The future: creative and irresistible

Talk + networking reception: Monday, 24 April

Muyiwa Oki, the incoming president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, will speak about the fear of failure and how it impedes creativity. He argues that fear of humiliation, rather than material suffering, is what we (people) fear most. Oki believes that fear is a great enemy of creativity at both the personal and corporate level. To overcome this, he advocates for making irresistible change and using creativity to deliver a sustainable future.

Oki acknowledges the challenging scale of the task ahead, with the world already on track to exceed the 1.5 degrees C warming target and a population of almost 11 billion people by 2100. He believes that creatives will be essential in building civic spaces to accommodate the growing population. Cities, in particular, are critical to this endeavour, but few are aesthetically and socially appealing, despite the advancements in technology and design.

Oki encourages individuals to set themselves free from the fear of humiliation and embrace failure as a necessary part of the creative process. He believes that we need to make our cities and places irresistible, not just economically appealing, to deliver a sustainable future.