Ghanaian-Scottish architect, educator, author, and curator, Lesley Lokko will receive the Royal Gold Medal 2024 for architecture. This is one of the world’s highest honors in architecture. The medal, presented on behalf of His Majesty the King, recognizes Lokko’s commitment to championing diverse approaches to architectural practice and education.
Professor Lesley Lokko OBE is a Ghanaian-Scottish architect, educator, and best-selling novelist. She is the Founder and Director of the African Futures Institute (AFI), which was established in Accra, Ghana in 2021. She was appointed as Curator of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia in December 2021. In December 2022, she was awarded an OBE in the first New Year’s Honours List by King Charles III, for ‘services to architecture and education.’
For over two decades, Lokko has devoted her career to amplifying under-represented voices and examining the complex relationship between architecture, identity, and race, profoundly impacting architectural education, dialogue, and discourse. Lokko’s focus on democratizing architecture has always been on reframing architecture courses to democratize, decolonize, and progress architectural education and sharing that knowledge all over the world.
President of The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Muyiwa Oki said:
“A fierce champion of equity and inclusion in all aspects of life, Lesley Lokko’s progressive approach to architecture education offers hope for the future – a profession that welcomes those from all walks of life, considers the needs of our environment, and acknowledges a broad range of cultures and perspectives… She remains a humble revolutionary force, with her ambition and optimism etching an indelible mark on the global architectural stage.”
On hearing the news, Lesley Lokko said:
“It came as such a surprise to me. This was never on the cards. I’m delighted to be considered alongside some of the great past winners of the Royal Gold Medal. Although this is a personal award, this isn’t merely a personal triumph, this is a testament to the people and organizations I have worked with that share my goals.
I came into architecture seeking certainties, looking for answers. Instead, I found questions and possibilities, far richer, more curious, and more empathetic ways to interpret and shape the world. Architecture gave me language, in all its forms — visual, written, built, performed — and that language, in turn, has given me such hope.”
Lesley Lokko will be formally presented with the Royal Gold Medal 2024 in London on May 2, 2024.
