Design, architecture and cultural expression took centre stage at Design Week Lagos 2026, as the festival brought together creatives, designers, architects and industry figures to explore the future of African design.
Running from October 18 to 25 under the theme Making a New Africa: From Material to Market, the festival examines how African creativity can move beyond exhibitions and recognition to shape products, manufacturing, businesses and industries.
Among its key moments was the October 21 presentation of the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA Honours), which recognised three influential figures whose work has contributed to architecture, design and cultural exchange: Marva Griffin Wilshire, Yinka Shonibare CBE and Professor Lesley Lokko OBE.
Three honourees, three distinct contributions
The IDEA Honours celebrated different forms of influence across the creative industries, from nurturing emerging designers to advancing architectural education and reshaping conversations about cultural identity.
Marva Griffin, founder and curator of SaloneSatellite, received the Architectural Legacy Honour. Through SaloneSatellite, the platform associated with Milan’s Salone del Mobile, Griffin has helped provide emerging designers with opportunities to present their work and connect with the international design industry.
Professor Lesley Lokko OBE received the Architectural Leadership Honour, recognising her contribution to architectural education, leadership and discourse. An architect, academic and curator, Lokko has helped broaden conversations about architecture, race, identity and the role of African perspectives in shaping the built environment. She founded the African Futures Institute in Accra and curated the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Yinka Shonibare CBE received the Cultural Impact Honour. Known for his multidisciplinary practice spanning sculpture, installation and film, Shonibare explores colonialism, identity, migration and cultural exchange through works that frequently draw on Dutch wax-print fabrics and their complex histories.
Together, the three awards highlighted the many ways design shapes the world: through the opportunities it creates for new talent, the ideas that influence the built environment and the cultural questions it brings into public view.
The IDEA Honours also carried a distinctly Nigerian connection through their award plaques, designed by Pa Demas Nwoko, MFR.
Nwoko, an architect, artist, designer and cultural thinker, is widely recognised for a practice that brings architecture, art, materials and traditional knowledge into conversation. Nwoko’s wider practice is also explored in Demas Nwoko: A Living Legacy, a major presentation featured in this year’s festival programme.
