Abstract:

Inadequate provision for required Traditional Knowledge (TK) is identified as a weakness in the educational curricula that seek to birth adequately-trained and well-motivated professionals with the capacity to pragmatically solve local problems with indigenous technology. The focus of this paper is to review the present curricula of Architecture and Civil Engineering courses, identify the gaps and recommend how they can be filled. The current pedagogical approaches and curriculum context-relevance employed at the Architecture and Civil Engineering Departments of Covenant University Ota, Nigeria were evaluated. Specific references were made to project-based courses that involve architecture and civil engineering. Lectures, site visits, participatory projects and workshops were identified as means of building the capacity of young professionals and students towards the acquisition of the required TK and other relevant skills. It is expected that a successfully-integrated indigenous design would connect all relevant sustainable indices of the design together at different levels. In this way, the sustainability indices of (energy-efficient) designs, construction and maintenance of infrastructure in the built-environment industry would not be compromised. The study recommends the incorporation of all critical elements of traditional based curricula development for best practices that will promote indigenous architecture and civil engineering education for future professionals.

Keywords:

Architecture, Civil Engineering, Curriculum Gap, Traditional Knowledge, Professionals, Sustainability.