Daphne Arko-Dadzie is a young lady from Ghana who recently graduated with a master’s degree in architecture from the esteemed Howard University in Washington DC.
She has a solid background in Sustainability and Urban Design, and she has extensive experience working in both the public and private sectors.
Daphne began her academics at Merton International School in Accra, Ghana, and then proceeded to the Columbia International College in Hamilton, Canada.
After obtaining outstanding grades, she enrolled in the prestigious Howard University’s accredited Architecture program, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture and Design Studies and her Master of Architecture within 5 years.
In an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian American Journal, Daphne reveals that the reason she chose to study architecture was because of a flooding incident she encountered in Ghana with her mother.
“I first decided that I wanted to be an architect when I was around 9 years old. It was mainly because of the flooding in Accra. I remember my mother was driving and the water was coming up to the window and I got scared. This is because of the way Accra is planned, the buildings, and the gutters. And I just knew that I wanted to be part of solving this problem. So that was the starting point for me, and I thought to help our environment, we need to start with our buildings” she said.
While in the program, she served on the Executive Board for Howard University’s chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students and the Howard University Climate Change Club.
In her third year, Daphne embarked on her professional journey as an Architecture intern at the Washington DC office of SmithGroup, a prominent American firm.
During her tenure, she actively worked on the renovation project of American National Theater in DC.
Daphne’s outstanding performance enabled her to move on to serve as a Fellow with Washington DC’s Department of Energy and Environment as part of their Urban Sustainability Administration. Here, she took on the role of a DC government Program Analyst and served on the three-people team in charge of the Sustainability City Plan for the American capital.
While completing her Master’s thesis in her final year, Daphne worked as a High-Performance Design Intern for the Washington, DC-based company Hickok Cole. There, she played a key role in establishing the company’s strategic shift to Sustainability and High-Performance Design and created a procedure for the company to track energy and embodied carbon-related Project data for past, present, and future projects.
Daphne completed her program with a thesis based on an urban design concept for new settlements in Ghana.
Afterward, she crafted a master plan for a re-design of the only public park in Accra to serve as a case study for the concept.
The young architect hopes to advance this idea and actively contribute to the planning of new cities, with an emphasis on African cities.
She aspires to mentor other young ladies like herself to achieve their potential as well as to reach greater heights in the global architectural industry.
