Ola-dele Kuku


Ola-Dele Kuku was a Nigerian architect and artist of Yoruba origin. He lived and worked between Nigeria and Belgium.

Formation and career

Ola-Dele Kuku studied at, the Southern California Institute of Architecture, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. and in Vico Morcote, Ticino, Switzerland. He also attended Architecture Intermundium in Milan, Italy, for advanced architecture studies, where he collaborated with Daniel Libeskind on the City Edge project, and the Berlin Jewish Museum competition.
Kuku was captivated by the study of proportion and created structures to challenge common conception of living space and traditional architectural restraints.
At this immaterial production Kuku also having more works related to the subject such as "Opera Domestica" a series consisting of furniture wooden sculpture that condense the structures and functions of architectural space in the object space.

Awards and prizes

Ola-Dele Kuku has successfully participated in numerous events and international competitions such as:
  • ’Grand Prize - Prime Minister’s Prize' Award - IFI Nagoya International Design Competition, Nagoya, Japan, 1995
  • ’License of Honour' Tech-Art Prize Award - Vlaamse Ingenieurs kamer, Antwerp, Belgium, 1995
  • Henry Van De Velde Prize - 'Prize of the Public Award' - VIZO at the Design Museum, Ghent, Belgium, 1997
  • ‘Honourable Mention’ Award - Nagoya Do International Design Competition, Nagoya Japan, 1998
  • ’Mention Spéciale pour la Créativité' - Biennale pour l'Art Contemporain Africain Dak'ART, Dakar Senegal 2000
  • Lauréat - SPES Belgian Foundation Scholarship Award, Brussels Belgium.

Exhibitions

  • Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy –'Home for the Muses’ 1990 - solo
  • Nagoya International Center, Nagoya, Japan – ‘Teatro Dell'Archivio’ 1995 - group·
  • Lineart . Ghent, Belgium – ‘Teatro Dell'Archivio’ 1996 – solo
  • Richard Foncke Gallery, Ghent, Belgium – ‘Circumstances as Consequence’ 1997 - solo
  • World Craft Council, Hannover, Germany – ‘Objects’ 1997 - group
  • Centre d’Art Contemporain Brussels, Belgium – ‘Detail’ 1998 - group
  • Nagoya Centre, Nagoya, Japan – ‘New Neighbours’ 1999 - group
  • Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden – World Crafts Council European Prize 1999 - group
  • Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France – World Crafts Council European Prize 1999 - group
  • Temporary & Contemporary TenT Brussels, Belgium – ‘Celestial Mechanics I – VIII’ 1999 solo
  • International Biennial Design Festival, Sainte-Etienne, France – ‘Detail’ 2000 – group
  • Narodni Techniké Museum, Prague, Czech Republic – ‘Similar Differences’ 2000 - group
  • Teatro dal Verme Milano, Italy – ‘Aftermath’ 2001 - solo
  • Middelheim Museum Antwerp Belgium – ‘Experimental Experience’ 2004 - solo.
  • Swish Art Fair Milan, Italy – ‘Objects & Drawings’ 2004 - group.
  • Porsche Haus Milan, Italy – ‘Objects & Drawings’ 2004 - solo.
  • Torino Art Fair, Torino, Italy – ‘Living with the Fates I-XII’ 2004 – group.
  • Galleria Mares, Pavia, Italy – ‘Ola-Dele Kuku Architect’ 2004 - solo.
  • Milan Art Fair 2005 - MIART off – ‘Ola-Dele Kuku Prototype’ 2005 - solo.
  • Galleria Luisa delle Piane, Milan, Italy – ‘Selected works’ 2006 - solo.
  • Musée d’Ixelles Brussels, Belgium - ’Agenda Setting’ 2008.
  • FESMAN III, Dakar, Senegal ‘The Dakar Initiative’ 2010 - solo.
  • Philippe Laeremans Gallery Brussels, Belgium - ‘Speaking in Vernacular’ 2012 - solo.
  • Design museum Gent, Belgium - ‘Similar Difference’ Installation - 2012 - solo.
  • 7th Flanders Design Triennial, Genk, Belgium - ‘Agenda Setting’ - 2013 - group
  • Nigerian Pavilion - 15th International Architecture Exhibition, 'Diminished Capacity' -

Architecture institutions

Ola-Dele Kuku has lectured and offered seminars at several architecture academies.

Publications

Matteo Galiazzo, Ola-Dele Kuku Antwerpen : ABC2004, 2005.
  • L’Arca n° 51 – ‘L’Utopia del Progetto’ by Mautizio Vitta,.
  • Arch and Life n° 69 – ‘Opera Domestica 1’ by Marc Gossé.
  • Noc n° 26 – ‘In the beginning’ by Julia Chiu.
  • L’Arca n° 112 – ‘Opera Domestica’ by Maurizio Vitta.
  • Kwintessens n° 1 – ‘Ola-Dele Kuku’ Profile by Christian Oosterlinck.
  • De Morgan – January ‘De betonnen bonker van Noah’ by Farida O’Seery.
  • Knack n° 47 – ‘Kasten als Kathedralen’ by Jean-Pierre Gabriel.
  • Knack n° 13 – ‘Dromen Van Een Kerkhof’ by Max Borka.
  • Trends n° 46 – ‘Leegte is de Drijfreer’ by Margot Vanderstraeten.
  • Revue Noir n° 30 – ‘Nigeria’ Ola-Dele Kuku Profile.
  • Feeling Wonen n° 09/0015 – ‘Sculpturen vol geheimen’ by Hilde Bouchez.
  • Revue Noir n° 31 – ‘Project de Ville’ Ola-Dele Kuku Profile.
  • Vernissage n° 1/7 – ‘Ola-Dele Kuku’ by Mia Dekeersemaker.
  • Object n° 16 – ‘Diptych’ by Hans Fonck.
  • Passion Architecture n° 9 – ‘L’architecture au-delà frontières’.
  • Trends n° 20 – ‘Het denkende design van Ola-Dele Kuku’ by Sérge Vanmaercke.
  • Trends n° 20 – ‘Le no nonsense d’un Yoruba à Bruxelles’ by Sérge Vanmaercke.
  • Luxos n° 5 – ‘I pezzi unici dell’architetto Ola-Dele Kuku’ by Alessia Franchini.
  • U Magazine n° 042 – ‘Ola-Dele Kuku’ U profile.
  • Area Revue n° 16 – ‘Desseins de structures urbaines’ by Alexandre Mensah.
  • Nubian's Magazine n° 7 – ‘La dialectique de l’ordre et du chaos’ by Roger Ndéma Kingué
  • Kwintessens Magazine n° 2 – ‘Ontwerpen voor Conflict en Chaos’ interview by Kurt Vanbelleghem
  • ‘Speaking in Vernacular’, – Texts by Sara Weyns, F. Kehinde Oluyadi, Chika Unigwe, and Roger Ndéma Kingué
  • `The Saga Continues’, - Text by Sara Weyns
  • `7th Flanders Design Triennial‘, - ‘Agenda Setting’ - interview by Elien Haentjens
  • `7th Flanders Design Triennial‘, - ‘Conflict Culture’ - Text by Ola-Dele Kuku