African design advocate and the founder of Design Week Lagos Titi Ogufere will be WAC’s new guest architect in WAC’s Live Interview Series.

Taking the theme “Design Revolution” to the heart of the talk, Ogufere will present a live talk on innovative approaches in African design and the mission of Design Week Lagos which will open to the public on 21 October throughout the city of Lagos.

By delving into the roots of African design landscape, Ogufere will tell about the story of how the African history, innovation, craftsmanship and material knowledge are changing in the last decade. 

Ogufere will also touch upon the latest trends and urgencies that designers and architects have faced over the last decade in the African continent. 

Titi Ogufere will be in conversation with WAC’s editor-in-chief Berrin Chatzi Chousein on Wednesday, October 20th on WAC’s Instagram account.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Ogufere attended Ahmadu Bello University and studied Mathematics and Library Science. She went ahead to obtain a degree in Interior Design from Dublin.

Trying to change the education in African design for years, she has put much effort to set global interior design standards in African education in her pivotal role as the founder of the Interior Designers Association of Nigeria (IDAN).

In recognition of her contributions to the design community in Africa, Ogufere was elected 21st President of the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI). She is both the youngest and first person of African descent to hold this position.

Ogufere is also CEO of Essential Media Group (EMG), Africa’s most substantial design-led media group. 

EMG publishes two leading design and cultural magazines that are distributed across the continent, organizes festivals, exhibitions, conferences, and awards, and has published over 25 books on African design, including This is Africa: Traditional Design, Modern and Contemporary (2017), In Conversation with Demas Nwoko (2019) and Vernacular Design: Redefining the Narrative (2019). 

In coordination with EMG, Ogufere also produced a documentary series for Netflix worldwide on African design, Made by Design, which will be unveiled during Design Week Lagos in October 2021.

Made by Design will be unveiled as an original documentary series highlighting architects, interior and product designers in Africa. The first season focuses on a group of creative luminaries across categories living and working in Nigeria. 

Co-Directed and co-produced by Emmy award winning filmmaker Abiola Matesun, the first season will profile thirteen of the top Nigerian creative talents of today, giving an insight into their lives, work, and inspirations – including Lani Adeoye, Dapo Akintunde, Osaru Alile, Theo Lawson, Papa Omotayo, Tosin Oshinowo. 

WAC’s live interviews are organized as 20-30-minute talks to deliver a quick glimpse of the current projects of the architect and the office and provide a fast-paced discussion on the architects’ design philosophy