Press & Publications

AD Interviews: Kunlé Adeyemi / NLÉ

Makoko Floating School featured in an Italian book “Abitare con l’acqua” about strategies and solutions for sustainable projects.

The statistics are staggering: Researchers predict that by 2025, the world will have 37 megacities, defined as urban areas with more than 10 million people. New York City and Newark are expected to have more than 23 million inhabitants; Tokyo, more than 38 million people. All told, well over half of the world’s population will be living in these super settlements.

Megacities like Rio or Mumbai grow fast – usually at the expense of the poor while the rich benefit . But there is another way . The cities of the future might look different.

People are moving into cities at an astounding rate — so fast, not even the cities themselves will be able to keep up. A new show at the Museum of Modern Art opens this week to examine how that explosive growth will affect six cities globally: Hong Kong, Istanbul, Lagos, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, and New York City.

Iwan Baan takes the viewer on a one-year photographic journey around the world — always on the lookout for ingenious homes in unexpected places and outstanding construction projects. A characteristic of his pictorial language is his engagement with the close relationship between humans and architecture, between social use and various spatial situations. Iwan Baan visited… Continue reading 52 Weeks. 52 Cities by Iwan Baan – 2013

Makoko Floating School included in the Taiwanese book “City of Brilliance”, pp. 108-113.

“Commons” is a reissue of the legendary “Lotus Document”, published in 1986 and devoted to the work of Álvaro Siza. The publication remains a classic of the literature on Siza’s work, and of reflection on contemporary architecture. Makoko Floating School is included in a chapter named “A School as a City”. “Whether they are in… Continue reading Commons – 2014

A chapter called “Ouvrir” where Makoko Floating School is featured can be found in the French publication “Architectures Pour L’avenir”. The word “ouvrir” literally means “to open the door” and the floating school is referred to as a prototype structure that introduces new possibilities for education. “This project is a prototype of a floating movable… Continue reading Architectures Pour L’avenir – 2014

Makoko Floating School is included in a German publication about contemporary schools all over the world. More information in German can be found on pages 52-55.

“Transformation. Towards a Sustainable Future” is a publication exploring many dimensions of sustainable development and the power of architecture to address the challenges of sustainability. Makoko Floating School is included in the chapter about structures built on water. It is referred to as a sustainable structure, because of materials, technology used and environmental impact; it… Continue reading Transformation. Towards a Sustainable Future – 2013

Makoko Floating School included in a book about contemporary architecture in Africa – “Afritecture. Building Social Change”, edited by the architectural historian Andres Lepik. “The school is a prototype for the far more ambitious concept of a “Lagos Water Communities Project”, which envisions an entire settlement of floating houses The three-level wooden construction with its… Continue reading Afritecture. Building Social Change – 2013

Our floating school featured in Kulturaustausch – a German journal for international perspectives, p. 70-71.

NLÉ and the floating school were featured in the Travelling Exhibitions Catalogue by Vitra Design Museum as a part of the chapter called “Making Africa. A Continent of Contemporary Design”.

Makoko Floating School featured in the Austrial weekly news magazine published in German, p. 62.

Makoko Floating School featured in OmVärlden – a Swedish magazine about development and global issues, pp. 10-11.

Makoko Floating School was featured in A+U magazine from Japan, which tackles a diverse range of themes, movements and discussions in the fields of architecture and urbanism.

“You cannot take fish out of water” was Kunlé Adeyemi’s answer to the question whether it would not be better to move Makoko village to dry land. Makoko Floating School is referred to as a prototype structure for architectural solutions in synergy with people’s lives. The whole interview can be read in The Africa Report… Continue reading The Africa Report – May 2014

Makoko Floating School was featured in the Taiwanese magazine Deco, p. 46.

An article on Makoko Floating School in Zeppelin – a Romanian magazine about cities, society and technology. “Makoko Floating School is a prototype structure that addresses physical and social needs in view of the growing challenges of climate change in an urbanizing African context.”

NLÉ with Makoko Floating School was mentioned in a Turkish magazine for kids, p. 7!

Makoko Floating School was featured in ICON, one of the world’s leading architecture and design magazines from the UK, as one of the most socially responsible designs of the year!

Makoko Floating School was featured in the Afritecture section of the German magazine Aface together with other recent school projects in Africa, p. 22.

Makoko Floating School was featured in the Swedish magazine Ingenjören, a publication for the national Swedish Engineers Association, p. 20.

An article “On the Waterfront” was published in Mark, an architectural magazine from Amsterdam. An extensive article includes an interview with Kunlé Adeyemi and Iwan Baan’s photography, pp. 134-141. “What’s important is that Makoko as a community now has a global audience.”

Makoko Floating School was featured in the German magazine Architektur, p. 27.

Makoko Floating School featured in Arqa – Portuguese Contemporary Architecture and Art Magazine, pp. 100-105.

When the Makoko Floating School was completed in March 2013, it received wildly enthusiastic critical acclaim from the international news media. The simple A-frame structure, buoyed by recycled plastic barrels in a lagoon in Lagos, Nigeria, was designed by NLÉ, a Lagos- and Amsterdam-based studio founded by the architect Kunlé Adeyemi.

The twelve winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 Africa Middle East focus mainly on enhancing social and environmental resilience, as well as the economy of construction.

… The idea that urban planning could build upon citizen action, rather than consisting of imposed boulevards or housing blocks (as with the urban renewal that originally gutted Roxbury) is gaining traction. The Museum of Modern Art, which has exhibited its fair share of top-down architectural proposals, amplifies that conversation with “Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities” opening Nov. 22.

The latest episode of Al Jazeera’s Rebel Architecture takes us to Nigeria, where architect Kunlé Adeyemi has designed floating buildings to help solve overcrowding and flooding in the country’s waterside slums. “I am constantly inspired by solutions we discover in everyday life in the world’s developing cities,” he says. Yet, despite his studio NLÉ’s easy-to-build, low-cost, sustainable prototype for a floating building, Adeyemi still struggles to get approval for their construction from the local authorities. This 25-minute episode follows Adeyemi as he seeks to implement his floating buildings.

In the waterside slums of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 480,000 residents face the threat of displacement as the government seeks to redevelop their land, claiming urban renewal is necessary for economic development. But Kunlé Adeyemi has an alternative solution. He envisages a city of floating homes that would allow residents to remain within their community, and safe from rising tides, while at the same time improving the quality of their lives.

“Ripple Effect: Education and the next generation” is the theme of TEDxEuston Salon 2014. We have put together another set of amazing speakers that will challenge you in different ways!

The Jury of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia composed of Francesco Bandarin (President, Italy), Kunlé Adeyemi (Nigeria), Bregtje van der Haak (The Netherlands), Hou Hanru (China), and Mitra Khoubrou (United Arab Emirates) has decided to confer the awards as follows:

CNN) — Africa is a land under construction. Last year, over $220 billion was spent on all kinds of building projects in the continent. While foreign architects have clamored to make their mark in the region, a range of local talent has also stepped forward to shape their landscape (and in some cases, export their aesthetic abroad).

The Design Museum in London has announced 76 nominations for Designs of the Year 2014, including a floating school in a Nigerian lagoon.

We are delighted to share with you ‘The Japan Architect’ Magazine’s World Yearbook 2013 feature on NLÉ’s Makoko Floating School.

Buoyed by recycled barrels, a structure in a fishing village next to Lagos, Nigeria has just been nominated for a Design of the Year Award. Makoko is a slum on the waterfront of Lagos, Nigeria; tens of thousands of people live in the fishing village on stilts. With support from the UN Development Fund, Nigerian architect Kunlé Adeyemi has designed a school that floats on 256 recycled plastic barrels.