangani Muya wishes the same could be said of the Architecture and Design Building. “This is the home of the School of Built Environment and the Arts and Design. Though renovated recently, it looks too drab to even inspire a high school student. With its unkempt compound, it doesn’t reflect the creativity expected of architecture and design graduates.”

Sue Kamau, a graduate of the University of Nairobi, agrees with Mathangani Muya that the ADD Building on State House Road, where she herself studied for several years, is unappealing to the eye. Says she: “I’ve also often wondered aloud how it can produce top-notch architects and interior designers, and yet it’s so drab. The thought of going back for a Master’s degree is actually scary! Maybe we the alumni should come up with a project to spruce it up. Any takers?”

University of Nairobi graduate John Maina, who studied urban planning at the ADD Building on State House Road, agrees with Sue Kamau that it is a shame, considering that it has produced some of the best thinkers in built environments, such as planners, architects, land economists, interior designers, and quantity surveyors. All these people, he adds, have learnt how to create the best in that same drab building.

But Martin Tairo Maseghe, who just graduated recently, having studied in the same building for six years, says “the main problem lies in the fact that it has been under construction for almost a decade now, hence the ugly outlook”. He adds: “Once completed, it could become one of the most beautiful in the city. The university should, however, instal some lifts as the building goes against the universal access regulations which are, ironically, taught in there.’’