Richard Aina is a multidisciplinary designer and researcher with particular strengths that reside in architectural/spatial design, architectural writing, furniture craft and conceptual filmmaking. His particular interests in amalgam typologies and liminal space drive his exploration toward contemporary West African aesthetic expression. Which he has recently coined “afrorevivalism”.

While he was a student at the Architectural Association (AA), he initially received the Wren Insurance Association Scholarship in 2020. The following year, Richard’s thesis “A Culture of Craft: West Africa UNObjectified” was awarded the prestigious Dennis Sharp Writing Prize, it went on to receive international acclaim with being awarded the coveted RIBA President’s Dissertation Medal. As a current history & theory studies lecturer at the AA, he also practices with an architecture studio based in London.

Richard’s developed skills from studying theoretical and practice-based architecture have informed the way in which he has contributed to the formulation of ANO’s online digital content. Received inventories of cultural heritage are being embedded within innovative digital methodologies of recategorization and recontextualization to be activated visually.