‘Communicating the value of architecture’: why Muyiwa Oki wants to shift the debate on reuse
By Ben Flatman2023-09-18T00:01:00
Muyiwa Oki wants to refocus the profession and architectural education on a broad reuse agenda. In the second instalment of a two-part interview with Building Design, he talks to Ben Flatman about the event he is hosting with The Prince’s Foundation and why urgent change is necessary
What is the purpose of architecture and what is the architect’s role in society? These are fundamental questions that each generation has to ask afresh.
RIBA president Muyiwa Oki was elected on a platform calling for a radical rethink of how we design and build. He wants the profession to help find solutions to the climate emergency, and to put a greater emphasis on how it serves ordinary communities across the UK.
“What I would like to see is every architect seeing themselves as an advocate for change,” says Oki. And he believes that a key focus for this new agenda must be the creative reuse of existing buildings.
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