Among the names of mostly white men and a few women that have been carved into the marble walls of the Royal Institute of British Architects since 1848, this year will see a first. Lesley Lokko, a Ghanaian-Scottish architect and academic, has been announced as the winner of RIBA’s gold medal, becoming the first African woman to receive the gong – and only the second black architect to be honoured in its history.
“It was a bit of an out-of-body experience,” she said, on hearing the news. “It was so far off my radar – I’m not a practising architect by any stretch of the imagination.” Lokko, 60, may not design buildings, but she has long been one of architecture’s most energetic advocates for widening access to the profession. As a teacher, writer and curator, she has dedicated her career to amplifying underrepresented voices, exploring the relationship between architecture, identity and race, and trying to democratise what has always been a rarefied pursuit. She has taught around the world, founded two architecture schools – one in Johannesburg, South Africa, another in Ghana’s capital, Accra – and curated the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, putting the focus on the African continent for the first time.
