Adeola Enigbokan – American artist, architect and urbanist – calls herself an ‘environmental psychologist’. The concept of the ‘shadow client’ is central to understanding her approach to participatory architecture and design. The ‘shadow client’, as she explains, refers to those individuals or groups who influence or are affected by a design project, but are not always immediately recognized or included in the initial project brief. Often, a design brief can fail to account for all the potential stakeholders, especially those whose intellectual labor or contributions might be overlooked, such as marginalized communities or non-human elements like plants or animals. This is where the ‘shadow client’ comes into play — designers must actively work to identify and engage these hidden clients, ensuring that their needs and voices are considered in the design process.

1. That funny feeling at first