ANANSESEM THE FINALE

UNIT 20 is a group of architectural storytellers driven by Anansesem, a storytelling tradition of the Akan-speaking people of Ghana. When translated into English, the word Anansesem means “Ananse stories” or “spider tales.” Anansesem entails the performative art of storytelling associated with Ananse, “the spider,” in the Twi dialect of Akan. We are interested in employing film, animation, drawing, VR/AR, and physical modelling to explore architecture’s relationship with time and dualities. 

This publication is titled Anansesem, a compilation of the body of work (tales) by the students of unit 20, the teaching philosophy of the teaching team, and students’ reflections of the unit’s theme and the studio. This edition of Anansesem is dedicated to the students, the unit, and to boldly claim tales as an addition to the discourse of the architectural discipline.