ABSTRACT
Aladerun identifies the art and culture of the Yoruba – a group of West African first people divided through colonial partition – as the source of her passion for design and creativity. Aladerun has long been involved in equality-driven activism within the profession through high-profile roles in existing organisations and setting up new initiatives. Rahel Belatchew is an award-winning architect who believes in the transformative potential of architecture. Contemplating the future of architecture and her place within it, Belatchew states, ‘Climate change is by far the biggest challenge today for architects. The studio of Danish architect Dorte Mandrup is distinct for its highly sculptural architectural proposals that foreground their environment and the complex conditions from which they arise. Between the aesthetic mantra of European and American postmodernism and the ‘one-size-fits-all’ of rampant ‘modernising’ developers, buildings had often become decoupled from the people and landscapes they served.
