NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART AND CULTURE NIGERIA: Focus On the Development of a Symbolic and Iconic Architecture for a Positive National Image

Nigeria is internationally recognised as a nation with a rich artistic and cultural legacy. The traditional art works of the ancient Nok & Ife civilizations are amongst the most celebrated art works from the continent Africa. Likewise the Igbo Ukwu Bronze works of the ancient Igbo settlers showed sophistication and great skill in the use of metal for art pieces. Yet, despite the nation’s vast wealth of artistic and cultural legacy, little has been done in the current built environment to represent and display this positive artistic and cultural heritage. It is against this backdrop, of a lacking representation of a positive legacy, as well as the present architectural gaps in the existing museum complexes in curetting Nigerian art pieces, that this research project was carried out. The research project aimed at developing an iconic national museum design for art and culture in Nigeria that would properly represent the rich artistic and cultural legacy of the nation in the built environment with the purpose of promoting a positive national image.Care was taken to properly define what the term iconic referred to as regards this project; lending the voices of some authorities in the field to precisely define the term as well as help limit the scope of the project. Using the resulting definition, studies were performed on the subject of iconic architecture. Amongst the things discovered from the study were some of the key features that usually make up any iconic architecture. Further examinations and analysis were also carried out on a number of existing iconic pieces in an attempt to discover and help verify the validity of the key features earlier identified. Case studies of some existing museums both within and outside Nigeria were also carried out along with extensive analysis of the building site for the proposed museum design were carried out. Finally, the knowledge acquired at each stage of the research project was combined and utilised in creating a design proposal for a national museum of art and Culture complex in Abuja for the nation Nigeria