Modern art about modernity

An international exhibition in Chengdu examines issues surrounding urbanization, Lin Qi reports.

Nigerian Kunle Adeyemi says he doesn't aspire to create beautiful buildings but instead focuses on "tackling problems, providing solutions and harnessing opportunities". This ethos is manifested in the Makoko Floating School, a wooden, floating school and community center he built on a lagoon in Lagos in 2012. Adeyemi designed the structure to provide a prototype for waterfront communities worldwide that face rapid urbanization, rising sea levels and floods caused by climate change.

He sourced local materials and used endemic techniques in his project to provide sustainable, affordable housing.