Sir David Adjaye OBE: The knighted architecture building great cities and documenting African architecture

GHANA-Sir David Adjaye OBE believes that Architecture is a “social act” – it is about constructing buildings that acknowledge and understand their histories, whilst creating something entirely new, to serve communities into their future. 

David Adjaye is a globally acclaimed architect whose works has earned him the opportunity to design several architectural designs globally and also Ghana’s first National Cathedral. As an African appointed to the highest order in British Empire due to his exemplary work in architecture, Sir David Adjaye is the man behind numerous marvellous architectural designs globally. 

Born in September 1966 to Ghanaian parents in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to a diplomat father. As a young boy growing up with a partially paralysed brother, David identified how his brother and others like him were disadvantaged by the inefficient and degrading facilities of the specialised school his brother was placed in. This prompted the moment that would change a lot for him – the epiphany that architecture should serve as a prevalent force in our lives and society. 

Growing up in a supportive family of four boys, David Adjaye says learning about the Arts in London was difficult because conversations about the Arts were not talked about at home but age 17. However, David immersed himself in the field of architecture.

David attained his university degree at South Bank University, London before his graduate education at the Royal College of Arts between 1990. During these years, he worked in studios in London and studied with Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura in Portugal. Shortly after attaining his M. Arch, he partnered with William Russell and together they formed a practice known as Adjaye and Russell in 1994 before forming a solo practice in 2000 known as Adjaye Associates.  

PROFILE OF ADJAYE ASSOCIATES

Adjaye Associates is a global practice that has studios in Accra, London and New York, and has completed works around the world including Asia and the Middle East. For David, the business of architecture is diving deeper into what culture means, it is not about the physical structure but the emotional and historical background of the people and this makes Adjaye believe that Africa can be the leapfrog continent. 

Adjaye Associates completed major and large scale commissions over the years including the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC, and other projects by the global architectural firm include:

• Sugar Hill (Mixed-Use Development and Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling in Harlem) – New York

• The Aishti Foundation Arts and Shopping Complex – Beirut, Lebanon

• Alara Concept Store in Lagos

• The Nobel Peace Centre – Oslo, Norway

• Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) in Benin City, Nigeria

• Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library in Johannesburg, South Africa 

• The Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi

• A new facility for the Princeton University Art Museum

• New headquarters for the International Financial Corporation (IFC) – Dakar Senegal

• The Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art – Riga, Latvia

• The Marine Drive Tourism and Investment Master plan in Accra, Ghana

• UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre – London

• Princeton University Art Museum

Commenting on his book the African Metropolitan Architecture, Adjaye said that we must understand our roots and how we make our urbanization, it is important that we build great cities in Africa rather than copy ideas that do not suit our geography and climate. Sir David Adjaye spent over a decade documenting African architecture. To David, the idea of returning to Africa was to re-visualize for himself the continent where he was born and explore opportunities.   

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS 

David Adjaye has been honoured with numerous academic appointments and awards, first winning the RIBA Bronze medal in 1994. The list includes other academic honours and appointments Sir David Adjaye has received over the years. 

• First Louis Kahn visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania

• Kenzo Tange Professor in Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design. 

• Royal Institute of British Architects Chartered Member. 

• AIA Honorary Fellow

• Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

• Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.

• Member of the Advisory Council of the Barcelona Institute of Architecture. 

WORKS BY SIR DAVID ADJAYE OBE 

David Adjaye is the founder and principal of Adjaye Associates but has been engaged in numerous individual projects and books. Among his works include a notable 10-year project on African architecture. 

• Adjaye Africa Architecture: A photographic survey of Metropolitan Architecture – A 10-year project that involved Sir David Adjaye OBE travelling across the whole of Africa. It is a Photographic Survey of Metropolitan Architecture. The decade long project involved documenting fifty-four major African cities and showcasing a concise urban history, fact file, maps and satellite imagery that come together in

rigorous analysis and reconceptualization of what African architecture is and can truly be.

He has authored and co-authored several publications namely;

• David Adjaye Houses: Recycling, Reconfiguring, Rebuilding (2005)

• David Adjaye: Making Public Buildings: Specificity, Customization Imbrication (2006)

• David Adjaye: A House for an Art Collector (2011)

• David Adjaye: Authoring: Re-placing Art and Architecture (2012)

• Constructed Narratives: Essays and Projects (2016)

MAJOR AWARDS AND HONOURS

David Adjaye has been recognised globally with numerous awards to his name, with the most significant award being honoured with a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II. 

• In 2007, he was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire. 

• In 2017, Adjaye was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and was recognized as one of the 100 most influential people of the year by TIME Magazine. 

• In 2021, he became the first black and one of the youngest to win the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. The Royal Gold Medal is considered one of the highest honours in British architecture for significant contribution to the field internationally. 

• Sir Adjaye is also the recipient of the World Economic Forum’s 27th Annual Crystal Award, which recognizes his leadership in serving communities. 

• David Adjaye: TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (2017)

Other awards and honours include;

• Adjaye Associates: Building Design Awards, Public Building Architect of the Year

• Adjaye Associates: Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Architecture Companies (2017)

• Adjaye Associates: Iconic Awards Firm of the Year (2016)

• David Adjaye: W.E.B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University (2014)

• Adjaye Associates: Building Design International Breakthrough Architect of the Year (2013)

MENTORSHIP 

Sir David Adjaye’s studio in Ghana is to demonstrate that we can excel in any context and the first-world are not the only ones that make great architects. “For me, money is not the motivation but the opportunity to shape talents, I believe there is a thirst in Ghana and across the continent to be recognized”. 

David also teaches an architectural course where he brings artists to his Masters class for his students to develop an open mindset when it to architecture. 

Sir Davi Adjaye is optimistic that Africa is the future of architecture because of its hybrid weather conditions and vegetative cover. He believes the continent has the potential to change global architectural designs by avoiding mistakes from the other continents.

Michael Sa-Ambo

Michael Sa-Ambo is a consummate writer who is passionate about development on the African continent. His area of interest is in current affairs, personal development and communication.