Kunle Adeyemi

Please join us for a lecture with architect Kunlé Adeyemi.

Kunlé Adeyemi is an architect, designer and urban researcher. He is the founder/principal of NLÉ and a Design Critic in Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. His notable work includes ‘Makoko Floating School’, an innovative prototype floating structure located on the lagoon heart of Lagos, Nigeria. This acclaimed project is part of an extensive research project—‘African Water Cities’—being developed by NLÉ an architecture, design and urbanism practice founded by Adeyemi in 2010, focusing on developing cities and communities. NLÉ recently launched MFS II—a new, improved iteration of Makoko Floating School at this years’ La Biennale di Venezia, for which it was awarded the Silver Lion. Other projects include Chicoco Radio Media Center, an amphibious community building in Port Harcourt, Nigeria; ROCK Lakefront Kiosk in Chicago; CDL Microfinance Bank in Lagos, Nigeria; and Serpentine Summer House at the Royal Kensington Gardens in London.

Before founding NLÉ, Adeyemi worked for OMA, where he led the design, development and execution of high profile projects such as the Shenzhen Stock Exchange tower in China, the Qatar National Library, and Prada Transformer in Seoul. Alongside his professional practice Adeyemi is an international speaker and thought leader serving as jurors for the 2014 AIA award and 2016 RIBA international Prize. He is a multiple award winner, and holds an honorary doctorate degree in Architecture. He has taught at Cornell University and was an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York, researching architecture and urban solutions that are closer to societal, environmental and economic needs.

Adeyemi will be joined in conversation by Sean Anderson.

Speaker:
Kunlé Adeyemi, Founder and Principal NLÉ, Design Critic in Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Moderator:
Sean Anderson, Associate Curator, Dept of Architecture and Design, MoMA

This lecture is presented in conjunction with Architecture of Independence – African Modernism.