- David Adjaye
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David Adjaye Born 1966
Dar-Es-Salaam, TanzaniaNationality British Awards RIBA Bronze Medal for Part 1 Students Work Buildings Rivington Place David Adjaye OBE (born September 1966) is a British architect.[1]
Contents
Early life
David Adjaye was born in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. The son of a Ghanaian diplomat who has lived in Britain since the age of nine, he led a privileged life and was privately educated.[1] He earned his BA at London South Bank University, before graduating with an MA in 1993 from the Royal College of Art.
Career
In 1993, the same year after his graduation, Adjaye won the RIBA Bronze Medal, a prize offered for RIBA Part 1 projects, normally won by students who have only completed a bachelors degree. Previously a unit tutor at the Architectural Association, he was also a lecturer at the Royal College of Art. After very short terms of work with the architectural studios of David Chipperfield (London) and Eduardo Souto de Moura (Porto), Adjaye established a practice with William Russell in 1994 called Adjaye & Russell, based in North London. This office was disbanded in 2000 and Adjaye established his own eponymous studio at this point.
He built homes for the designer Alexander McQueen, artist Jake Chapman, photographer Juergen Teller, actor Ewan McGregor, and artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster. For artist Chris Ofili, he designed a new studio and a beach house in Port of Spain.[2] He worked with Ofili to create an environment for the Upper Room, now owned by Tate Britain. He also collaborated with artist Olafur Eliasson to create a light installation, Your black horizon, at the 2005 Venice Biennale. He has also worked on art projects with Austrian crystal manufacturer, Swarovski.[3]
Recent works include the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver,[1] the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo[4] and the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management completed in 2010.[5]
On April 15, 2009, he was selected in a competition to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.,[4] planned to open in 2015. His design features a crown motif from Yoruban sculpture.[6]
In February 2009, the cancellation or postponement of four projects in Europe and Asia forced the firm to enter into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), a deal to stave off insolvency proceedings which prevents financial collapse by rescheduling debts – estimated at about £1m – to creditors.[7]
Adjaye is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.[8] He was the first Louis Khan visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and was the Kenzo Tange Professor in Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
The studio's first solo exhibition: "David Adjaye: Making Public Buildings" was shown at the Whitechapel Gallery in London in January 2006, with Thames and Hudson publishing the catalogue of the same name. This followed their 2005 publication of Adjaye's first book entitled "David Adjaye Houses".[9]
Personal life
David Adjaye lives in London.
Awards
In 2006, Adjaye was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize for the Idea Store library in Whitechapel, built on the remains of a 1960s mall. He received the title of OBE from the Queen in 2007 for services to British architecture.
- RIBA - Bronze Medal for Part 1 Students- 1993
- Design Futures Council Senior Fellow
References
- ^ a b c Jeff Chu (2009). "Feature: David Adjaye". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fastcompany.com%2Fdesign%2F2009%2Ffeatured-story-david-adjaye&date=2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- ^ Where In The World Is David Adjaye? W Magazine.
- ^ David Adjaye: Downfall of the showman The Independent.
- ^ a b Architect to Hollywood stars attempts to save firm from financial collapse, Guardian, 24 July 2009
- ^ SKOLKOVO Campus, Moscow
- ^ The Thorny Path to a National Black Museum, New York Times, 22 January 2011
- ^ David Adjaye: Downfall of the showman The Independent.
- ^ Design Futures Council Senior Fellows http://www.di.net/about/senior_fellows/
- ^ David Adjaye Harvard Design School.
External links
- adjaye.com Official Site
- Photo Gallery: David Adjaye
- New York Magazine interview (2007)
- Icon interview (2005)
- BBC Radio 3 interview
- Whitechapel exhibition (2006)
- Whitechapel exhibition review
- Hugh Pearman article (2005)
- Article: Behind The Facade (2003)
Categories:- 1966 births
- British architects
- Alumni of London South Bank University
- Alumni of the Royal College of Art
- Living people
- Ghanaian emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- British architect stubs
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