On May 20th, 2023, the Biennale Architettura awarded an award to Nigerian Demas Nwoko for his body of work and versatile artistry.
The Nigerian architect Demas Nwoko is in the spotlight, the 18th Venice International Architecture Biennale has just awarded him a Golden Lion. At 88, he was rewarded for all of his work.
Demas Nwoko is not only an architect. He is a sculptor, historian, designer, and theater man, among others.
This son of a king, born in 1935 in southern Nigeria, found his first inspiration in the palace designed by his grandfather himself.
On the strength of this material and immaterial heritage, Demas Nwoko creates works geared towards the future, with modern and sustainable architecture, both aesthetic and functional.
He champions the use of local resources and is also one of the first Nigerian artists to criticize his country’s dependence on the West.
Founder of the group “Zaria Rebels”, Demas Nwoko has worked all his life for a mixture of African traditions and modern technologies. He continues to work to improve his craft and as he has just declared at the Venice Biennale, “laying the foundations of the future for the young architects who practice today in Nigeria and elsewhere”.