Lagos mesmerizes. Multiple the terms to seize this African megapolis: from the African paradigm, the informal city, or urban monster to perceiving it as proto-city of the 21st century.

But what once was called the black Venice is probably best summarized by its inhabitants: Stuck daylong in car traffics, with seemingly no movement, the remaining space bustling with vendors, a sole expression might bring this reality to the point: “This is Lagos!”

The former capital of Nigeria seems to have surpassed its functional capacities long time ago. Despite its air of immediate collapse, still more than half a million migrants arrive yearly. A growth pace statistics even gave up to record: the population should be somewhere between 8-14 million inhabitants. Lagos is the example par excellence of self-organization, housing and commerce are mostly organized beyond any legal frameworks. The informal sector accounts for 60 percent of all economic activity, ranging from street hawkers to the production centres of imitations of Western goods.

The incredible ingenuity of its citizens has awakened international interests: over the last years several exhibitions, such Century City in London (2001), the Documenta 11 in Kassel featured information about Lagos and not to forget Rem Koolhaas’ latest passion in this conurbation. But even he had to admit that it is very difficult to imagine any projects for future stimulus.

Focusing on informal production of urban space, the last destination of the City Space Investigations seems logical. Centering on the learning experience of its participants the CSI organization would like to invite students and professionals alike to decipher the embodiment of informality and reflect on the potential for design and planning profession. The CSI Lagos workshop will take place in the first 2 weeks of April 2010 featuring once again several on-site visits, lectures and case study analyses.

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