Architect Wins Furniture Award

An architect and Howard University graduate, Damola Rufai, has been announced the winner of the IO Furniture Innovation Award, which drew to a close, recently.

After a gruelling selection process, four finalists – Yinka Dayo-Adepoju, Nafisat Dada, Babalola Ishmael, and Damola Rufai – had made it to the finals of the furniture competition, which aims at tapping into the genius of young local designers. But, at the IO Furniture showroom in Lagos, where the final exhibitions were done, it was 28 year-old Damola who took home the award with a design tagged ‘The Esho Table’.

According to the descriptions from the exhibition, “the ‘Esho Table’ is a versatile design that can be used in both commercial and residential settings. Made of a glass top and welded steel rod, it was designed with low poly graphics in mind to conjure up images of a cut jewel.

"Named after the Yoruba word for treasure or jewel, ‘Esho’ was created with the use of sustainable re-usable materials. The designer did not utilize most modern high tech processes used in design and manufacturing today."

“I wanted to know that even with the absence of the computerized design tools employed today, that the vision I had for the table could be achieved not just by me, but by others who might not have formal CAD training,” Damola said. For winning, Damola was granted the One Million Naira cash prize. The design will also be produced and added to the IO Furniture product line, and he will receive royalties for the ‘Esho’ design for a period of one year. The other finalists, Dayo-Adepoju (Ubuntu), Dada (Beta) and Ishmael (Ellipso’) placed second, third and fourth respectively and were also granted cash prizes for their efforts.