David Adjaye, RIBA
Visiting Professor, Architectural Design
B. Arch., Southbank University
M.A. Arch., Royal College of Art
Adjaye/Associates, London
www.adjaye.com
David Adjaye is recognized as one of the leading architects of his generation in the UK. He formed a partnership in 1994 and quickly built a reputation as an architect with an artistry vision. The architectural community and the wider public have a high regard for his bespoke design, ingenious use of materials, and his ability to showcase and sculpt light. He reformed his studio in June 2000 as Adjaye/Associates and he has gone on to win a number of prestigious commissions. Projects have been diverse in scale, audience and geography; collaborations with artists including Chris Ofili and Olafur Elaisson, exhibition design, temporary pavilions, and private homes both in the UK and US. More recently, major arts centers and important public buildings across London, Oslo and Denver have demonstrated David's considered approach to understanding the needs of the constituency served by each building and a respect for integration with their existing locale. In 2001 he was commissioned to design the first two Idea Stores (library/education centre) for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The first was selected for an exhibition at the VIII Venice Biennale of Architecture 2002 which highlighted 100 projects that are changing the world. It was also chosen, along with residential project, Dirty House, to be included in the Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil, in September 2003. The Idea Store was featured at the 2004 Venice Biennale of Architecture; it won the RIBA Building Award in 2005 and the RIBA Inclusive Design Award 2006, and was nominated for the 2006 Stirling Prize Award. In June 2007, Adjaye was awarded an OBE for services to architecture in the Queen's birthday honors list. He was a unit tutor at the Architectural Association, as well as a lecturer at the Royal College of Art, and a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania and at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. As part of the Freelon Adjaye Bond / SmithGroup partnership, David recently won the competition to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.
