Alternative Heritage and Vernacular Architecture - A Foundational Dialogue

On 13 August, Geo Meridien and IFRA-Nigeria held a conference day on “Heritage and Vernacular Architecture – a Foundational Dialogue”. The event, part of the Nigerian Alternative Heritages (French Embassy Fund) project, took place at the Olubadan Palace in Ibadan. Mrs Toyin Odugbesan (Geo Meridien) and Prof. Barbara Morovich (IFRA-Nigeria director) opened the meeting, introducing the theme and speakers, and launching the discussion on heritage protection, vernacular architecture, and definitions of the term.

Prof. Cordelia O. Osasona, the first female professor of architecture in South-West Nigeria and a leading conservationist, delivered the keynote. She discussed features of vernacular architecture such as spontaneity, craft traditions, and colonial influence, while stressing that the term remains evolving. She illustrated her points with examples of typical constructions from across Nigeria’s cultural regions.

Two further talks followed: Dr. Tunde Adegbola on “Alternative heritage and the architecture of resistance: preserving the sacred, the cultural and the uncelebrated”, and Arc. Bisi Sulu-Olumide on “Rethinking preservation through community, oral traditions, and everyday architecture”. Three panels on architecture and heritage then gave researchers a platform to share their work, before a closing roundtable dialogue.

Full details of the event and speakers are available in the program below.

Tags: Nigeria, Ibadan, architecture, heritage