How can architecture meaningfully bridge inherited traditions and contemporary realities?

Join us for a talk with architect Olayinka Dosekun-Adjei, co-founder and creative director of Studio Contra. Based in Lagos, Abuja, and Accra, Studio Contra operates across Nigeria, Ghana, and the Republic of Benin. Founded in 2017 by Jeffrey Adjei and Dosekun-Adjei, the practice collaborates both regionally and internationally, bringing a contemporary African perspective to complex architectural, urban, and interior design projects. This talk offers insight into their evolving design methodology shaped by context, collaboration, and cultural continuity. The studio’s work is grounded in a belief that meaningful, lasting impact emerges from balancing three core elements: concept, culture, and craft. Dosekun-Adjei explores how Studio Contra reinterprets these elements through a human-centred design approach and commitment to long-term value in the built environment.

Olayinka Dosekun-Adjei is one of the three guest-curators of our upcoming Out of the Box exhibition series dedicated to the work of Gillian Hopwood and John Godwin, architects in post-independence Nigeria whose archive was recently donated to the CCA.

The event is free, but as places are limited, we recommend registering here.

Olayinka Dosekun-Adjei is the co-founder and creative director of Studio Contra. She holds a BA in Classics from the University of Oxford (New College) and an M.Arch from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Before founding Studio Contra, she worked for prominent architectural practices including Barkow Leibinger (Berlin), Sheppard Robson (London), and MASS Design (Boston). Olayinka was a visiting faculty member at Harvard’s GSD in 2023 and is a guest critic for final reviews at the GSA Johannesburg and Cornell University.