As a furniture designer, a surfboard-company impresario, and the head of the industrial design faculty at the Nbari Creativity and Design Incubator in Nigeria, Josh Egesi finds that sticking to one lane isn’t his style.

Sustainability is a word that Egesi invokes often. In the traditional sense, Egesi wants to design in a way that protects the environment. Pointing to the mud walls behind him, he explains that drawing on traditional African building techniques helps regulate temperature in the Nigerian climate.

In another sense of the word, Egesi hopes to facilitate an African design industry that can sustain itself. Right now, he’s creating a directory of Nigerian fabrication resources to aid in producing African designs—both his own and others’. Egesi explains that “a lot of products were not designed here. Most of the time when [Nigerian manufacturers] think of innovation, they’re thinking about catching up with the West. It doesn’t make sense, especially because when building for people in your country, you need to innovate with the people.” As such, his work is informed by the context in which he lives, ranging from cultural to climatic to geographic to political.

Take the Ayo Bench, inspired by memoriesof a wobbly childhood perch. The updated wooden bench—a long, flat seat resting on arched legs with a backrest supported by a row of spindles—was designed for different activities on each side: ayo (a Nigerian variety of mancala) and a magazine rack. Egesi says the bench’s structure, encased in glass-like acrylic, nods to the “conversation [about African museum artifacts]that are kept in museums away from us.”

This iteration of the Ayo Bench typifies Egesi’s reverence for the material world he builds. He hopes that “by evolving culture, we’re evolving our materials.” While community is always top of mind, for his furniture, Egesi draws inspiration from his own experiences, says, “I design for myself, to be honest. People tend to want the things that I’ve designed for myself because I don’t exist in a vacuum. I am the people. I have lived with these experiences.”

You can learn more about Josh Egesi by visiting the studio’s website or on Instagram.

Top image courtesy Josh Egesi

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