Olajumoke Adenowo: “African architects must regain confidence in the wisdom of the past”

Olajumoke Adenowo (Ibadan, 1968) takes the stage, takes the floor and concentrates the silent attention of the audience, made up of architects from all over the world. Skeptical, critical or admiring, no one remains unmoved by the words of this overwhelming and self-confident Nigerian, who boasts of her success, but she claims to have been rowing for a long time with the wind against her.

Adenowo, trained in African and foreign campuses and owner of your own studio of architecture, praises the heritage and possibilities of Africa, criticizes those who want to solve the continent's urban problems from afar, “without dirtying their hands or putting on their boots,” regrets that exile seems to be an indispensable condition for the success of their compatriots and repudiates the corruption and machismo that make their daily work difficult.

“Africa must develop its own solutions,” he insists to this newspaper after his speech at the international architecture congress Urban controversiesheld in Pamplona last November.

In 2020, Adenowo received the Forbes African Woman Entrepreneur Award. Colleagues and specialized publications define her as a “star architect” and consider her the most influential in Africa. She has carried out more than a hundred projects, from ministry headquarters in Nigeria to mansions and private studios. His monograph Neo Heritage: Defining Contemporary African Architecture (2023) is the first volume by a black and African architect published by the prestigious Rizzoli publishing house.

Ask. You have just told several dozen colleagues that when architecture is studied and taught, the African piece is always missing.

Answer. That's right and it's an important piece. Our continent does not have a written history, but rather an oral and visual one, and in many cases we have been deprived of it. Where is a beautiful Yoruba panel from a door of the royal palace of Nigeria, with some engravings that talk about our history? In the British Museum in London. The new African generation must know all this. The legacy of our ancestors can provide an answer to current challenges. For example, as early as 1691, the Portuguese ship captain Lourenço Pinto wrote: “Great Benin, where the king lives, is larger than Lisbon: all the streets are straight and end where the eye can't see. The houses are big, the city is rich and industrial.” Living African architects must regain confidence in the wisdom of the past and transform it into a bridge to the solutions we need today. But trying to put Africa on the table is like boxing with one hand tied behind your back.

Q. It's his idea of new heritage.

R. Yes. To solve the challenges of the present we have to look at the past. It consists of looking at the success that previous generations had in solving their own problems, for example in urban planning. When the current generation of Africans realizes that previous generations have already faced these types of problems, they will have more confidence in themselves. They will understand that they do not have to leave Africa, that Africa can work. With all this I especially mean my country, Nigeria, the largest black nation in the world.

Q. Nigeria is a good starting point.

R. My country It will be one of the most populated states in the world in a few years. I believe that what hits Nigeria will hit the whole world. What is happening in Nigeria is not just Nigeria's problem: it is our problem and also yours. My country has more than 500 ethnic groups, there is no other country in Africa with this diversity. That means more ideas, more strategies to put on the table, more examples to inspire us to solve, for example, architectural design problems. The architecture responds to the cultural and ethnic context and the physical circumstances of each place. Therefore, the case of Nigeria can be useful for all of Africa.

The discourse is that Africa doesn't work, that you have to live somewhere else to be successful. That is why people will continue to cross the deserts and end up in boats, because they have lost hope in their places of origin.

Q. You criticize the attempt to respond to Africa's challenges and not just urban challenges, without Africa.

R. Trying to solve the problems of Africans without Africans may not be the most effective. Africa must develop its own solutions. The challenge is to reach the authentic voices, those who understand the essence of our continent. To understand Africa well you have to get your hands dirty and put on your boots. I have decided to do it.

Q. But a significant part of young Africans dream of leaving.

R. The discourse is that Africa doesn't work, that you have to live somewhere else to be successful. That is why people will continue to cross the deserts and end up in boats, because they have lost hope in their places of origin. We have to start solving the problems so that people can stay in their own countries and be successful. And the key there is the fight against inequality. If young people, who are the majority of the African population, feel that they can access resources, that there are opportunities for everyone, they will consider staying. It is also important that local authorities make decisions with the inhabitants in mind, with what is important to them, so that citizens are committed to their own future. Should we build this road or is it more urgent to have a stadium? Those who make the decisions do not know.

Q. At a time when large African cities are overcrowded, some places are opting to build new cities. Do you think it is the solution?

R. In my country, for example, no. In Nigeria there is already a relatively new city, Abuja, and work is still being done to make it really work, decades later. So why not rather strengthen what we already have? When people migrate, they leave the physical place where they belong, but also their relationships and a certain way of being in this world. If we build based on something that already exists, human relationships and social cohesion are not lost, which are a good antidote to insecurity in large cities, for example.

Trying to put Africa on the table is like boxing with one hand tied behind your back.

Q. You are African, a woman and you started in architecture very young. She is an expert at jumping over obstacles.

R. I'm going to be very frank: in much of Africa, those who run the countries are men, and older men. The gerontocracy. I started practicing when I was 25 and those men considered me too young. Furthermore, I am a woman and those who make the decisions see us as a kind of appendage o
f a man and that is why they do not choose us. Many women support their families today, I see it with my students, but the African ego means that all of this is not valued and they are always prioritized.

Q. Are you still experiencing these types of situations today, 30 years later?

R. Corruption is everywhere. Decisions are made the night before and you arrive the next day in a meeting room, you make a presentation, but they have already decided how it is going to be because they want to divide the money. It's not about the project at all. It's not about who is the best. Also, in Africa, many people don't even really understand what architecture is and you can't sell something for which there is no demand. Architecture is the art and science of building, it is identity and legacy, but people still want functional buildings that just work. So why not give it to your friend who is a man?

Q. Still, you work most of your time in Africa.

R. Of course, I try to advocate and make people understand the difference between architecture and construction engineering. I work with a few demanding clients who do make that distinction and know that my studio will give them the best answer for very specific projects and they choose me.

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