Memories and the City – a virtual tour of a Lagos building

Memories and the City - a virtual tour of a Lagos building

Join us for a tour of a fascinating building in the city of Lagos, to explore the memories this building holds and continues to share

Taking a tour of a fascinating building in the city of Lagos, to explore the memories this building holds and continues to share. 

 

Host: Open House Architectural Foundation

Lagos, Nigeria

Olayinka Dosekun-Adjei

Olayinka is an architectural and urban designer with experience in residential and commercial sectors as well as cultural and public space. She holds a BA from the University of Oxford and a MArch from Harvard University and has worked as a financial analyst in London as well as a leading architectural practices around the world such as Barkow Leibinger – Berlin, Sheppard Robson – London, and MASS Design – Boston.

Papa Omotayo

Papa Omotayo is a RIBA qualified, graduate of the University of Cardiff (UK) Welsh School of Architecture. He is a founding member of AAND (African Alliance for New Design), and ‘bukka’, a non-profit organization investigating the developing urban city. He is the director of MOE+ art Architecture and is currently based in Lagos, Nigeria. Omotayo is on the Advisory Board at Oxbridge College, Lagos, a committee member of the Child Life Line Charity, and a trustee for the African Heritage group and for Open House Lagos. He has over 15 years of experience and was voted one of the 50 Nigerians as part of the Time Out independence Issue.

Seun Oduwole

Seun is the Principal Architect at SI.SA. A graduate of the University of Nottingham, he is the creative driving force of the company. Armed with an appetite for innovation and an idealistic approach to architecture, he is always looking to push the boundaries of architectural interaction and perception.

Session Summary

Papa Omotayo and Seun Oduwole hosted a webinar and took the participants on a trip down memory lane with Memories and the City. Papa opens the webinar with an introduction to what Open House Lagos is about. Open House Lagos takes citizens and tourists on tour around Lagos and shows them different buildings. Their theme this year is Memories and the City and asking about how the idea of cities, spaces, and architecture speaks to our idea of collective memory. “How is this being explored?” is a question that Papa asked the participants as he introduces that there will be a virtual tour of JK Randall Culture Institute – which is a great symbol of collective memory and how this building expands on collective memory.

Seun gave some background on the area and how they came about their first proposal to renovate this space. They looked at the loss of public/recreational spaces in Lagos and their idea was to put this space back in with upgraded facilities. While Seun explains the upgraded facility, the participants could see a video playing that gave a virtual tour of the building and site. Papa and Seun further discussed the new ways that they have worked with old materials, how they reworked them in a way that is appealing and non-technical. They modernized the materials and used them in creative and unique ways. We need to understand the city as different layers of systems. And to think about the drivers of the city before you get to the layer of spaces. How do we on the continent create public space outside of institutional spaces/developments?