African Architect: Tosin Oshinowo

Tosin Oshinowo

Tosin Oshinowo grew up in Lagos in the 1990s and studied architecture in the UK at the Architectural Association School in London. Although she failed her final year, she was offered a job in Rotterdam by an endowed architect and now she is currently the founder and director of the Nigerian Architecture Firm, CM Design Atelier.

Her ultimate goal is to create architecture that leaves people with a very strong memory. She is known to have designed The Bahai Temple in Kinshasa, Congo, redesigned the Angels and Mure Artspace for Victor Ehikhamenor, the Maryland mall, among others.

Maryland Mall

The Maryland Mall, also known as “the big black box” was designed intentionally to make the building a silhouette backdrop to the LED screen and all brand signage. In contrast to the Brutalist-minimal exterior, the interior opens up to a warm light pallet that gives a nice shopping experience.

She founded the lifestyle brand ile ila, where she produces contemporary colourful furniture despite her minimalist design aesthetic, she says, "I believe spaces should be serene and calming, and then it's what you populate it within the interior that should really warm it up."

References

The Folklore. 2021. Our Folklore: Nigerian Architect Tosin Oshinowo on Creating Designs that Resonate with Culture. [online] Available at: <https://www.thefolklore.com/blogs/editorial/our-folklore-podcast-nigerian-architect-tosin-oshinowo-interview-lagos-beach-house> [Accessed 14 October 2021].

Archdaily.com. 2021. Tosin Oshinowo | Tag | ArchDaily. [online] Available at: <https://www.archdaily.com/tag/tosin-oshinowo> [Accessed 14 October 2021].

CMD+A. 2021. Maryland Mall - CMD+A. [online] Available at: <https://www.cmdesign-atelier.com/portfolios/marylandmall/> [Accessed 14 October 2021].