Demas Nwoko, the 90-year-old son of the Obi (King) Nwoko II, built his home with Benin’s palaces in mind

Demas Nwoko, now 90, has been described as many things—artist, master builder, sculptor, architect, designer, teacher—yet to reduce him to a label is to miss the point.

At 90 years old, Nigerian architect Demas Nwoko’s legacy extends beyond his art—it’s embedded in the walls of his rural sanctuary in Idumuje-Ugboko, a historic town in the north of Nigeria’s Delta State. To get there, one must drive through a landscape marked with red laterite, palm groves, and low, spreading trees that cast uneven shadows. Houses rise modestly from the earth, some coated in clay , others bare, revealing sunbaked brick and timber. Bold geometric patterns mark some walls, and carved wooden doors hint at the pride of their makers.…