Aretha Ahunanya

Aretha Ahunanya is a proud supporter and advocate for Open City, having graduated from the Accelerate scheme in 2020. Since then, she has amassed experience within humanitarian co-design, project management, engineering for international development, and architectural mentoring — highlighting her passion for human-centred work and sustainable change.

Aretha has penned award-winning poetry on the built environment, surrounding themes of identity and belonging. She wrote and recorded a poem for ‘The People’s Pavilion’ – a space co-designed and produced by young people (Beyond the Box CIC). Aretha also devised a spoken word piece for Open City’s 2021 Manifesto: “Architecture for a New Generation”, which was presented at the Design Museum in collaboration with the London Festival of Architecture.

Aretha will soon be graduating in MEng Engineering & Architectural Design (ARB/RIBA Part 1, CIBSE & JBM) from the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Alongside her studies, she has supported Open City workshops and led Open House Families events, whilst working as a student representative for UCL’s Access & Widening Participation Team. After graduation, Aretha looks forward to venturing into sustainable design consultancy, as well as championing the mission of Open City, as a trustee.