House Lokko. Completed July 2005, Accra, Ghana. Photography via Lesley Lokko
It’s been a big year for architect, author and educator Lesley Lokko, who just featured on the BBC’s annual list of 100 most influential women in the world, celebrating ‘those who – through their resilience – are pushing for change, as the world changes around them.’
Ghanaian Scottish architect Lokko became the first African woman to be awarded the RIBA Gold Medal for Architecture in 2024 and is known as one of architecture’s fiercest campaigners for equality and inclusion. In April, she followed up the prize by appearing on Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Like RIBA and Time, the BBC highlighted her efforts ‘to democratise architecture’ over the last 20 years, including founding the African Futures Institute in Accra, which explores the relationship between architecture, identity and race.
‘Resilience is the capacity to stay the course over the long-haul – even in the face of indifference, which is often harder to endure than opposition,’ Lokko told the BBC.
Our contributing editor, Emily Wright, interviewed Lokko about her unorthodox career earlier this year.
