brand & vision
Richard Adetokunbo Aina is an award-winning British-Nigerian architect, craftsman, researcher, writer, and educator. His work is driven by a deep interest in material heritage, associative traditional practice, mixed typologies and liminal space. This leads him to explore contemporary African aesthetic reinterpretations, which he calls "afrorevivalism".
I-JŌKŌ TO THE WORLD
I-JŌKŌ [EE-JOH-KOH] is a world-class design brand and consultancy driven by research and rooted in culture. Through a design movement called Afrorevivalism, we reimagine African heritage for the present—crafting luxury objects, shaping meaningful interiors, and envisioning bold, enduring architecture for the future. All rooted in ethical and sustainable design practices towards circular design principles.
The problem we address is the severe underrepresentation of African aesthetics and systems of thinking in global design and development, in which heritage is often treated as nostalgia rather than innovation. Our work offers clients culturally rooted, contemporary design solutions that carry depth, story, and precision.
Under I-JŌKŌ sit two interconnected divisions:
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I-JŌKŌ Craft & Interiors – designing and producing luxury furniture collections, interior installations, and bespoke pieces for private and commercial clients.
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I-JŌKŌ Design & Consultancy – offering research-driven cultural strategy services, lectures, exhibitions, and books that showcase the brand’s intellectual and cultural capital. Whilst delivering architectural, infrastructural, and placemaking projects grounded in African spatial traditions and contemporary innovation.
WE SIT BEFORE WE STAND,
WE WALK BEFORE WE RUN.
Our name I-JŌKŌ [EYE-JOH-KOH] derives its name and meaning both the physical act and the cultural significance of gathering, grounding, and being present.
At I-JŌKŌ, the chair becomes more than a functional object — it is a sculptural vessel of memory, identity, and future possibility.
¹JŌKŌ [JOH-KOH]~
(Yoruba language)
~ TO SIT, TO TAKE ONES PLACE
²IJŌKŌ [EE-JOH-KOH]~
(Yoruba language)
~ THE CHAIR, THE SEAT