lit a candle 1d agoI first came across FMA Architects in a design history seminar in Knoxville, a photograph of the Standard Chartered Bank building in Lagos projected on a screen while everyone else was half asleep. It made me want to see that skyline for myself someday. Eighty six is a long life spent building things that outlast a person. Thinking of his wife and children tonight.
Their story
Olufemi Adetokunbo Majekodunmi, known widely as Femi Majekodunmi, was a British-Nigerian architect who helped build modern professional institutions for architecture in Nigeria and across Africa, and who became the first African president of the International Union of Architects. Born in London on 1 May 1940 to Moses Majekodunmi and Tomi…
Olufemi Adetokunbo Majekodunmi, known widely as Femi Majekodunmi, was a British-Nigerian architect who helped build modern professional institutions for architecture in Nigeria and across Africa, and who became the first African president of the International Union of Architects. Born in London on 1 May 1940 to Moses Majekodunmi and Tomi Agbebi, he grew up in Nigeria, attended St Gregory's College in Lagos, and returned to Britain to train at the Glasgow School of Art and at Kingston College of Art, now Kingston University, graduating in 1966.
After early professional work with firms in Washington, D.C., and further experience in the United Kingdom, he returned to Nigeria in 1969 and joined Godwin and Hopwood Architects in Lagos. In 1973 he founded Femi Majekodunmi Associates, later FMA Architects Ltd, which grew into a major African practice with work in Nigeria and branches in Botswana and South Africa. Projects associated with the firm include the Botswana Police College, St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos, Sterling Tower, the NAL Office Building, the Standard Chartered Bank building in Lagos, the South African High Commission in Abuja, and Total's head office in Lagos.
Majekodunmi became the first president of the Nigerian Institute of Architects and later a fellow of that institute. He served as the first secretary general of the African Union of Architects from 1981 to 1984, helping to shape continental cooperation among architects. From 1990 to 1993 he was president of the International Union of Architects, bringing African perspectives into a global professional forum at a time when few African practitioners held that kind of international office. He was also a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a juror for competitions including the WAN Awards for World Architecture, and an associate professor of architecture at the University of Lagos, where he passed studio and professional habits to younger designers.
He married Victoria Majekodunmi; they had four children. Colleagues and Nigerian tributes often addressed him as Chief Olufemi Majekodunmi. He died on 5 June 2026 at the age of 86. The International Union of Architects published an in memoriam tribute the same day, and a Celebrating Life ceremony was held on 11 and 12 June 2026. Remembrances across Nigeria, Africa and the wider profession described a practitioner who linked private practice, teaching and institutional leadership, and who left FMA Architects as a continuing African firm.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); International Union of Architects in memoriam (5 June 2026); TheCable (6 June 2026); African Examiner (6 June 2026); FMA Architects.
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1Olufemi Majekodunmi
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