Tosin Oshinowo

Tosin Oshinowo is a Lagos-based Nigerian architect and designer, creative entrepreneur, public speaker and author.
Renowned for her expansive residential and commercial spaces and insights into socially-responsive approaches to urbanism. Tosin Oshinowo's designs are grounded in a deep respect for Yoruba culture and history and coming from a markedly African context, they embody a contemporary perspective on the next generation of African design and Afro-minimalism: a responsive reflection of the past, present, and future of architecture and design that prioritizes sustainability, resilience, and poise. She is also the curator of the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial. As an architect who has worked on a number of projects in various Architectural firms in Europe and Africa, Tosin incorporated her own Architectural Design Consultancy firm, CmDesign Atelier in 2013 and is best known as the Founder and Chief Executive and principal of cmDesign Atelier (cmD+A). Based in Lagos, the practice has undertaken a number of predominant civic projects, including the design of the Maryland Mall, as well as a wide range of residential projects, including luminous beach houses on the coast of the oceanside city. Her interest in architecture extends into a broader vision of urbanism and community as well; she recently completed a project with the United Nations Development Programme in Northeast Nigeria, building an entirely new community for a village displaced by Boko Haram. Before founding cmD+A, she worked in the offices of Skidmore Owings & Merrill in London and the Office of Metropolitan Architecture Rotterdam, where she was part of the team that designed the 4th Mainland Bridge proposal in 2008. Returning to Lagos, she practiced at James Cubitt Architects and led notable projects, including the master plan and corporate head office building for Nigeria LNG in Port Harcourt. Tosin Oshinowo is also the Founder and Chief Executive of Lifestyle furniture line, Ilé-Ilà which she started in 2017 and means House of Lines in her native Yoruba language . As a product designer, her work is primarily focused on the design of chairs. A luxury brand, Ilé-Ilàchairs are made to order, designed, and handmade in Lagos and have been featured as a highlight of contemporary African furniture design in publications around the world, including Harper's Bazaar Interiors April 2018, Elle Decor January 2020, and Grazia online June 2020. Tosin Oshinowo’s work also spans the conceptual sphere, with a strong interest in architectural history and socially-responsive approaches to architecture, design, and urbanism, underpinned by a passion for supporting African design and innovation. In 2020, she partnered with Lexus on conceptual design explorations for Design Miami/, and written prolifically on urbanism, afro-modernism, design, and identity in publications including Expansions, a publication as part of the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale and Omenka Online, a topic also explored in her TEDxPortHarcourt talk in November 2017. She also co-curated the second Lagos Biennial titled How to Build a Lagoon from a Bottle of Wine? in 2019. Tosin Oshinowo is a registered Architect in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a member of the Nigerian Institute of Architects as well as the Royal Institute of British Architects. Tosin is a graduate of Architecture from Kingston College London and had her master's degree in Urban designs from Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
, a Diploma in Architecture from the Architecture Association London, and a Masters for Business in Architecture and Design from IE University, Madrid. She has won numerous awards, including the 3rd City People Real Estate Awards for Architect of the Year 2017 and the Lord’s Achievers Awards for Creativity, in celebration of World Achievers Day 2019. She was among five finalists for the 2023 Diversity in Architecture Divia Awards. Tosin is a member of Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) and also a registered architect with Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) In 2019, Oshinowo was featured in the Polaris catalogue produced by Visual Collaborative, she was interviewed alongside other practitioners from around the world.
Career
Tosin's choice of career as an Architect was primarily informed by tendencies indicated at an early stage of life. In an interview she granted Omenkaonline.com, Tosin attributes her choice to self-discovery of her creativity, her success in Technical Drawing while in high school, and her innate ability to understand drawings at her tender age of twelve, as well as her exposure to site works accompanying her father to site when his retirement home was being built.
Early Practice: London to Rotterdam (2007–2009)
Shortly after her education, before leaving London, Tosin worked with Skidmore Owning and Merril's LLP London between June and October 2007 after which she moved to Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam from January 2008 to January 2009, where she was part of a team of six that designed the proposed double-decker Forth Mainland Bridge meant to link Ajah and Ikorodu, in Lagos State.
James Cubitt Architects Nigeria
In January, 2009, after training in Europe and few years of practice, Tosin returned to Nigeria and joined James Cubitt Architects where she worked on the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) projects as lead architect, a project which Tosin, in an interview granted Future Lagos' Ayo Denton, said taught her involvement of stakeholders during design process. Tosin worked with James Cubitt for four years. On leaving James Cubitt Architects, Tosin floated her own Architecture firm, CmDesign Atelier (cmD+A) in 2012, it is with this imprint that Tosin, as Team Lead designed Maryland Mall, Lagos (referred to as the Big Black Box by livingspace.net ) among other projects the firm has worked on.
SHO-N-TELL
Tosin Oshinowo is the convener of Sho-n-Tell, an annual event series that creates a platform for undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University of Lagos to share the same studio with practicing professionals in order to enhance their learning through exposure to the professionals' wealth of experience. The event series held from 2009 to 2014
Ile Ila
Ile Ila (House of Lines), a contemporary Nigerian lifestyle furniture line, was founded by Tosin Oshinowo in 2017. The brand has had prominent Nigerian Entertainment acts including Adekunle Gold and Chidinma feature in different campaigns as muse.
While her architectural aesthetic utilizes a minimalistic approach, the furniture designs of Ile Ila draw on the opposite end of the vibrancy spectrum and are known for its bold, colorful expressions. Tosin's collections are handmade in Lagos incorporating iconic traditional West African fabrics and Nigerian teak wood
References
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Nigerian women architects
Architects from Lagos
Queen's College, Lagos alumni
Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture
People from Ibadan
21st-century Nigerian architects
Alumni of Kingston University
Alumni of The Bartlett
Nigerian furniture designers
Nigerian women company founders
Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom