The Architecture Foundation today announces four appointments to its governing Board of Trustees. Concurrently, it has appointed five new members of the AF Young Trustees. This group holds no legal responsibility for the governance and financial oversight of the Architecture Foundation but actively contributes to the charity’s programme.
Meet the new trustees
The new appointments to the Architecture Foundation’s Board of Trustees are Shumi Bose, Adrian Lahoud, Lesley Lokko and David Ogunmuyiwa. Their election concludes a search that was undertaken with the aim of extending the Board’s range of expertise. In particular it sought representatives from the worlds of academia and emerging practice as well as figures who had demonstrated a strong commitment to diversifying the architectural profession. All four new Trustees are existing board members of the New Architecture Writers programme which is supported by the Architecture Foundation.
The appointments reflect the Architecture Foundation’s ambition to restructure its board in broad reflection of the balance of ethnicity and gender to be found in London. That goal will continue to inform future appointments as existing board members reach the point of retirement over the next two years.
Cindy Walters, the Chair of the Architecture Foundation Board of Trustees, welcomed the new appointments:
"I am truly delighted to be able to invite such inspiring people to join the Architecture Foundation’s Board of Trustees, each of whom has gone above and beyond to support the AF during this extremely challenging year when Ellis and his team moved the entire programme online. It is an honour to have David, Lesley, Adrian and Shumi as new Trustees, who bring with them breathtaking knowledge and commitment to the future of architecture.”
Shumi Bose is a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Central St Martins College of Art and Design and an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art. She has extensive experience as a journalist and curator and was formerly a Curator of Exhibitions at the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Adrian Lahoud is Dean of the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art. Prior to his current role at the RCA, he was director of the MA programme at the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths. He was the Curator of the inaugural Sharjah Architecture Triennial in 2019.
Lesley Lokko is the Founder and Director of the African Futures Institute. She was formerly dean and professor of Architecture at the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York. She has recently been awarded the biennial Annie Spink Award, in recognition of her contribution to architectural education.
David Ogunmuyiwa is the Director of emerging practice Architecture Doing Place. Before training as an architect he worked as a housing officer for social landlords including Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Circle 33. He combines practice with teaching architecture at Portsmouth University and is a Mayor’s Design Advocate.
New Young Trustees
The five new appointments to the Architecture Foundation Young Trustees are Maria McLintock, Jasmin Yeo, Hiba Alobaydi, Quincy Haynes and Katie Fisher. The Young Trustees actively seek out and support emerging and less-heard voices from within the architectural professions and more outwardly. Supporting emerging practitioners through the sharing of experience and knowledge, the Young Trustees have made a critical contribution to the Architecture Foundation’s programme since the group’s formation in 2017. Ongoing initiatives include the online series Part Four and Life (not quite) Outside Architecture. In 2020, the Young Trustees co-ordinated the Shut Down Sites campaign. Updates on their programme can be found on Instagram at @youngtrustees
Amandeep Kalra & Betty Owoo, co-chairs of the Young Trustees, said:
"We are very excited to welcome this energetic new cohort of Young Trustees. They each will be bringing their individual experiences and expertise to continue the AFYT mission of celebrating lesser-known and emerging practitioners within the culture of architecture. As a group of active and emerging practitioners ourselves, we are not impartial! We are set-up to discuss and advocate the changes our culture most vitally needs, and we can't wait for the new cohort to join us in platforming issues that are important to young people within the industry."
Maria McLintock is a curator and historian of architecture and design. She works as an Assistant Curator at the Design Museum, London, where she has co-developed the exhibitions David Adjaye: Making Memory (2019) and Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers (2020), among others. She is a Visiting Lecturer in Architectural History and Theory at the School of Architecture, University of Limerick, and an Associate Lecturer in Design Theory at University of the Arts, London.
Jasmin Yeo is currently an Architectural Assistant at Freehaus, having previously completed her Part I studies at The University of Sheffield (SSoA). She is involved in several collaborative architectural initiatives that seek to amplify marginalised voices within architecture and she strongly believes in making the profession more accessible.
Hiba Alobaydi is assistant editor at world-renowned architecture and engineering firm Foster + Partners. Since graduating from UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture with an MA in Architectural History she has written for various institutions and publications where she consistently championed the creation of engaging, enlightening and educational content.
Quincy Haynes is currently completing his Part 2 studies at the London School of Architecture having previously worked at RCKa and Hawkins\Brown. During his time between studying, Quincy has worked on, and delivered, a series of competition wins for Architecture LGBT, The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust/Blueprint for All, and the LFA
Katie Fisher is an architect and member of the EDI workgroup at Stanton Williams. Prior to joining Stanton Williams, Katie worked with the Office of Displaced Designers in Lesvos, a design focused integration organisation, bringing together people from displaced and host communities. Katie is passionate about making both architectural design and the architectural profession inclusive for all.