Tayo Ogunbiyi
The massive investment of the Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration toward the redevelopment of the John Randle Centre for Yoruba History and Culture has attracted global attention.
The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has ranked it among its World’s 14 Most Iconic Buildings.
The WAF is where the world architecture community meets to celebrate learn, exchange, and be inspired. Every year, the Festival recognizes a “Building of the Year” and the 2024 shortlist includes some of the world’s most incredible buildings.
The significance of the Day is to acknowledge the significant impact architecture has on the world around us, and the important role architects and designers play in shaping our cities through the careful consideration of structure, art and sustainability.
In the 2024 edition, over 350 buildings were entered into the completed buildings category, and 225 were shortlisted. Other categories include future projects, landscaping, and “Inside,” which judges the interior design of buildings.
Last year, Huizhen High School, a boarding school in Ningbo City, China, whose campus effectively uses vertical space and includes a floating forest — won the World Building of the Year award.
In the 2024 edition, 140 judges, representing 68 countries and made up of professionals in the architecture world, will review submissions and select the winners during the November festival.
Infrastructural development remains a critical development vehicle for realising the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S Plus Agenda and the Greater Lagos vision of Africa’s model smart city. Hence, the delivery of several iconic projects across the State.-
One such iconic project is the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History. Originally, built in 1928, the John Randle Centre used to serve as a hub for cultural tourism, recreation and entertainment.
John Randle, a prominent Lagosian and first West African to qualify as a medical doctor in the United Kingdom had built a public swimming pool in 1928 in King George V Park, which later became the Love Garden – a much-loved recreational area.
This grand gesture was inspired by the refusal of the British colonial office to build a pool for Lagosians to learn how to swim. On completion of the pool and garden, Dr Randle handed over the facilities to the Lagos Town Council with a maintenance purse to ensure its upkeep. It is the old arena that has now become an internationally rated cultural centre.
The project’s ring-like plan takes notes from traditional Yoruba cities, the structures’ concrete is tinted to match the red earth, and the gallery’s fractal powder-coated screen is inspired by ceremonial Ashoké cloth, examples of which are displayed inside with historical objects and stories of mythology.
A great asset symbolising the Babajide Sanwo-Olu government’s commitment to the development of tourism, culture and entertainment, it was commissioned on Tuesday 24 January 2023 by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The architectural masterpiece dedicated to the regeneration of Yoruba heritage is indeed the new sprawling edifice redefining tourism and culture in the city, sitting magnificently opposite the National Museum.
Although Sanwo-Olu inherited the dream, he has transformed it beyond the initial scales – proving that he is a believer in politics without bitterness and infrastructural continuity.
He said he particularly developed a special interest in the center to restore its lost glory, noting that it would be second to none in the documentation of Yoruba history and culture. He inaugurated a seven-member Board of Trustees for the center in July 2021, with himself as Chairman.
The John Randle Centre is the first of many initiatives aimed at the preservation of the heritage of the Yoruba through the celebration and preservation of history and culture, the regeneration of decades-old public green space, and public recreation facilities, and the restoration of civic pride. Onikan will be the catalyst for a vibrant and tourist-friendly quarter in the heart of Lagos Island.
With the completion of the complex, the Sanwo-Olu administration has successfully signposted its intention to place tourism development at the center of its economic planning. No wonder the governor is the chairman of the Board to revive tourism and engender a cultural renaissance in Lagos. The Board also has four government representatives and three professionals from the private sector.
The iconic edifice designed by Studio Imagine Simply Architecture(SI.SA), comprises swimming pools, restaurants, a museum with artefacts, an outdoor birthday party arena and tour stands.
Other segments of the edifice are offices, seminar rooms, a library, an orientation theatre, and more. It also has swimming pools for children and adults with standardised measurements and half of the Olympic size.
The physically challenged individuals are also put into consideration in the design of the edifice as it has a lift to aid their movements around the Centre.
Located across from the National Museum in Lagos, and near the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, the John Randle Centre helps form a new cultural corridor—and a democratic space in an area with a fraught history of exclusion.
In its characteristic manner of putting in place an enduring mechanism for the management of the State assets, the Sanwo-Olu administration has put structures in place to manage and creatively market the iconic tourist facility.
