Kwatei Collection - Part 1  

This is the first part of the Kwatei Collection. This collection is one very close to my heart and its named after my late grandfather. He was born and raised in Ghana and although many of the Ghanaian traditions didn't filter through the generations, one has lasted hundreds of years and that it the tradition that everybody has an African middle name. This is usually given in a naming ceremony held 7 days after birth and there are specific names for each generation to pick from depending if they are first born boy or girl. This list of names is specific to my family tree and each family will have their own list of names to select from. My Grandad's middle name was Kwatei, which funnily enough was spelt incorrectly on his birth certificate. Its should really be spelt Kwaatei and this miss spelling places him as a member of the first generation, when he is really second generation. My grandad was a little bit of a maverick and when we were all young my parents didn't know much about the naming process, so left it all up to him...20 years later we learnt that he decided to throw out the rule book with my middle name and named me after his mother, but if he had followed the rules my middle name would have been Kwatede.

Although this set is named after my Ghanaian heritage, it very much takes influence from all over the continent of Africa. I have been trying to compile items to included for a few years and it wasn't until I stumbled upon a website khayni.com that everything finally clicked into place. This first part doesn't fully encapsulate my vision, but stick in there with me until the third part which will include living items to wrap everything up in a nice cohesive bow.

I have never done more research before, then I have for this set. Along the way I discovered many of the building blocks of modern day African builds can be spotted in cultures all over the world. For example the breeze blocks in the set could quite easily be found in Mexico, China or Japan. Therefore all the elements of this set could be used in many different contexts for builds all around the world.

This 40 piece set includes:

• Set of Closed Shutters (2 heights)
• Set of Open Shutters (2 heights)
• 2 Tile Full Height Window w/external shutter slots (2 heights)
• Kitchen Windows (2 & 3 tiles)
• Slim Wooden Window (3 heights)
• Open Shutter Windows (2 heights)
• Closed Shutter Windows (2 heights)
• 2 Tile Open Full Height Slat Glassless Windows (2 heights)
• 2 Tile Closed Full Height Slat Glassless Windows (2 heights)
• 1 Tile Square Breeze Block Window
• Solid Wood Front Door (2 heights)
• Glass Front Door w/ shutter slots (2 heights)
• Wooden Arch w/ shutter slots (2 heights)
• 3 Tile Interior Bi-fold Doors (2 heights)
• 4 Tile Interior Bi-fold Doors (2 heights)
• Interior Single Door (2 heights)