DESIGN WEEK LAGOS: THE IFI AFRICAN REGIONAL ROUNDTABLE & BOOK LAUNCH

Design Week Lagos (DWL) is the leading design week on the African continent, conceived to present and celebrate the best in contemporary African design across categories while bringing international field leaders and visitors to experience the most exciting work from the region. Founded by African design advocate Titi Ogufere, DWL was first established in 2019 as a citywide celebration held in Lagos, Nigeria over ten days, promoting creativity, innovation across disciplines, including architecture, industrial design, interior design, furniture design, graphics design, and technology.

In collaboration with Design Week Lagos, the International Federation of Interior Architects / Designers (IFI) hosted the IFI African Regional Roundtable on October 21st, 2021 at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The interactive virtual event allowed the diverse design community in Africa to discuss the IFI Education Policy. The roundtable brought together over 5,000 African designers, including practitioners, academic institutions, educators, professional associations, policymakers, governments, and students.

Additionally, The Interior Design Professional Guide for Africa and the Middle East was launched as part of the African Regional Roundtable. The book, authored by an interior design expert, Titi Ogufere, is an essential resource and guide to managing and sourcing for interior projects in the region, with practical guidance, a directory of vendors, and advice from 25 leading interior designers in Africa and the Middle East on how to run an interior project successfully and profitably from start to finish.

The Interior Design Professional Guide for Africa and the Middle East was launched as part of the African Regional Roundtable. The 320-page book was authored by an interior design expert and the 21st President of the International Federation of Interior Architects / Designers, Titi Ogufere. It is packed with valuable information such as step-by-step guidelines, actionable advice, and helpful images to ease the execution of every type of interior design project and practice, no matter the size.

The Interior Design Professional Guide for Africa and the Middle East was published to serve as a comprehensive and easy-to-use guide for interior designers of all levels to give them all the information and resources they need to make a profit, achieve professional excellence, and develop a deeper understanding of the interior design industry. 

It features contributions from 25 interior design professionals from Africa and the rest of the world who have set the pace and continue to move the interior design industry forward with their pioneering ideas. Through the book, these experts also provided vital content and unique insights on how to run an interior design project successfully and profitably.

The book was conceived as a guide for the African and Middle Eastern interior design industry. Whether it is to address specific questions for existing interior designers or provide an overview of the design process to a layperson, the book is guaranteed to meet every interior design need. The overall goal of The Interior Design Professional Guide for Africa and the Middle East is to provide a user manual for executing any interior design project from start to finish. It captures the principles of practicing as an interior designer and understanding all the processes involved. The book also gives details on the business side of the practice, legal responsibilities, and even fee structure.

It is a go-to guide for details and best practices for professional or aspiring interior designers in Africa and the Middle East and was published in English and French to support the industry within these regions.

During the book launch, HOD Interior Design, OAU, Professor Dolapo Amole pledges on the University’s behalf to donate 25 copies of the book. The DWL team further revealed their commitment to have gifted students of the University of Ibadan and Covenant University copies of the book, as a way of supporting the design industry from the grassroots.

CEO, Super Geek, Sam Udoma during his speech mentioned his way of encouragement by donating 100 copies of The Interior Design Professional Guide for Africa and the Middle East book round the African design industry.