Artist Talk: Mae-ling Lokko

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The Architectural Scientist and Building Technology Researcher Mae-ling Lokko discusses some reflections on the role of the architect in unalienating different actors/materials that surround the building material life cycle.

Mae-ling Lokko is an architectural scientist and building technology researcher from Ghana and the Philippines whose work centers on the upcycling of agrowaste and biopolymer ma- terials into high-performance, clean building material systems. Lokko holds a Ph.D. and Masters of Science in Architectural Science from the Center from Architecture, Science and Ecology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.A from Tufts University. Her research integrates technical, environmental, social and cultural criteria that question contemporary material value systems, and codevelops business models for upcycling between the Global North and South. Lokko teaches at the SoA and at the Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology in Industry City, Brooklyn.

Lokko’s recent projects have been exhibited globally at the Serpentine Gallery, London (2019), Radialsystem, Berlin (2019), Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (2019), Luma Founda- tion, Arles (2019), 4th Istanbul Design Biennial (2018), Rhode Island School of Design (2018), the Liverpool Biennial 2018, and the Mmofra Foundation, Accra (2017–present).

Her work 26° North and South (2015–16), by Mae-ling Lokko with AMBIS Tech, CASE-RPI and e2e Materials team, is part of the current AIL-exhibition Ecologies and Politics of the Living. Running 28 May–3 Oct 2021.