Scarcity versus Abundance: Adaptability as a Creative Resource in Architecture and Design

Sharjah Architecture Triennial is pleased to announce Scarcity vs Abundance: Adaptability as a Creative Resource in Architecture and Design—the next event in its public programming for the second edition opening in 2023. This full-day symposium takes place on Thursday, October 27 at Yinka Shonibare’s G.A.S. Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria.

Curated by Tosin Oshinowo, SAT 02’s theme is The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability and it will explore links between scarcity, creativity and design. The symposium will comprise conversations around impermanence in architecture from the Global South, highlighting how this focus was inspired by Lagos, Oshinowo’s home city. It will explore how these ideas manifest across disciplines, both locally in Lagos and across the region.

It will begin with an introductory conversation between journalist Lola Ogunnaike and Tosin Oshinowo addressing the goals of the Triennial in shedding light on architectural practice and tradition from the region.  The symposium will then continue with panel discussions featuring practitioners, Ade Shokunbi, Taibat Lawanson, Mpho Matsipa and Rahina Garba, Lagosian cultural innovators, Ndidi Dike, Michael Elégbèdé and Reni Folawiyo, and other members of the SAT Curatorial Advisory Board, including director of The World Around, Beatrice Galilee, Yinka Shonibare and SAT President, Hoor Al Qasimi. By inviting a broad range of perspectives from West Africa, the event will add nuance to Oshinowo’s vision and its implications across disciplines as she continues to build her theme for 2023.

The symposium follows the launch of public programming for SAT02 at Impermanence, Adaptability, and the Potential of Contextual Architecture, an in-conversation in Sharjah between SAT02 Curator Tosin Oshinowo and SAT President Hoor Al-Qasimi which took place last month in Sharjah and is available to view here.

About Sharjah Architecture Triennial: Founded in 2018, Sharjah Architecture Triennial (SAT) is a platform for architecture and urbanism in a region that extends from West Asia to South Asia and the African continent. Physically anchored in Sharjah and the United Arab Emirates, SAT aims to engage diverse audiences and stakeholders in a collective conversation on architecture at the neighbourhood, city, and regional levels. Institutional research and programming support on-going critical reflection through exhibitions, publications, and public programmes in tandem with its international editions. SAT is committed to pursuing a multi-disciplinary approach that fosters an understanding of the broader role of architecture, including its relation to social and environmental issues.