Nigerian Architecture and Design: Trocadero Call to Action
One day in January at Trocadero Square, Lekki, Lagos...
On our last day in Nigeria we planned to meet Nifemi Marcus Bello, a remarkable Nigerian product designer who has had his work shown to great acclaim at the Sharjah Triennale. Joining us was Associate Prof Seyi Akerele who had just completed a Virtual Fellowship at the University of Liverpool with Ola Uduku.
Seyi Akerele and Ade Shokunbi (photo O.Uduku)
It also seemed an ideal chance to meet up with some other creatives too, and we invited Adeyemo Shokunbi to join us. Shokunbi is a fascinatingly creative architect, whose Abijo Mosque received the Abdullatif Al Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture for the fourth cycle 2020 – 2023. Most recently Shokunbi has also made waves with his shipping container formed MAD (Make A Difference) Project at the University of Lagos and he will shortly be a taking up a Teaching Fellowship offered by the Obel Foundation in Denmark. James Inedu George also made time to join the party. George was one of Joe Owuso-Addo’s ‘New Blood’ from the 2021 Venice Biennale. A phone call from Shokunbi summoned Chuka Ihonor – writer art curator, impresario and activator extraordinaire.
Iain Jackson and Nifemi Marcus-Bello (photo O.Uduku)
The discussion which followed we felt lucky to have been allowed to listen in and occasionally contribute to. The key theme unsurprisingly was the dearth of the linking of academic teaching with the realities of practice. We heard tales of the assembled team, unsuccessful attempts at reaching out to the academy who either were disinterested or actively ignored these linkages. James Inedu-George was more direct in his criticism of relationships and links between practice and gown.
L – R Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Ola Uduku and Ade Shokunbi (photo I. Jackson)
The pre-eminence of the expatriate architect from South Africa, and in particular SAOTA was expressed. It was felt that Nigerian’s found it difficult to feel pride in local architecture and creative practice. Wealthy clients garnered a sense of prestige by hiring architects from overseas. It was a throwback to Demas Nwoko’s struggle for acceptance by the Nigerian architectural profession despite his clear brilliance as a creative designer whose roots were in his initial ABU architecture training. Collaborative practice and design also needed a wakeup call as the discussion critiqued the ‘lone architect-creator’ syndrome where collaboration was actively discouraged and firms struggled to scale their enterprise to deliver large projects.
Ade Shokunbi and James Inedu-George (photo O.Uduku)
With Chuka we’d like to ‘bring’ highlights of Sharjah Triennale to Nigeria. Nigerian creatives featured so strongly in this exhibition, and it seems appropriate to share this work with a Nigerian audience.
Back clockwise, Nifemi Marcus-George, Chuka Ihonor, Seyi Akerele and James Inedu-George (Photo O.Uduku)
Something special happened at this informal and chance encounter. From this gathering of creatives, educators, authors, makers, and architects a refreshing and encouraging discussion flowed. We shouldn’t stop here. We would be honoured to host the next platform for what might be termed an African Creative Awakening, and present below what we might call the Trocadero Call to Action (TCA) in deference to this auspicious meeting at the Trocadero Square in Lekki – the place to have been on Thursday 18th January in Lekki, Lagos.
The TCA Participants and Observers:
L – R. Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Chuka Ihonor, Ola Uduku, Iain Jackson, Ade Shokunbi, Seyi Akerele and James Inedu-George (Photo Nifemi Marcus Bello Studios)
- The future of Architectural Education in and around Western Africa
- Practice Building and the process of commissioning, designing, and making architecture.
- The purpose, shape, and expression of architecture within the Western African context, and how this is communicated and shared.
Transnational Architecture Group 