A blend of traditional visual symbols in BIPV application: any prospects?

Awuku, Samuel Amo; Bennadji, Amar; Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus; Sellami, Nazmi

Abstract

Traditional visual symbols are of great relevance, especially within the architectural space. Buildings may adopt symbols to depict culture, iconicity or identity. The quest to meet sustainable building targets and avert the looming effects of climate change has brought about renewable options such as Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), which is the use of solar PVs to replace conventional building materials such that they form part of the building envelope. This paper discusses the nexus between traditional visual symbols and BIPV application. A hypothetical question is posed; will incorporating visual symbols in BIPV design influence its adoption? Although a detailed evidence-based result is not produced in this paper, architectural visualisation is used to depict the outlook of traditional Ghanaian symbols in BIPV application, while further studies is being conducted into the prospects of these symbols in BIPVs design using Traditional Ghanaian 'Adinkra' symbols as case study.

Citation

AWUKU, S.A., BENNADJI, A., MUHAMMAD-SUKKI, F. and SELLAMI, N. 2021. A blend of traditional visual symbols in BIPV application: any prospects? Academia letters [online], article 4029. Available from: https://doi.org/10.20935/AL4029

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 16, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Nov 16, 2021
• Publication Date: Nov 30, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 8, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 8, 2022
• Journal: Academia Letters
• Electronic ISSN: 2771-9359
• Publisher: Academia.edu
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Article Number: 4029
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.20935/al4029
• Keywords: Symbols; Culture; Iconicity; Identity; Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV); Visual symbols; Ghana
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1591796