James Inedu-George (born 28 February 1981) is a Nigerian architect and writer. He co-founds HTL Africa, Tao South Africa and HTL Asia. In 2017, he was nominated for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Early life and education James was born and raised in Zazzau (now called Zaria) in Kaduna state. He attended Therbow secondary school before proceeding to Ahmadu Bello University where he badged B.Sc and master's degree in architecture. In 2020, He resided as an African architect for the University of Florida fellowship.
Career 2003-2008 James started working as a designer with ITEX furniture for the 2003 Nigerian presidential inauguration furniture. He began exploring how to create a sustainable architectural language that led to the development of a house that addressed current housing deficit issues, created jobs, and improved the lives of its residents. In 2008, James started a research-based innovation practice in West Africa which led to the Fourth Mainland Bridge, Lagos: An Absence of Systems Exhibition in 2009, 44.86 VGC house and the Guaranty Trust Bank twist cube.
2011-2015 In 2011, Inedu-George participated in the Who is Who in White Space, an Exhibition of Emergent Lagos Architects where he spoke on solutions to housing and flooding issues in Nigeria. In 2015, he designed one of the first green buildings in Nigeria – Greenwall on Military Street Lagos and opened Tao South Africa, an architecture research firm in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2016-2018 In 2016, He developed "Affordacity" which was called the future of African cities. The exhibition was sponsored by the Goethe institute, Nigeria and the German government. In 2017, He participated in the first Biennale d'architectured'Orleans in Orleans, France presenting a book with the title, "An Interruptive Manifesto" which spoke against the economy of aids in Africa and creative architecture of adaptive reuse in African cities. In 2018, Inedu-George gave a TEDX talk called "The invention of isiewu".
2019-2021 In 2019, He exhibited the "Miracle Room" alongside the HTL team during the 2019 Lagos Biennale. He was the African Architect in residence at the University of Florida in 2020 and a curator for the ArchiAfrika Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture. In 2021, he founded HTL Asia to influence design and research in Middle east and Asia.
HTL Architecture In 2008, He founded the architectural firm called HTL, initially initially based in Nigeria and working within Africa. It was regarded as a producing theory and building work in West Africa. Since establishment has featured in projects including; 8 Bridge (2011) and Lagos: An Absence of Systems (2009) exhibited at Goethe Institut Lagos, Nigeria.
Lectures Architectural views Performativeness The Cross, the Mask, and the Frame: A MegaCity Story
Writing Lagos roads and the death of real innovation The green wall of Africa, 2017
An African conquering the World podcast James is the host of an African conquering the world podcast.
Santa Barbara: The Museum City Modernism
Notable Projects Pan African Museum, Accra Affordacity GTB twist cube- Lawanson, Lagos Transcorp event center, Abuja Green Wall Onikan, Lagos Amity Compact House Lagos, Nigeria
Awards and recognition In 2017, he was nominated for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
References Further reading Dietrich Neumann; Margaret Maile Petty; Sandy Isenstadt, eds. (2014). Cities of Light: Two Centuries of Urban Illumination. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317602538.
External links About James Inedu-George on Chartered Institute of Administration CIA, Lagos. SA+P Spring 2023 Lecture Series | James Inedu-George at Morgan State University Lecture of James Inedu-George on YouTube