Sir David Adjaye OBE is recognized as a leading architect of his generation. He was recently knighted by Her Majesty the Queen for services to Architecture and awarded an OBE in 2007. Adjaye was born in Tanzania and his influences range from contemporary art, music and science to African art forms and the civic life of cities. He reformed his studio Adjaye Associates which has offices in London, New York and completed work in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
Two of the practice’s largest commissions to date are the design of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington D.C. and the Moscow School of Management (SKOLKOVO). In Oslo he designed the Nobel Peace Centre in the shell of a disused railway station. In London his design for the Whitechapel Idea Store pioneered a new approach to the provision of information services. The practice has also completed a social housing scheme in New York’s Sugar Hill (2014) and The Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art at Harvard’s Hutchins Center (2014), and is currently working on the new home for The Studio Museum in Harlem (ongoing).
Adjaye Associates believes that architecture presents opportunities for transformation - materially, conceptually and sociologically. Driven by the desire to enrich and improve daily life, the practice’s buildings are designed to meet the diverse needs of the communities they serve. Inspiration is drawn from many influences around the world and the work clearly articulates this enthusiasm for issues of place and identity.
Event moderated by Shih Hua Liong, Google Real Estate and Workplace Services Site Lead.