Sir David Adjaye

Sir David Adjaye OBE is recognized as a leading architect of his generation. Adjaye was born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents and his influences range from contemporary art, music and science to African art forms and the civic life of cities. In 1994 he set up his first office, where his ingenious use of materials and his sculptural ability established him as an architect with an artist’s sensibility and vision.

He reformed his studio as Adjaye Associates in 2000 and immediately won several prestigious commissions. In Oslo he designed the Nobel Peace Centre in the shell of a disused railway station (completed in 2005). In London his design for the Whitechapel Idea Store pioneered a new approach to the provision of information services (2005). Later projects in London included the Stephen Lawrence Centre, with teaching and community spaces (2007), Rivington Place, an exhibition venue and resource centre (2007), and the Bernie Grant Centre for the performing arts (2007). He is currently working on a pair of major redevelopment projects in the city - One Berkeley (ongoing), a £600 million scheme in the prestigious Piccadilly area; and 5 Strand (ongoing), a mixed-use residential scheme adjacent to the iconic Trafalgar Square.

Adjaye Associates now has offices in London, New York and Accra, with projects throughout the world. In the United States, Adjaye is recognized as the lead designer for the $540 million Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in fall 2016 on the National Mall in Washington DC. He has also designed the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver (2007), two public libraries in Washington DC (2012), and a mixed-use social housing, museum and child education scheme in New York’s Sugar Hill (2015). Adjaye’s US office is currently working on the new home for The Studio Museum in Harlem (ongoing), the Ruby City building for the Linda Pace Foundation, and a luxury residential tower in lower Manhattan (ongoing)