The Architecture of Demas Nwoko

leisurequest November 15, 2016 Architecture,

Demas Nwoko

The serene village of Idumuje-Ugboko is qualified to be regarded as the home of Tourism in Delta State, as the village has breath-taken undulating valleys and can possibly boast of processing the largest expanse of land comprising virgin rainforest with two rivers, their sources and abundant wildlife. The palace of the Obi is said to have been in existence for about 500 years. The buildings in the palace are made purely of mud, yet age has not affected its strength and ability to survive all these years. The architectural designs of the buildings are awesome revelation of the technological know-how of the ancient traditional builders.

DEMAS NWOKO

The second attraction, from records available, belongs to Professor demas Nwoko. It is his personal residence. However, the peculiar combination of ancient and contemporary architectural designs made the villa to be tagged to a tourist's attraction. The villa has the capacity to regulate the atmospheric temperature to suit the comfort of its occupants. When the temperature is hot outside, the villa is cool inside and gets warm inside when the outside is cool. This phenomenon is attributed to the special designs and perfect blending of traditional and modern buildings materials.

Demas Nwoko presenting and autographed copy of his bibliographical book to Leisure Quest Editor: Eloho Ikede (Right). The young man in the middle is Demas's grandson who came to the villa on vacation from school.

Demas Nwoko (born 1935) is a Nigerian artist, protean designer, architect and master builder. As an artist, he strives to incorporate modern techniques in architecture and stage design to enunciate African subject matter in most of his works. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Mbari club of Ibadan, a committee of burgeoning Nigerian and foreign artists. He was also a lecturer at the University of Ibadan. In the 1970s, he was the publisher of the now defunct New Culture magazine.

Nwoko, sees design as an ingenuous activity that carries with it a focus on social responsibility for positive influences in the environment and culture of the society

Nwoko's first major architectural design was for a Dominican mission in Ibadan. After the nation's independence, some missions desired to decorate their churches with African motifs. He was originally approached to design a plaque for a new chapel but he later asked the Dominican fathers to help in designing a new chapel to be located in Ibadan. Although, his initial design was a little bit crude with the utilisation of free-hand drawing, it was meant to accommodate local exigencies such as the sunny atmosphere in Ibadan. Usually, his designs were designed to have interior temperatures to be in contrast to the exterior temperatures at most times. His style was moulded to fit into the temporal needs of African citizens in a given location.

Nwoko later went on to design more structures such as the Benin theatre, which used Greek and the Japanese Kabuki designs. He also designed the scepter for his brother's coronation as the Obi of Idumoje Ugboko. Other famous architectural works includes the cultural center, Ibadan, which made use of natural forms to emphasise its relationship with nature and ancient Yoruba art.

Nwoko's works fuse modern techniques in architecture and stage design with African tradition. With works such as The Dominican Institute, Ibadan and The Akenzua Cultural Center, Benin, to his credit, Nwoko is one "artist-architect" who believes in celebrating the African tradition in his works. In 2007, Farafina Books published The Architecture of Demas Nwoko, a study of Nwoko's work and theories written by two British architects, John Godwin OBE and Gillian Hopwood. Reviewing the book.

See more pictures of the Villa below: