In his final interview as president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Muyiwa Oki reflects on his groundbreaking tenure as the youngest and first Black person to lead the prestigious organization. The 33-year-old architect, whose two-year term effectively ends today, has spent his presidency pushing for workplace reform, diversity initiatives, and organizational changes at the nearly two-century-old institution.
Three years ago, Oki made headlines when he defeated well-established rivals Sumita Singha and Jo Bacon in a competitive election for RIBA president. As a senior architectural manager at Mace, he campaigned on promises to address overtime issues, pay disparities, and equality and diversity concerns within the profession. His victory generated significant excitement and optimism about whether this young architect could transform RIBA's sometimes opaque operations and make the membership organization better reflect today's diverse architectural community.
During his 24-month presidency, Oki acknowledges that implementing his ambitious agenda has taken longer than expected. He admits that a newly established taskforce addressing workplace wellbeing and culture will need at least two more years to produce concrete results. However, he believes that simply bringing workplace misconduct issues to the forefront – along with initiatives on artificial intelligence – represents an achievement his predecessors had not accomplished.
Oki entered the RIBA presidency without extensive knowledge of the institute's internal politics, but he quickly discovered that the organization operates with established systems and cannot be dramatically altered by a single individual. "Gone are the days where it's one individual's machine to run," he explained. "The fact that there are divisions of power and divisions of labor means that the institute doesn't die on the hill of the star architect or the role of RIBA president."
His predecessor, Simon Allford, had already initiated the ambitious $85 million House of Architecture project, which includes plans to refurbish RIBA's 1930s headquarters at 66 Portland Place and modernize its back-office IT systems. This comprehensive renovation also encompasses a delayed rebranding initiative that Oki personally championed during his tenure.
When asked about his biggest achievement, Oki emphasized getting the architecture industry to seriously address the challenges facing younger architects. "As a RIBA member for a decade, there had been a lack of focus on the issues which my cohort and people like me had long been experiencing around overtime, pay, and workplace culture," he said. "There was an endemic, silent, or tacit approval of these behaviors, and it was just part and parcel of life as an architect."
Oki expressed confidence that his wellbeing and workplace taskforce will deliver tangible recommendations within two years to make architecture more competitive as a profession. He noted that these issues have now been placed on both RIBA's agenda and that of the Architects Registration Board (ARB), the profession's regulatory body.
Regarding the two-year presidential term limit, Oki believes the current system prevents the role from becoming too exclusive and ensures healthy transitions of power. "It's important to have continuation and transition of power from one president to another so that lessons are learned and moved forward," he explained.
One surprising aspect of his presidency was RIBA's increased engagement with policymakers at local and national levels. Oki credited the institute's policy and public affairs team for positioning RIBA to share expertise on issues affecting members, particularly housing policy.
The promised RIBA rebrand, which Oki announced during his mid-term interview, remains in development but will not launch during his presidency. He confirmed that the new brand and website are expected to debut before year-end as part of the broader House of Architecture strategy. This three-pronged plan encompasses building renovation, creating permanent space for RIBA's collections, and developing enhanced digital platforms.
Addressing criticism about spending on the House of Architecture project, Oki admitted he initially harbored "healthy skepticism" about the initiative. However, after examining the details as president, he concluded the renovation was essential. "We had 90 years of inactivity of not taking care and maintaining the building," he said. "As an architecture body, it's damning not to have a building that can be inclusive to people with reduced mobility."
The aging building's infrastructure, including 1930s-era elevators that are too small for accessibility compliance, desperately needed updating. Oki viewed the project as an opportunity to demonstrate how historic buildings can be upgraded for energy efficiency and net-zero carbon goals while maintaining their listed building status.
When asked about his legacy, Oki hopes to be remembered as "the social justice president" and partially as "the AI president" for raising awareness about artificial intelligence in architecture. His ultimate goal is enabling career architects to also be caregivers and increasing representation of Black architects, particularly young Black professionals, in the field.
However, Oki's presidency faced challenges with member engagement. Election turnout reached new lows during his tenure, with 43 percent of council seats going uncontested this year due to lack of candidates. Oki found these statistics discouraging despite his efforts to increase regional engagement through presidential visits across the country, from the Southwest to the Northeast.
"It's incumbent on Chris Williamson and all our successors to continue in that vein and encourage architects to take elections more seriously," Oki said, referring to his incoming replacement. He acknowledged that RIBA may need to improve how it communicates election timetables and measures member engagement.
Oki was particularly critical of RIBA's membership hub technology platform, calling it "a bit of a disaster" and "an archaic way of thinking about member engagement." He described it as "a solution looking for a problem" and advised the technical team against building additional apps, suggesting instead that RIBA utilize existing platforms with proven user engagement.
On contentious political issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict, Oki maintained that RIBA must remain apolitical due to its charitable status. Despite personal views, he emphasized that any institutional positions must align with RIBA's charter and cannot be driven by individual presidential preferences.
Looking ahead, Oki advised his successor Chris Williamson to "enjoy the time and process." He expressed particular pride in his work expanding RIBA's recognition programs through the honors committee, highlighting awards to Leslie Lokko (2024 Royal Gold Medal winner), SANAA (2025 Royal Gold Medal winner), and the Elizabeth Line (Stirling Prize winner). "This wouldn't have happened if I wasn't at the table," he noted, though he added with humor that "we need to sort out the afterparty."
As Oki's historic presidency concludes, the question remains whether he will be remembered as the transformative social justice president he aspires to be, the rebranding president, or potentially the final president before RIBA's headquarters renovation temporarily disrupts operations this summer. His successor Williamson has warned about the organization potentially "sleepwalking into oblivion" during this transitional period, adding urgency to the institutional changes Oki has championed.
