The Interior Designers Association of Nigeria has called on professionals in the industry to embrace artificial intelligence, emotive design, and lived experience in shaping spaces that go beyond aesthetics to deliver functionality and emotional connection.
According to a statement, the President of IDAN, Jacqueline Aki, charged professionals with innovative practices during the association’s celebration of the 2025 World Interiors Day, themed ‘Designing with Emotion; Building with Intelligence’, held in Lagos.
Aki urged the designers to explore the intersections of emotive design, lived experience, and AI. She described emotive design as “the ability to create spaces that connect deeply with human emotion, not just beautiful spaces, but healing, liberating and uplifting ones.”
She added, “Designers must have lived experience, understanding how design is received, inhabited and remembered. How does a space feel at 8am versus 8pm? How does it support joy, inclusion, and dignity?”
On the use of AI, Aki clarified that technology should not replace creativity but serve as a collaborative tool, noting, “AI is not a replacement for creativity but a collaborator and aggregator. A tool to extend our thinking, not override it,” she said. She stressed the need to balance machine and human intelligence with “emotional and ethical clarity”.
IDAN’s president also reminded attendees that “Today is more than a date on the calendar. It is a global affirmation of the value of our work, the unseen hands, the thinking minds, and the empathetic hearts behind the spaces where people live, heal, gather, and grow.”
She described interior design as essential to nation-building, stating, “It is not decoration; it is strategy, it is wellbeing, it is nation-building.”
Assistant Secretary-General of IDAN, Dr Omeba Ejiogu, said the theme was adapted to make it more relevant to the Nigerian context. She explained, “Design isn’t just about how things look; it’s about how they make people feel and how well they function.”
Ejiogu highlighted the association’s work in building capacity among designers, adding, “We want our members to have strong technical skills, but we also want them to design with empathy.”
She cited the redesign of the LUTH Sickle Cell Ward as an example of how design can be both functional and healing.
Looking to the future of the industry, Ejiogu expressed optimism about Africa’s creative potential, adding, “Africa is full of stories, materials, and ideas the world needs to see more of. I hope that we keep building a design identity that’s proudly Afrocentric, authentic, bold, and innovative.”
She urged designers across the continent to continue innovating with purpose, noting, “Whether you’re designing a luxury home, a small office, or a hospital room, know that your work matters.”
Founder of HTL Africa Limited, James George, who delivered the keynote address, spoke on the role of emotion in design, stating, “We see the world, especially as Africans, as a melting pot of emotions that has to be harnessed through design and creativity.”
George noted that blending culture with technology gives design its soul, adding, “To give technology the human face, we have to add a lot of emotions into designs.” He urged architects to “find that spark from culture and from day-to-day lives that transforms ordinary bricks and mortar into something that elevates people.”
Other speakers at the event included the Chief Executive Officer of Slick City Media, Malik Afegbua; Chief Executive Officer of Studio Akpan, Emem Akpan; AI Enthusiast, Studio Stone Designs, Abiodun Shonibare; and Client Experience Manager, CAP Plc (Dulux Nigeria), Melody Otutuloro.
