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The Natural Path
A route to compromise & peace in relationships
The Adekunle Fajuyi Male hostel of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife is one of the urban design masterpieces of post-colonial modernist Israeli architect Arieh Sharon.
The landscape design features covered walkways that connect the residential blocks, and form the outer boundary of well manicured lawns. At least, that was the intention, until foot traffic cut furrows and paths across the green — paths that later gained more legitimacy as the preferred route of choice for most students.
This disconnect between the architect’s intention and the user’s preference was the basis for my final year project as an undergraduate student of architecture.
“Should design influence user behaviour or should it be the other way around? And as architects, which consideration should we put first — natural human behaviour or the architect’s intention?”
One of my observations was how the footpaths represented the shortest possible connections between the user’s location, and their intended destination. Each path provided a shorter route from one activity cluster to another in poetic defiance to the more permanent concrete…
