RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2024 celebration with Lesley Lokko and special guests

Everyone is invited to join us for a new take on our Royal Gold Medal ceremony. With live performances, exhibitions, art installations and more, 66 Portland Place will be brought to life to celebrate our 2024 Royal Gold Medallist Lesley Lokko.

Join us for an evening of architectural exhibitions, special performances and art installations celebrating our 2024 Royal Gold Medallist Professor Lesley Lokko OBE. You’ll hear Prof. Lokko reflect on her career’s legacy as she receives the newly minted Royal Gold Medal which was approved personally by His Majesty the King in recognition of her lifetime’s work in the advancement of architecture.

Her work to “democratise architecture” has been hailed by the RIBA Honours Committee 2024 as a “clarion call for equitable representation in policies, planning, and design that shape our spaces”. And, in recognition of the Lokko’s role in pushing forward inclusion and equity we are proud to announce that new for 2024 everyone is invited to book and attend. During the event you will:

• Hear from our host RIBA President Muyiwa Oki
• See the Royal Gold Medal awarded to Lokko and hear her acceptance speech Architecture: A Love Letter.

• Hear from Lokko’s nominators from Gbolade Design Studio as they discuss the importance of Lokko’s career as a ‘trailblazer for bold and progressive discourse about society, architecture and culture, radically transforming architectural education for generations to come.’
• Hear from Lokko’s nominators Tara and Lanre Gbolade from Gbolade Design Studio as they discuss the importance of Lokko’s career as a ‘trailblazer for bold and progressive discourse about society, architecture and culture, radically transforming architectural education for generations to come’
• Experience an art installation, Those With Walls for Windows, from the multi-disciplinary artist, poet and visionary director, LionHeart. A meditation and exploration into the “laws of freedom,” the work investigates the space of diaspora through poetry - a place where forgetting, remembering, and reimagining act as architectural devices in the urban planning of the diasporic psyche
• Hear a DJ set from South London-based musical movement and curatorial platform, Errol and Alex Rita (Touching Bass)

“Professor Lesley Lokko OBE is an educator, author, and curator. For over two decades Lokko has been rightly recognised for her groundbreaking contributions to architectural education, dialogue, and discourse from a Global South perspective – relentlessly pursuing inclusivity and equity in the field. Not only is Lokko the first African woman to receive this honour, but she also now takes her place among architecture’s defining figures.” RIBA President Muyiwa Oki

Throughout the evening you can also learn about Lokko’s inspiring career in a display on the Second Floor Practice Space, visit our new exhibition in the Architecture Gallery with a unique programme for the Royal Gold Medal celebration, and make the most of our Bookshop’s late opening with an exclusive 15% discount on the evening.

Tickets include a complimentary drink followed by a pop-up bar selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments.

RIBA would like to thank the African Futures Institute for their sponsorship of Those With Walls for Windows.

This event is supported by Champagne Taittinger.

Further details

We want our events to be accessible and inclusive for all, and for everyone to feel welcome and included. There is no typical RIBA attendee and everyone attending our events has different needs.

There is no dress code for this event, and we encourage you to embrace your personal style, dressing in any way you feel comfortable and enables you to express your authentic self.

Read our accessibility and inclusion information to plan your journey to 66 Portland Place, London and also view virtual tour of the building.

This event takes places across several floors in the building with the main activity in the Florence Hall and Jarvis Lecture Theatre. These are both accessed via the stairs or passenger lift only (Lift dimensions: Width 0.75m x Depth 0.90m x Height 2.15m).

If you are a wheelchair user you can let us know your wheelchair dimensions on booking or email us at events@riba.org.

If you would like to discuss your attendance and inclusion and/or access needs to attend the event comfortably, please get in touch at events@riba.org.

Terms and Conditions

• Cancellations must be made in writing to events@riba.org. No refunds can be made for cancellations notified within 48 hours of the event. To transfer your ticket/s to another individual/s, please contact events@riba.org. Please note that Eventbrite fees will not be refunded.
• Complimentary tickets are non-transferable.
• A photographer may cover this event and the images may be used to publicise future RIBA events. By accepting an invitation or purchasing a ticket you consent to being photographed, filmed or recorded as a visitor attending the event.
• If the RIBA has to postpone or cancel the event, the booker is entitled to a full refund of the ticket price only.
• For RIBA Member tickets, membership numbers will be validated following payment. Should a membership have lapsed, a member of the team will contact you regarding an alternate ticket type and next steps.
• On entry to the event you agree to accept and abide by any venue rules.
• The RIBA reserves the right to refuse admission to any ticket holder.
• The details you provide will be used in line with the RIBA's GDPR obligations. For information on how we will handle your personal data please see our Privacy Policy.
• Read our accessibility and inclusion information to plan your journey to 66 Portland Place, London. You can also view a virtual tour of the building. If you would like to discuss your attendance and inclusion and/or access needs to attend the event comfortably, please get in touch at talks@riba.org.