Architecture, Daemons and Regionalism in Southwest Nigeria (1970s to the Present)

About This Event

Adedoyin Teriba (Vassar College)

The history of architectural education in Nigeria in a “professional sense” is relatively young - if one narrows the definition of “architectural education” to the sort of training that leads to a bachelor’s degree in architecture. The School of Architecture within the Ahmadu Bello University in Northern Nigeria started in the 1960s. A commitment to create a regional architecture became its focus from the outset. This desire continues to the present-day throughout the country.

Treiba's lecture contrasts the academic approach to regional architectural design in the country with how her knowledge of daemons and rituals informed her design. We'll explore how knowledge that can be culled from local rituals and religious corpuses--perhaps not valued as highly because of the secular nature of contemporary architectural practice--can enrich a quest for a regional architecture.