Dele Adeyemo Explores Dance and Spatial Practices in Lagos Through Yoruba Cosmology

Scottish-Nigerian artist and architect Dele Adeyemo, recognized as a winner of the ArchDaily 2025 Next Practices Awards, discusses his interdisciplinary work that merges ecology, spirituality, dance, and territorial studies. His practice investigates how embodied cultural traditions can create alternative spatial frameworks within and in opposition to racial capitalist structures. Adeyemo draws from Yoruba proverbs and West African traditions, using concepts like ancestral connections and nonlinear time to inform his artistic and pedagogical approaches. Born in Nigeria and raised in the United Kingdom, he has conducted extensive research in Lagos over many years, focusing on collective movement practices that existed before capitalism and offer distinct spatial intelligences. His work challenges conventional architectural perceptions by identifying design sophistication in places often viewed as deficient. The interview explores how dance and cosmology intersect with spatial practices to generate new possibilities for understanding urban environments.