Bennett Oghifo
Anthony Aihie has referred to as for a brand new method to African design, urging architects and different inventive professionals to maneuver past particular person expression and embrace innovation, collaboration and commercialisation as important instruments for shaping the continent’s future.
Aihie made the decision in a presentation titled ‘From Material to Market: The Evolving Role of the Future Designer’, delivered below Design Union Ltd. The presentation examined how abnormal supplies, indigenous data, native craftsmanship and technological development may be reworked into modern purposes with sensible and business worth.
At the guts of his presentation was a easy however highly effective thought: the true worth of a fabric lies not solely in what it’s, however in what human ingenuity could make of it.
Using a grain of sand as an example this precept, Aihie traced the transformation of pure supplies into concrete, glass, photo voltaic expertise and microchips. The examples demonstrated how discovery, data and purposeful software can flip seemingly abnormal assets into merchandise and applied sciences that form trendy life.
For African designers, he argued, this precept presents a possibility to rethink how native supplies are sourced, developed and utilized to up to date challenges.
### Reimagining supplies for up to date structure
Aihie highlighted the potential for architects to grow to be materials innovators moderately than limiting their work to the choice and software of present merchandise.
The presentation featured modified concrete masonry blocks, polystyrene-concrete blocks, reusable beam and column formwork, and the inventive use of paving stones and strong blocks as display screen partitions.
Projects together with Canalily Place and Ilupeju Gardens in Lagos illustrated the applying of materials innovation throughout the constructed surroundings. The Oando Canopy additionally demonstrated the function architects can play in collaborating with native industries to develop and execute design options.
These examples underscored the significance of resourcefulness in architectural apply, exhibiting how acquainted supplies and development strategies may be tailored to carry out new capabilities.
“High design does not always require high-tech materials. It requires intelligent application,” the presentation said.
The message challenges the belief that high quality structure should rely upon costly imported merchandise or refined supplies. Instead, it encourages designers to research the potential of domestically accessible assets and develop purposes suited to their tasks and environments.
Adaptive reuse presents one other path to innovation
The presentation additionally explored how present buildings may be reworked to satisfy altering wants with out routinely resorting to demolition and new development.
Aihie cited the Innovation and Design Centre on the American International School of Lagos, the place an present residence constructing was tailored for a brand new goal. The undertaking concerned preserving and strengthening the prevailing construction whereas reconfiguring areas for laboratory services and outside terraces.
The instance demonstrated how architects can method present buildings as alternatives for reinvention, utilizing design pondering to increase their usefulness and create areas that serve up to date necessities.
This method reinforces the presentation’s wider argument that innovation doesn’t all the time require ranging from scratch. Sometimes, the simplest answer lies in recognising the untapped potential of what already exists.
### Elevating indigenous craftsmanship
A serious theme of Aihie’s presentation was the function of native artisans and craftspeople in creating distinctive architectural experiences.
Examples included the Aihie Villa in Lagos, George’s Court in Ikoyi, Edo Restaurant at DoMo, Ehima Cave Spa and Oditah House in Ibusa.
The tasks showcased the contribution of native experience via crafted doorways, hanging staircases, wooden ceilings, steel screens, wall murals, cloth ceilings, sculptures and different architectural particulars.
At the Aihie Villa, as an example, the presentation highlighted a entrance door by Adeyemo Shokunbi, a dangling staircase by the late Alhaji Bashir, and wooden ceilings produced by native Bini craftsmen.
George’s Court featured steel screens created by native artisans, whereas Edo Restaurant and Ehima Cave Spa integrated murals by native artists.
These examples illustrated how indigenous abilities can grow to be integral to up to date structure moderately than being handled as secondary ornamental additions.
By integrating craftsmanship into the design course of, architects can create areas with distinctive identities whereas recognising the experience and artistic contributions of native makers.
Culture and nature as parts of design
Aihie additional explored the significance of indigenous artwork, cultural expression and the pure surroundings in shaping architectural identification.
At Oditah House in Ibusa, native artworks and sculptures demonstrated how creative expression can grow to be an integral half of a constructing’s character. At Edo Restaurant and the Edo Garden at DoMo in Lagos, murals, native flora, timber, shrubs, stone, water and wildlife illustrated the potential of the pure surroundings to affect the expertise of an area.
“Local art gives contemporary architecture a distinctive cultural identity,” the presentation said.
It additionally emphasised that nature shouldn’t be handled merely as a backdrop to structure, however as an integral half of the design itself.
This perspective locations cultural data and environmental consciousness alongside materials choice and technical execution, encouraging designers to create buildings that reply meaningfully to their environment.
From particular person creativity to collective problem-solving
Looking in direction of the long run, Aihie recognized a number of limitations that African designers should confront, together with restricted storytelling, insufficient documentation, an import-oriented mindset and reluctance to embrace expertise.
The presentation referred to as for a broader understanding of the designer’s function, one which extends past creative expression to incorporate discovery, invention, collaboration and the flexibility to deliver concepts to market.
Aihie outlined seven priorities for the long run of African design: storytelling, collective pondering, discovery, invention, promoting, celebration and expertise.
The first is storytelling. Designers should talk the concepts, cultural contexts and processes behind their work, making certain that their improvements are understood and appreciated.
The second is collective pondering, with an emphasis on fixing frequent issues moderately than focusing completely on particular person expression.
The third is discovery: figuring out the worth embedded in African cultures, supplies and locations. This have to be adopted by invention, via which designers develop new methods of making use of these assets.
The fifth precedence is promoting. Aihie emphasised the significance of taking innovations to market, recognising that inventive concepts want business pathways if they’re to attain wider influence.
The sixth is celebration, which includes recognising achievements, selling inventive work and acknowledging the individuals contributing to the event of African design.
The seventh is expertise. The presentation urged designers to embrace expertise to strengthen knowledge possession, documentation, written data and the coaching of synthetic intelligence techniques.
Together, these priorities current the long run African designer as greater than a inventive practitioner. The designer should additionally grow to be a researcher, storyteller, collaborator, inventor and entrepreneur.
Turning African design into market worth
The central message of ‘From Material to Market’ is that Africa’s design potential have to be matched by the flexibility to develop, doc, talk and commercialise innovation.
Local supplies and indigenous craftsmanship provide alternatives for distinctive design options, however their broader influence will depend on how successfully professionals join creativity with manufacturing, collaboration and {the marketplace}.
For the structure and development industries, this implies inspecting acquainted supplies with recent eyes, working extra carefully with native artisans and fabricators, and adopting applied sciences that enhance the documentation and growth of concepts.
It additionally means recognising that African tradition, creative expression and native environmental data can contribute to up to date design with out shedding their identification.
Aihie’s presentation presents a framework for making that transition: uncover native assets, invent new purposes, collaborate to unravel issues, inform the story behind the work and create pathways for its business success.
Ultimately, the long run of African design will rely not solely on the supplies accessible to its practitioners, however on their potential to remodel these supplies and the data surrounding them into options which are related, distinctive and marketable.
The name is for a design tradition that strikes past remoted creativity in direction of purposeful innovation—one which connects supplies, individuals, expertise, tradition and commerce.
