Design Description:
The design of the AFRICAN MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE, LAGOS, serves a dual purpose: to showcase and preserve the community's rich cultural heritage and to act as a catalyst for tourism and economic growth. This project aims to provide a dynamic space for education, entertainment, and cultural exchange, featuring artefacts, artworks, and exhibits from diverse cultures worldwide.
Design highlights:
- Lighting: Emphasize meticulous use of both artificial and natural lighting to enhance the display of exhibits and the architectural beauty of the museum.
- Afrocentric and Functional Design: The building should reflect the cultural heritage of the community through an Afrocentric design that is both functional and symbolic of the community's identity.
- Sustainability and Accessibility: The design must prioritise energy efficiency, sustainability, and accessibility for visitors with disabilities, ensuring a welcoming environment for all.
Concept Development:
“Afrofuturistic architecture is the fictional futuristic rebirth and renaissance of traditional African architecture infused with advanced science and technology,” by Emmanuel Ogundiran, 2023
The design concept is anchored in Afrofuturism, representing a visionary fusion of traditional African architectural elements with advanced science and technology. This concept provides a unique departure from conventional designs, incorporating futuristic elements while staying deeply rooted in the continent's cultural heritage. Utilizing both tangible and intangible African methods alongside indigenous materials, the museum aims to be a beacon of Afrofuturistic architecture-symbolizing a futuristic rebirth and renaissance of traditional African architecture.
Form Development:
- The four isolated forms represent THE PEOPLE, THE ART, THE SPIRITS and THE PERFORMANCE THEATRE. This creates four different entry access to each building therefore controlling the pedestrian movement efficiently.
- While this form choice decision has many practical benefits like better natural lighting, all-round aeration and circulation and high energy efficiency, the unique cones reflect and pay homage to the early stages of precolonial African Architecture, like the traditional Musgum buildings in Cameroon, the local homes in Ethiopia and other dome-traditional huts found around Africa.
- As done in Yoruba Architecture and many other tribes in Africa, the courtyard is a sustainable and cost-efficient way to increase the overall comfort and lighting levels in a building. Though the courtyard is covered with a transparent material to allow natural light, the top brim of the building provides a clerestory to allow air and enhance the stack effect principle.
- To increase accessibility from within each mass, three interconnecting sky bridges were added on three different floor levels. This will significantly improve pedestrian traffic among all buildings.
- The African mother’s wrapper is widely known to be iconic and it symbolises the motherly intimate care and unifying bond between the mother and her child. Just as the mother uses the native African fabric material to unify and hold the child unto her body, fluid bamboo panels are used to bind the four isolated forms into a single harmonized entity. Therefore bring a sense of a traditional community.
This museum is not just a building but a statement of cultural pride, sustainability, and forward-thinking, poised to educate and inspire future generations through the lens of afrofuturism.
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