With Nahous, Lagos’ New Cultural Hub Blends Old Architecture and Contemporary Vision

The result of the restoration project at the Old Federal Palace Building is a merging of the old with fresh, modernist sensibilities now known as Nahous. Nahous is billed as a cultural space located in the creative center of Lagos, Victoria Island, and designed to incubate multidisciplinary creative expressions.

The idea, according to Vedelago, was to create a "lifestyle space that is curated in a way that promotes our culture, disciplines, and our artists in a way that is contemporary and modern," he tells OkayAfrica via video call. It's been two months since Nahous opened with an exhibition curated by Vedelago himself, who says the reception has been positive. "I think a lot of people have started thinking alternatively about how to reimagine spaces that are currently not valued or put at the forefront of where they should be," Vedelago says.

A fan of the Bauhaus movement, Vedelago himself designed Nahous in three months, while maintaining the original architectural integrity of the old Federal Palace building.

"I had a clear understanding of how I wanted to use the space, and building out spaces is something that I have become second nature to me, and so it was just me on site with my contractors, and we were able to sort of find solutions," Vedelago says of the process. "The most challenging aspect wasn't the aesthetics, it was going back into a building that hadn't been used in over 30 years and hoping that the whole thing doesn't collapse on us."

However, thankfully, the building was built to a high standard. Many of the marbles were still intact, the structures still formidable, and so, "It was essentially a refurbishment with a repositioning of the space and also understanding what worked. We didn't go in there to try to change the whole space. We wanted to keep it true to how it was developed in the '70s."

To enter Nahous is to travel through time. The doors lead into a blend of art deco interior with brutalist sensibilities, featuring large, maze-like rooms and exposed walls. What was once the ground floor, which previously comprised the check-in area and banquet hall, has now been divided into a gallery, a concept store featuring only Nigerian designs and products, a furniture showroom showcasing locally produced materials, and a versatile gathering space.

As part of an effort to preserve the space's original form, Vedelago transformed the old kitchen into an open-concept bar. Called Bar 77 after Festac 77, the bar still features the subway tiles and the historic mood of a kitchen that's been around since before Nigeria's independence (the signing of Nigeria's Declaration of Independence took place in one of the boardrooms) and fed many dignitaries and patrons when the hotel was still in operation.

Overhead, the steel piping remains intact, giving the space an artful look of something left purposefully unfinished, an exhibition on the process of ageing. It's a stellar and inventive way to blend the old with the new without sacrificing the history or ambition of either.

Independent thinking

As Vedelago sees it, the culture is in dire need of spaces that encourage and facilitate independent thinking. And Nahous is positioned to activate that kind of thinking. Its spacious and minimal design is one of the first features that can trigger an invigorating sense of possibilities.

"If you're in a space that doesn't limit your thinking, you can have some pretty interesting conversations that are expansive and beneficial to your learning curve than just, oh, this is this art exhibition, this is this installation, this is what it means. Great art to me is built for independent thinking," Vedelago says.

Other sections of Nahous are designed to evoke this sensibility, including a library and the numerous historical pieces that line the walls of the space, from old photos of guests who once visited the hotel during its heyday to a wall display breaking down the hotel's rich legacy. Nahous, according to Vedelago, aims to address questions about what it means to gather and what it entails to create spaces that promote people's mental and cultural well-being.

The ambition of Nahous is primarily around cultural reprogramming. Everything from the design of the space to the Nigerian street food-inspired menu (which is rare in many restaurant spaces in Lagos) is aimed at reprogramming how we think of contemporary Nigerian life.

Vedelago says Nahous is preparing for a vibrant slate of programming. Although the space is open, Vedelago wanted people to come in and take in the space first before launching the cultural activities it has planned.

Micro-communities

In an age where there is a clamor for third spaces - easygoing gatherings or spaces that allow for community and serve as an antithesis to work or home - spaces like Nahous serve a vital purpose, particularly in a city teeming with young people and explosive creative energy.

Vedelago says he understands the importance of creating spaces that respond to this pandemic of isolation and desire to connect. This is really at the heart of what Nahous wants to be.

"The deeper is creating micro communities and conversations within these [creative] disciplines and trying to get people to start looking at things in a different, more expansive way than they have historically," Vedelago says.

On the heels of that, Nahous is gearing up to be an incubator for freedom, in thought, artistic practice, and how people commune with one another. "We need more spaces that champion mental health, and freedom of thought and freedom of mind because we don't have that," Vedelago says. He draws a line between the constant consumption of "We're sort of chained to our phones on a day-to-day basis. That gives us terrible news, the collective addiction to devices and social media, and the constant sense of doom and collective thinking."

"There aren't many spaces that allow you to feel free and forget s*** for 5 minutes. That's the importance of space. Space allows you to be free, and if it's curated and done in the right way, it leaves you inspired and eager to come back for more. Museums, unfortunately, used to do that all around the world, but they've now become such tourist traps that I remember back in the day, you could go and sit in the museum for hours on end. Now, every museum is sort of geared towards financial returns."

Crucial to the ambitious mission that Nahous is undertaking, both as a new art institution and cultural space that has injected new life into an equally culturally significant space, is the possibility of disappearing. In a world that values and often enforces overexposure, Nahous hopes to create worlds where people can disappear and emerge anew.