Questioning the new now, especially with the new challenges of Covid-19, around the world, cities are advocating for structural change and collective action. Berlin questions, an annual, multi-day conference and a platform for transdisciplinary dialogue, in its 2021 edition “Metropolis: The New Now”, tackled the immediate present, creating a place for debate. Dedicated to local solutions to global challenges, the event took on a hybrid format, at various locations in Berlin and online, resembling the world we live in.
ArchDaily had the chance to meet up with Lesley Lokko, architect, academic, and novelist at Berlin Questions, to discuss her talk “Africa as the lab for the future”, her visions for the future of architecture education and the future of big cities on a social, cultural and urban level.
Founder of the Graduate School of Architecture in 2015 in Johannesburg and the Africa Future Institute, in 2021 in Accra, Lesley Lokko is a Ghanaian-Scottish architect who had several teaching positions and careers around the world, most notably in Johannesburg, London, Accra, and Edinburgh. Renowned educator, she is also part of the jury of the Golden Lions awards for the 2021 Venice Biennale.
Stating that “we cannot expect to keep doing the same things and expect results”, Lokko believes that time for change and action is upon us. Known for tackling major issues such as cultural and racial identity, Lokko shared with ArchDaily her ideas on how to prevent an unequal future, how to make common culture for cities and how to actually embrace diversity.
