In our final event for the year 2023, G.A.S. Lagos was pleased to host 7 Speakers 7 Minutes, a dynamic lecture series exploring new directions in Nigerian design. Initiated by Chuka Ihonor of 9h Design Talk, in partnership with Open House Lagos, seven acclaimed figures from architecture, product design, art, and art history each took the stage for a lightning-fast, seven-minute talk.
The evening opened up with Lani Adeoye of Studio Lani, who shared highlights from her design portfolio, spotlighting how indigenous inspirations have informed her designs, followed up by Stefanie Adisa who shared visionary urban landscapes, and innovative ways of thinking of the environment in design. Charlotte Langhorst's lecture came from the intimate perspective of the end-user of a dynamic piece of architecture, while Patrick Akpojotor shed light on his architecture-inspired art practice, consisting of paintings and sculptures. Akintunde Disu's talk drew connections to his art practice, which is based on an abstracted history of Nigeria. Chuka Ihonor of ARG Studio, highlighted recent modernist product designs for living spaces, and Ade Shokunbi of PWDC spoke on materiality, silhouette, and environment.
The event was well attended by architects, designers, students, enthusiasts, and international guests. Each speaker, in their own distinct voice, showcased a facet of the city's vibrant design DNA: a fusion of tradition and innovation, a deep connection to community, and a bold spirit pushing boundaries.
ABOUT OPEN HOUSE LAGOS
Open House Lagos is an architecture and environmental advocacy organization that champions a well-designed Lagos through engaging public programs. Their annual festival shines a spotlight on the city's architectural tapestry, from historic landmarks to contemporary landmarks, fostering appreciation and understanding of the built environment. Open House Lagos's mission also includes educational initiatives that raise awareness about the value of design and its impact on our daily lives.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Stefanie Adisa Theuretzbacher
STEFANIE ADISA THEURETZBACHER (Mag.Arch ZT RIBA) provides innovative, sustainable and design driven building designs and planning expertise for outstanding projects while having a positive impact on the built environment. Stefanie studied Architecture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and also engages in artistic and academic projects.
Since 2015 she has been Director/Lead architect at Studio Elementals in Lagos, Nigeria, working internationally with projects in Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Liberia, Iraq, and Austria. Furthermore, she is an EDGE expert and currently involved in issues of green building practices in the Tropics. Stefanie is on the Advisory Board of Open House Lagos.
Stefanie speaks at conferences, and her work with Studio Elementals as well as interviews about architecture have been widely published.
Adeyemo Shokunbi
ADEYEMO SHOKUNBI has a diverse range of experiences and accomplishments in the field of architecture. He has a BA from South Bank Polytechnic and a DiplArch from South Bank University in London. After completing his education, he co-founded an architecture and interior design firm in London working on high-end projects. He currently leads Patrickwaheed Design Consultancy PWDC in Lagos Nigeria. One notable aspect of his work is his focus on Ethno-Tropical Contemporary (ETC) architecture, which combines contemporary design, considerations for the tropical climate and ethnicised styling and decoration.
His design philosophy revolves around the concept of the New Alternative Nigerian Aesthetic (NANA), which emphasises the maximum utilisation of materiality and craftsmanship to redefine the architectural narrative of the built environment in Nigeria. He received the Innovative Design Excellence Award (IDEA) for Best Architect from the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers in 2021, and the Obel Foundation Teaching Fellowship Award, through which he will be teaching a New Alternative Nigerian Aesthetic (NANA) at Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH).
He has been a guest critic at various schools of architecture, including London Southbank University, Kingston School of Art, and Obafemi Awolowo University.
Lani Adeoye
LANI ADEOYE is an award-winning designer, with a practice centered on blending contemporary design with traditional Nigerian craftsmanship to create objects with a universal appeal and a deep sense of place, history, and identity. As the founder of Studio Lani, a design brand bridging furniture, lighting, wearables, and assistance devices, her practice is wide-ranging but united by a commitment to creating objects that are responsive, considered, and communicating a sense of empathy and connection to those who interact with them.
Her works have been acquired for the permanent collections of institutions including Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Die Neue Sammlung in Germany. Numerous international recognitions include first prize in Milan’s 2022 ‘SaloneSatellite: Designing for our future selves’ award for RemX, an asymmetric walker which, as the jury stated, merges ‘Elegance and Dignity in a useful object for all’. Her Bata Stool was recently published in the ‘1000 Design Classics’ book published by Phaidon. In 2020, she was selected by Elle Décor as part of its ‘Women of the World: 75 Global Female Designers Worth Celebrating’ issue, and was also featured in ‘Woman Made’, a celebration of the world’s greatest female designers, published by Phaidon. In 2017, her Talking Tables Collection won the ‘WantedDesign Launch Pad Furniture’ award for its innovative reinterpretation of traditional crafts. She is currently teaching a Hybrid design course at the prestigious Parsons The New School for Design in New York.
Lani, who has sketched from a young age, graduated with BComm from McGill University, followed by a stint in the Corporate/Finance/Consulting space before going to Parsons to study for an AAS in Interior Design.
Patrick Akpojotor
PATRICK AKPOJOTOR is a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, drawing, printmaking, installation art and sculpture. He studied fine art at the School of Art, Federal Polytechnic, Auchi and Lagos State Polytechnic School of Industrial Art , Ikorodu, Lagos.
Patrick creates anthropomorphic forms by deconstructing architectural elements and geometry in a surreal composition into personifying complex characters, combined with inspiration from African masks. He is interested in the differences in human attitudes with regard to the culture of the built environment that we inhabit, highlighting the influence of these built spaces in shaping our memories, experiences and identities in the world.
Akpojotor has had numerous group exhibitions, one of which is ‘POW! WOW! The First Decade: From Hawaii To The World’ at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii by Thinkspace Project. Solo exhibitions include; ‘If Walls Could Speak’ by SMO Contemporary, Lagos, 2019 and ‘To See the World’ at Allouche Gallery in New York, 2023. He has won several prizes including the ArtX Lagos prize for emerging artists, 2016.
Patrick lives and works in Lagos.
Akintunde Disu
AKINTUNDE DISU is a mixed-media artist and printmaker. He was first noticed as a runner up for the BP National Portrait competition exhibition at the Tate Britain in 1986. His current body of work delves into his personal history and by extension the history of the people from the area called Nigeria. He cites many influences; Surrealism, the Pop-art movement and the Nigerian print master, Bruce Onobrakpeya.
His exhibitions include: Society of Nigerian Artists. (S.N.A) group exhibition. The National. Museum, Lagos, 2008. National Gallery of Art, International Art Expo 2011, National Museum Onikan. L4yerCake, solo exhibition, Nov 2014 Didi Museum, Lagos, Group show 2015. Pecha Kucha, Goethe Institute, Lagos. What is the point? September 2015. 2015 Federation of British Artists, Threadneedle Space, Mall Gallery, Pall mall, United Kingdom. Solo exhibition Yenwa gallery, Lagos 2023
Charlotte Langhorst
CHARLOTTE LANGHORST studied Art History, European Ethnology, and History in Berlin, Paris, and Kiel, and holds a PhD in Art HIstory. In the more than 10 years she has spent in Africa, she has worked as a lecturer at the University of Ghana and at the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development in Cairo Egypt.
In Nigeria, she has worked at the African Artists' Foundation in Lagos, for the Lagos Photo Festival, and as a freelancer for various institutions in Lagos. She is currently the Gallery Manager at Tiwani Contemporary, an art gallery based in London and Lagos, representing visual arts practice from contemporary Africa and its diaspora.
Charlotte is passionate about Tropical Modernist architecture and has published several texts on architectural heritage in Ghana and Nigeria in the architectural guide 'Sub-Saharan Africa: The Architect's Set.'
Chuka Ihonor
CHUKA IHONOR studied Architecture at University College London and consequently worked at Godwin & Hopwood in Lagos before setting up and leading ARG Studio (1994). He is also the Principal of Ci Studio, furniture and product designers. As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Open House Lagos, he joins others to stage a yearly festival in addition to social media presence, events and activities all year. He started 9H DesignTalk, a monthly design lecture series (in abeyance following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic) now resurrected.
He writes extensively about Art, Design and Architecture and is currently working on 3 books on Nigerian architects: the late JSK MacGregor, Ade Shokunbi and himself. In his design career, the focus has been on the contextualisation of revisited Modernist thinking within Nigerian architecture space. The work of ARG Studio reinterprets spatial notions of past architecture of Nigeria, especially Igbo compound development. The courtyard is a very important component of his work, culminating in the lecture ‘Courtyards, Streets and Villages’ delivered at Covenant University in Nigeria.
He has helped facilitate remote project work for Kingston School of Art for which one of the students won a RIBA Students’ Prize, and he has spoken at 9H DesignTalk, at the University of Lagos, at Lagos Business School and the Yaba College of Technology. He has exhibited at African Artists Foundation Lagos, and was on the Board of Nominators for the 2022 Trienale de Lisboa.
Mr Ihonor is passionate about the turnaround of political, economic and moral decay in Nigeria and was a member of the original team for the weekly series ‘The Advocate’ on Nigerian television.