CHUKWUEBUKA STEPHEN IDAFUM
Architecture49
SAY IT LOUD - Toronto
Toronto Based Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
What inspires me is knowing spaces become part of someone's memory. From Masked Conversations to FORREC's theme parks, I love that. Now I coordinate so that vision gets built right, and I teach so the next generation learns it faster than I did.
CHUKWUEBUKA STEPHEN IDAFUM
Bio:
Ebuka is a great BIM Coordinator at Architecture49 (WSP), specializing in Revit-based model coordination, clash detection, and QA/QC across multidisciplinary teams. His background includes corporate interior design and large-scale themed entertainment projects: destination developments with attractions, retail, F&B, and guest experience spaces. He also teaches BIM/3D modelling as a sessional instructor at Humber and Durham College, and creates BIM-focused content for AEC professionals on social media.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
I learned about architecture in high school back in Lagos, Nigeria. I've always had an insatiable urge to design spaces and places.
What do you do?
BIM Coordinator experienced in data management, model coordination, and digital collaboration. I support multidisciplinary design teams through Revit-based workflows, clash detection, model quality control, and applying BIM standards on all projects.
What excites you in the work you do?
As you gain experience in the industry, you quickly realize you are no longer just designing buildings, but crafting meaningful experiences that stay with the people who inhabit them and quietly shape their everyday lives for years to come afterward
Who or what inspires you professionally?
What inspires me is knowing spaces become part of someone's memory. From Masked Conversations to FORREC's theme parks, I love that. Now I coordinate so that vision gets built right, and I teach so the next generation learns it faster than I did.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
Winning the Cool Gardens project in the summer of 2021 with my friends: Kenyo Musa and Victor Odusanya.
Featured Project Name:
Masked Conversations
Featured Project Location:
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Featured Project Completion Date:
2021
Role in Featured Project:
Project Designer and Artist
Featured Project Description:
Masked Conversations is a sculpture garden installation by Ebuka Idafum, Kenyo Musa, and Victor Odusanya, then Environmental Design students at the University of Manitoba. Winner of the 2021 FAUM Student Design Competition, the piece features playful sculpted figures near the Manitoba Theatre for Young People. Each figure's expression invites an unspoken exchange between audience and performance, exploring how masks reveal, rather than hide, emotion. It was unveiled at The Forks, Winnipeg, August 2021.