HITECTURE IN THE DESIGN OF A HOTEL IN MINNA, NIGER STATE

Abstract

Culture is an expression of the way people live and interact and its manifestation is experienced through language art and architecture whereas hotels are hospitality buildings where tourist visitors and guest are offered shelter and comfort in exchange for payment. In today’s society, adopting culture in design of hospitality buildings will have a significant impact on how customers describe their service experience for cultural features translate different meaning in the experiences that people encounter. The impact of culture on architectural design influences, spatial planning, forms, appearance and the perception of what constitutes good service. The driving force for tourism development in various part of world is related to cultural and environmental features of an area of which, most hotels in Niger state failed to consider cultural values and features in the cause of design and implementation rather, the hotel designs are mostly contemporary base. Therefore, the influence of culture in hospitality building and is essential, as culture is the lens through which we view the world and humans tends to adapt easily to customs and tradition, likewise, are they more amazed when experiencing the culture of a different locality. The methodology adopted for this research is the exploratory-descriptive approach, through cultural inventory; intensive literature review of journals, books, periodical; interview with locals and observation of existing hotels in Niger state. Findings from field indicate that 31 hotels in Niger state have little or no cultural related settings. This research aims to illustrate the cultural findings and expressions in architecture by analysing the architectural elements and details at all levels, from settlement to individual built form and till the implementation level. This research recommends that implementation of cultural values in contemporary design should be encouraged for maintenance of the architectural identity of a culture.