Nigerian architect Tosin Oshinowo has added another major milestone to her growing list of international accolades. Her thought-provoking installation on Lagos markets, featured at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, has earned a prestigious Special Mention Award, placing her firmly in the spotlight of the global design world.
The Venice Biennale is widely regarded as the most significant event on the architectural calendar, and this year’s edition carried an even sharper focus on sustainability, social impact, and the future of urban life. Oshinowo’s work stood out among dozens of global entries, recognised for its powerful visual storytelling and cultural depth, which captured the spirit, complexity, and resilience of informal markets in Lagos.
Titled “The Market: A City Within a City”, Oshinowo’s installation explored the layered realities of open-air markets across Nigeria’s commercial capital. Using architectural mapping, spatial models, photography, and audio recordings, the piece highlighted how these bustling trading hubs function beyond commerce as sites of memory, survival, woman-led enterprise, and communal identity.
Curators of the Biennale praised Oshinowo for her ability to frame Lagos’s informal market structures not as chaotic or temporary, but as systems of ingenuity, adaptability, and local knowledge. The award citation described her work as “an insightful meditation on how architecture and urban life exist outside formal rules, yet remain indispensable to the heartbeat of a megacity”.
Speaking at the award presentation in Italy, Oshinowo noted, “This installation is about telling stories that have been invisible for too long. Markets in Lagos are not just places to buy and sell. They are lifelines. They are architecture that grows with people. This recognition means the world to all of us who believe in the importance of documenting and honouring our own spaces.”
Back home in Nigeria, the recognition has been met with celebration across the arts, architecture, and urban development sectors. Oshinowo, known for her progressive design ethos and socially responsive projects, continues to challenge stereotypes around African cities and their built environments.
This win also signals a growing global recognition of African architects pushing boundaries on the world stage, by anchoring their work in real lived experiences. Oshinowo’s success serves as inspiration not just for the Nigerian design community, but for a generation rethinking what architecture should look like in African contexts.
