Yusuf Adeyinka Tayo is a graduate student of Community & Regional Planning at Iowa State University. He started his post-secondary education with a 4-year draftsmanship program at Adlat Draftsmanship Institute, Lagos, Nigeria. Through the program, he learned and explored the fundamentals of design, pencil modelling, and construction. This program deepened his interest in architecture. In 2012, he completed a 2-year National Diploma program in Architecture at the Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State, Nigeria. This program opened his eyes and inner thoughts to the intersection of planning with development and community wellness, in turn, enthusing his decision to seek a degree in urban and regional planning at Obafemi Awolowo University Osun State Nigeria.

His undergraduate study was a richly rewarding experience, as he participated in some community development projects, professional activities, and contract jobs. For example, he played a leading role in the design, planning, and construction of a new secretariat for the Ijede local council development area, different residential estates in major cities in Lagos State, Nigeria and also involved in the urban sustainability profiling of three community in Osun State, Nigeria.

Through these experiences, he led a team of two to develop what they envisioned and pitched as a sustainable solution to the problem of overcrowded classes in Nigeria’s elementary and high schools. His team envisioned and pitched an ecofriendly solution that was framed around leveraging indigenous brick-making materials to reduce the production costs of the construction of classrooms by 35%. Impressed by the quality of the project idea and its associated narrative, his team won at the national level and was chosen to represent Nigeria in a continental-level competition, which was held in Ethiopia, where they emerged as a runner up.

All these informed his decision to specialize in sustainable building solutions and real estate development.

September 20, 2021 5:30 pm

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