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As the effects of global warming become increasingly visible to all and sundry across the globe, architect professionals under the aegis of Nigerian Institute of Architect (NIA) intensified advocacy in preventing natural disaster, seek collaboration from relevant partners to decarbonise the environment.
Newsconnect reports that NIA’s theme for the 3-day 15th Lagos Architects Forum in 2024 is christened “Lagos Resilience and Climate Adaptation”.
The President of Nigerian Institute of Architects
Architect Mobolaji Adeniyi in an interview with journalists at the event said the Theme for Lagos Architect Forumis apt considering the fact that Lagos is a coastal city, so it is important to advance discussion on its resilience.
In her own words, she said;
“This theme is very apt. You would all agree with me with there is a global warming and Lagos in particular as a coastal city, we need to be talking about the resilient of the city to ensure that our buildings can withstand the effect of climate change.
“When we are talking about the design of our building, we are talking about the kind of materials that we will be using and the kind of building that will adapt with the kind of changes we have now in the environment.
“It is very apt, and am very happy we have professional, not just architect that are with us to collaborate and to discuss this important topic”. She said
The Current Vice Chairman Nigerian Institute of Architects Lagos State Chapter who doubles as the Chairman Organising Committee Lagos Architect Forum Architect Abiodun Fatuyi in an interview with journalists talked about the essence of the forum and the right actions architect and partners must adopt in adapting to climate change. Fatuyi said NIA as an institution with its partners leverage on the forum to write communique to Lagos State government on issues pertaining to the state.
“In his words, he said;
“This is an annual event. It is an event that gives opportunities for collaboration among the Public, the architects, other allied professionals and the government in Lagos State.
“It is a good experience to us an institute, as we have the opportunity to write a communique to the government after the event. Every year on issues that pertain with Lagos State.
“This year’s theme Lagos Resilience as it affects climate change, we would also be sending a communique to the government as regards how climate change will begin to affect our designs, help architect to produce designs and buildings that would suit and also accommodate the change the environment is offering to us.
“Lagos has a resilience office. The office which prepares for Natural disasters. Sensitising the environment can be positive or negative. As God has given us, we have good weather we don’t have storms, volcanoes, we don’t have all those climate disasters that are really earth threatening.
“If our ways of life and the way we used what God has blessed us with is not good, we will begin to witness something bad. In Lagos, there are drainages and they are blocked. So the role of the resilience office is that all those things are negated and the general public are educated enough to know how to use the environment properly.
“Nigerian weather lately has been terribly hot because we have less green. We are deforesting our environment so fast. If you drive out of Lagos to Sagamu, you would discover the air there is different. Architect just build houses, no hard Scape , No green landscape, no trees along the road.
“Those trees are supposed to take in carbon dioxide and give you oxygen for us to have a better air to breath. There is so much carbon dioxide out there, the Ozone layer is depleting, we are flaring gases. This predicated why we are using this platform to talk about this so that Lagos state can be a better environment than what it is now”. He said
The President of Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Muyiwa Oki in an interview with journalists after delivering his paper presentation highlighted three high points in his paper.
He said;
“Advocacy to decarbonise built environment
So we need to ensure we are learning from each other when it comes to ensuring we are addressing climate emergency
“We also need to ensure we take with us innovations and ideas from young upcoming emerging talents, we need to make sure we are challenging the status quo. Doing things the way it was done before brought us to where we are today.
“Finally we have to ensure we are doing things innovatively, embracing and encouraging the use of innovative methods of construction including artificial intelligence if we do all that, we can create an international community where we will collaborate with one another. Where we are sharing ideas up and down the country. Also why we are creating a future we want to live in”. He said.
Environmental Activist and Plastic Picker Desmond Majekodunmi gave overall assessment of the forum in an interview with journalists at the event.
He said;
“Fantastic. We are highly encouraged that the architect which is such a highly esteemed group of people intellectuals, with a lot of sensitivity for artistic things are doing this and using this as their topic resilience and adaptation at a time when the whole world has now recorded the hottest year ever recorded by humanity.
“When the world is going through many pollution in the atmosphere. Remember, our atmosphere is our life support system. If the atmosphere breaks down, the system that maintains our life also breaks down.
“So am very very encouraged association like this is doing this and to bring a Nigerian who is also the President of the international forum to come back here, that is all Kudos to Nigerian”. He said.