Scottish-Ghanaian architect, educator, and curator Lesley Lokko is once again transforming the architectural landscape—this time, through the launch of the Nomadic African Studio, a groundbreaking initiative that reimagines architectural education for the next generation of African designers and thinkers.
Organised by the African Futures Institute (AFI)—the Accra-based post-graduate platform Lokko founded in 2021—the Nomadic African Studio will run a series of fully funded, month-long studios across five African cities, beginning in Fez, Morocco, from 18 July to 15 August 2025. The programme will engage over 30 participants under the age of 35, selected from more than 12 countries, through a combination of design projects, seminars, lectures, trips, readings, and conversations.
Funded by Open Society Foundations and Rolex, the Studio is not just about architecture in the traditional sense. “It’s really about a space to think about architecture differently,” Lokko said in an interview. “Not focused on training people to build buildings per se, but providing a platform for thinking, dreaming and imagining architecture in a different way.”
From Ambition to Action
Lokko’s vision for a transformative educational platform was initially rooted in her desire to establish a permanent, independent school of architecture in Ghana following her resignation as dean of the Spitzer School of Architecture at City College in New York. But after curating the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023, she reconsidered.
“I realised, I’ll probably spend the next 10 years just getting the permissions in order to do it,” she reflected. “So, I thought, let’s shift.” That shift has resulted in a mobile, flexible, and responsive model of education, decoupled from the weight of physical infrastructure and national bureaucracy.
The idea for a nomadic studio was first sparked during a dinner in Venice among a small group of collaborators, fresh from the Biennale. “It wasn’t clear who first mentioned it, but the word ‘nomadic’ was suddenly on everyone’s lips,” Lokko recalled. Since then, the AFI team has held meetings and workshops across Accra, London, Fez, and Dakar, refining the concept and assembling a global network of faculty and critics.
Five Studios, Five Cities, Five Themes
The Studio’s first iteration in Fez—a city selected for its unique cultural and geopolitical position “as both part of Africa and not”—will set the tone for a broader exploration of themes like identity beyond nationhood, climate change, migration, cultural memory, and urban governance.
Over the next few years, the programme will travel to:
- Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Accra, Ghana
- Port Louis, Mauritius
Each location is paired with a specific theme, offering participants the chance to examine architecture through the lens of the region’s political, cultural, or environmental context.
Education Beyond the Studio
While the programme is open to graduate-level students, practitioners, and academics, Lokko emphasises that the Nomadic African Studio is more than just professional development. It’s a space for critical inquiry, radical imagination, and above all, confidence building.
“Confidence in their own voices, their own ideas, their own networks, their own imaginations,” Lokko said. “That confidence is desperately needed, especially in African contexts where young people are often discouraged from speaking out or challenging the status quo.”
She points out that while Africa is demographically one of the youngest continents—the average age is under 19—its leadership remains among the oldest in the world. “We’re culturally predisposed to respecting our elders, not speaking out and not being particularly publicly critical,” she said. “So the idea is to really give people the tools and the confidence to become more publicly critical in what they do.”
Architecture for the Future
Participants in the programme will explore some of the most pressing issues of our time—race and social equity, public health, displacement, and city-making—through the interdisciplinary and global lens that has defined much of Lokko’s work.
Though she hesitates to call the programme a solution to gaps in architectural education, she believes it provides “an incredible set of skills to think about quite complex issues.” And perhaps more importantly, she adds, it enables young African architects to frame those issues through their own perspectives, not those imported from the global North.
A Legacy of Firsts
Lokko’s launch of the Nomadic African Studio comes on the heels of a string of historic recognitions. In 2024, she became the first Black woman to receive the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, one of architecture’s highest honours. She was also listed among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and named on the BBC’s list of most inspiring women of 2024.
But beyond the accolades, Lokko remains committed to creating tangible change in how architecture is taught, practiced, and understood—especially in African contexts.
“Our world is undergoing rapid and intense transformation,” she said. “And architecture is one of the most powerful tools we have to shape what comes next. But before we build anything, we need to imagine differently.”
With the Nomadic African Studio, Lesley Lokko is offering young architects across Africa the tools—and the freedom—to do just that.
Portrait of Lesley Lokko by Festus Jackson Davis
For more information, visit africanfuturesinstitute.com.
