Tosin Oshinowo: Inspired to break the glass ceiling

Think futuristic and cutting-edge architecture designs, one name should come to mind: Tosin Oshinowo.

Tosin is a young architect whose journey into the world of building designs started early in life. She had aspired to be an architect from looking at building plans her father would bring home when she was in secondary school, select her room from the plan and would follow her father to construction sites.

She pursued her dreams to the Architecture Association, London where she graduated as an architect and also holds a Master’s Degree in urban design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.

Her interests are in architectural history and socially responsive approaches to design, architecture and urbanism.

In 2012, she set up a firm, cmDesign Atelier, an architecture design consultancy practice based in Lagos, executing notable projects in the city such as Maryland Mall, which is due to open in June 2016.

Prior to setting up cmD+A, her experiences have been shaped by working in leading organizations internationally, Skidmore Owing & Merril’s LLP London and the Office of Metropolitan Architecture Rotterdam, where she was part of the team that designed the 4th Mainland Bridge proposal in 2008. Upon repatriation to Lagos, she practiced at James Cubitt Architects and was team lead on notable projects including the Master plan and Corporate Head Office Building for Nigeria LNG in Port Harcourt.

Her work on the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge, she said, was intense and futuristic. The team that designed the bridge included five other persons and took about 10 weeks to complete.

When completed, the double-layer bridge would not only serve as means of vehicular movement, it would also aid social and commercial interactions among pedestrians.

The Maryland Mall, designed by her firm, is scheduled to open for operations later in June. The mall, designed to take advantage of minimal space allotted for its construction, is a five-storey building with a basement for 219 parking spaces, a Shoprite, four cinema screens, 1 food court, I bar and 40 shops.

Being given such a project to execute, Tosin said, would heighten clients’ confidence in Nigerian architectural firms.

Working in a male-dominated profession does not unnerve Tosin. In spite of the doubts sometimes cast on her ability to deliver on projects because of her age and gender, she said she is more inspired to break the glass ceiling.

“The nature of architecture involves cost and risk. People naturally are apprehensive to let a young person, let alone a woman, take on such a task,” she said in an interview with The Guardian.

“My competence is always in question. New clients are baffled when meeting us. The irony is that in my industry, I think it is more of a challenge to be a young person than to be a woman.”

She has trio Mosun Ogunbanjo, Jumoke Adenowo and Abiodun Segun as her models. But she once told Futurecaptetown.com that her building designs are masculine in outlook.

She said: “So, some people get shocked when they look at my buildings and realize it was drawn by a woman. I am not sure if they would think I would draw something pretty with ribbons hanging everywhere.

I do not think urbanism can be related to by using such words as masculinity or femininity. I do not like to bring gender into it. But maybe women are more conscious about details. As a matter of fact, when I design spaces now, I think about things like ‘is the building child-friendly?’”.

Tosin is also involved in other creative ventures. She is an award-winning amateur photographer and has worked in a professional capacity on public art design installation in Lagos. Her written work includes an article on ‘the reclamation of public space in Lagos’, which was published in October 2012. She has recently completed the Playable Cities Lagos workshop with the Watershed Art Center, Bristol and organized by the British Council Lagos.

She has also served as the convener of SHO-N-TEL (2009 – 2014) at the University of Lagos, an event series that takes practicing professionals back into the studio to present their experiences to undergraduate and postgraduate students.