A-ARTs: From dynamics of Lagos, Oshinowo gets global honours

Tosin Oshinowo delivering her award acceptance speech in Venice, Italy. PIC: TARAN WILKHU.

By Tajudeen Sowole

WHEN Tosin Oshinowo hosted a Lagos gathering to promote architecture event of global status two years ago, the architect's passion for her city of base was exposed. Escalating that passion, Oshinowo's work on Lagos is being celebrated at the on going Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, in Italy.

Oshinowo's installation titled Alternative Urbanism: The Self-Organized Markets of Lagos, won award as one of two Special Mentions, alongside Elephant Chapel by Boonserm Premthada. The installation is showing till November 23, 2025, inside Corderie, Arsenale of the Venice Architecture Biennale.

In 2023, Oshinowo was the host of a Lagos gathering themed Scarcity vs Abundance: Adaptability as a Creative Resource in Architecture, Design and Culture. The forum, held at Yinka Shonibare’s G.A.S. Foundation, Lekki, had participants from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The Lagos event was organised as part of preparation for the 2nd Sharjah Architecture Triennial, curated by Oshinowo, and held in UAE, in 2023.

For the Venice Architecture Biennale glory, the theme's Lagos focus has its trajectory linked to Oshinowo's early years in her choice of profession. While accepting the Venice Architecture Biennale Award, in Italy, Oshinowo shared her story. She recalled how the inspiration for Alternative Urbanism emerged over twenty years ago when a visiting architecture professor, Rem Koolhaas, was in Lagos. She was a young architecture student, in 2001 when she came across Prof Koolhaas' Harvard Cities project about Lagos. "This was the first time I had seen my city viewed through this lens, and I have remained spellbound," Oshinowo told the audience in Venice. "In the lead-up to this exhibition, we had many conversations concerning this work, and I am deeply honoured to have his essay contribution to the project."

Whoever is familiar with the 'aesthetics' in the chaotic Lagos urban markets would appreciate the theme of Oshinowo, within the architecture and physical planning contexts. Oshinowo's Alternative Urbanism installation explores and celebrates market formats, operating as factories processing ‘waste’ or ‘end-of-life’ items from the global north and showcases the inherent and ingenious circularity. In her curatorial note Oshinowo stated that the three markets captured in the installation include Ladipo Market, Mushin; Computer Village, in Ikeja; and Katangua, Agege. "Ladipo Market specialises in second-hand cars and parts; Computer Village in new and used computers and electronics; and Katangua in second-hand clothing and shoes. All three resonate with communal intelligence, highlighting their alternative urbanism that contributes sparingly to global carbon emissions and brings genuine circularity to bear on everyday consumerism."

For the Venice Architecture Biennale jury, the installation deserved the Special Mention award based on what they described as Oshinowo’s Alternative Urbanism that "offers a glimpse to markets of processing waste of industrialized economy." The jury noted of the documentation as a good resource "for further research and knowledge production about markets in Africa and the importance of markets as prototypes for innovation."

'Alternative Urbanism: The Self-organised Markets of Lagos' by Tosin Oshinowo...showing at Venice Architecture Biennale, Italy.

Features of the installation include 3-meter-high-wide walls to create a sense of enclosure, with the inner walls laced in immersive videos that project each market environment. For more details, the outer sides of the walls, have data and three maps, crafted in Kantangua market from recycled denim, depicting each location. Boosting virtual accessibility of the market looks like are maps that illustrate diverse zones that shape the marketplace, the essential elements supporting their functions, and the movement of people and goods through the space.

A.G. Leventis Foundation, Kavita Chellaram/Ko Gallery, Tafeta Gallery, OAB Foundation, CAP PLC Nigeria, Iron Capital, Sencillo Lagos, Yvonne Fasinro, Lekan Akinyanmi, Niyi Adenubi and Victor Ehikhamenor are among Nigerian supporters and sponsors of the project.

In March, 2022, Oshinowo, founder of Lagos-based architecture firm CM Design Atelier, was announced as the curator of the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial. And in August, the President of Sharjah Triennial, Hoor Al-Qassimi and Oshinowo announced the event's theme as The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability. Al-Qassimi led the UAE delegation to Lagos when Oshinowo hosted the pre-Sharjah Architecture Triennial in 2023.

With the Venice Architecture Special Mention Award, Oshinowo has expanded her status as an architect of repute, projecting indigenous contents of global south to the rest of the world. She founded Oshinowo Studio in Nigeria in 2013, going ahead with with depth of international portfolio which includes housing, culture and large-scale humanitarian projects. The studio’s ethos is rooted in the intersection of human-centred design, culture and climate. Established in West Africa and shaped by Yoruba culture, Oshinowo’s perspective on design calibrates regional approaches to global social and environmental challenges.

Oshinowo Studio is a member of the Royal Institute of British. The founder is a 2025 Harvard University Loeb Fellow.

-Tajudeen Sowole is a Lagos- based Art & Culture critic.

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