In late 2022, she and her design practice, cmDesign Atelier (cmDA), also completed their first residential project in the exclusive Banana Island area of Lagos, dubbed “The Lantern House”. write CNN.
Photo: Tolu Sanusi
The Lantern House is a three-story, five-bedroom, seven-bathroom eco-friendly home that's powered entirely by solar energy.
She received orders from clients in September 2020, with a team and specialist contractors, construction began in January 2021 and was completed last October.
Photo: Tolu Sanusi
Photo: Tolu Sanusi
The 1,6 million square meter man-made Banana Island got its name from its shape. It is a private gated community in the commercial capital of Nigeria. With private electricity and water systems, real estate on the island is one of the most expensive on the continent.
Oshinovo says she is proud of the end result: “It's one thing to create a great conceptual design. The other is to carry it out to a flawless finish."
Photo: Tolu Sanusi
She notes that after the implementation of the Lantern House project, her cmDA studio began working on another project on Banana Island.
Oshinovo recalls wanting to be an architect at age 12, reviewing floor plans and helping her father design part of their vacation home when she was little. Having obtained degrees in Architecture and Urban Design in the UK and an MBA in Architecture, she worked for architectural firms in the UK and Europe before returning to Nigeria in 2009.
Photo: Tolu Sanusi
Photo: Tolu Sanusi
The architect founded cmDA in 2012 due to the need to create and project a modern and progressive cultural identity for Africa.
“(It is) very important to create an architecture that, as much as possible, can be created from what is available in the country. By doing this, I start to think about issues related to sustainability and responsibility towards the environment," Oshinovo says.
Photo: Tolu Sanusi
Photo: Tolu Sanusi
A penchant for sustainability is what the 43-year-old aims to bring to her role as curator at this year's upcoming Sharjah Architecture Triennale. The theme, The Beauty of Impermanence and the Architecture of Adaptability, coined by Oshinovo, examines little-known innovations in the Global South that deal with conditions of scarcity. She hopes that the triennial will become an attractive place for the international community.
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