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Explore how the architect blends the old with the new
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Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye’s influences range from contemporary art, music, and science, to African art forms and the civic life of cities. Adjaye graduated in 1993 from the Royal College of Art with an MA, having previously completed a BA at London South Bank University. That same year he won the RIBA President’s Medals Students Award, a prize offered for RIBA Part 1 projects, normally won by students who have only completed a bachelor’s degree.
After short stints working at the architectural studios of David Chipperfield in London and Eduardo Souto de Moura in Porto, Adjaye established a practice with William Russell in 1994 called Adjaye & Russell. The studio was disbanded in 2000 and Adjaye established a studio in his own name, which remains open today.
Adjaye has had commissions from all over the world and his use of materials and his sculptural approach has established him as an architect with an artist’s insight and vision. Here we explore some of his best-known works that made him an established name.
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Dirty House, London, UK
Dirty House, a black-painted art studio and apartment building in Shoreditch with a brightly illuminated roof was completed in 2002. Based in Shoreditch High Street in east London, the original warehouse structure was stripped down to leave just the external brick walls. Adjaye was tasked with converting the building into artist studios and a private residence.
A defining feature of the building are the windows, which appear to be sealed up but have actually been replaced with mirrored glass, while a parapet wall conceals windows for the apartment on the top floor. To add to the mystery, the brickwork has been coated with a dark, thick, textured anti-graffiti coating.
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Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway
The Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway is a showcase for the Nobel Peace Prize and the ideals it represents. The Center is also an arena where culture and politics merge to promote involvement, debate, and reflection around topics such as war, peace, and conflict resolution.
Completed in 2005, the building is an old train station from 1872 with listed status, and because of this Adjaye developed a “spacial manipulation” concept, in which he used surfaces, colors, and materials to transform the building’s interior in his own unique way.
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Sunken House, London, UK
Adjaye’s Sunken House is a three-storey house in De Beauvoir in Hackney, London. The site gets its name from the site having been excavated to basement level to create a sunken patio on which the house, a partly prefabricated solid timber structure, is placed. Completed in 2007, the house sits noticeably out of place with the grander townhouses that surround it and was commissioned by photographer Reeve.
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Rivington Place, London, UK
Established in 2007, Rivington Place is a visual arts space for London’s InIVA (Institute of International Visual Arts). It was the first new-build public gallery in London since the Hayward Gallery opened in 1968. There are five floors within the building, but eight rows of windows, which diminish in height as they rise up the elevation. The width of the windows also change along the length of the main facade.
Black concrete panels in a chequerboard pattern feature externally, and alternating with this are in-fills of flushed and recessed glass. Situated on a narrow site the building creates a contrast with the bustling streets of Shoreditch around it.
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Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, Moscow, Russia
The design of Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO sees four buildings cantilevered over a large circular base. Completed in 2009, Adjaye was briefed to design a building that would accommodate, reflect, and promote the practice-based approach to management of the business school.
Classrooms and lecture halls circle a restaurant at the centre of the 150 meter-wide school-on-legs and a car park can be found below. The walls of the wellbeing centre display a herringbone patchwork of glass and colored panels, while the other three blocks show the same patterns in monochrome. This aesthetic is inspired by the work of Russian avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich.
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Sugar Hill Development, New York, USA
Opened in 2014, the Sugar Hill Development in Harlem, New York is a mixed-use complex that provides affordable housing, early education programs, and a new cultural institution. The 13-storey, 124 apartment building is presented as a textured slab on the cityscape.
The cladding is achieved with rose-embossed graphite tinted pre-cast panels, which creates an ornamental effect, paying tribute to the culture and history of Harlem. The graphite color also serves as a contrast to the luminous glass facade that begins at the public entry and wraps around the entire building creating a glowing beacon for the gateway to the Sugar Hill district.
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Smithsonian National Museum of African American History, Washington D.C, USA
Completed in 2016, Adjaye’s approach for the design of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History was to establish both a meaningful relationship to the building’s site but also a strong conceptual resonance with America’s deep and longstanding African heritage.
Situated on the Washington Monument grounds, the museum maintains a subtle profile in the landscape – more than half is below ground – with five storeys above. The design rests on three cornerstones: the “corona” shape and form of the building; the extension of the building out into the landscape – the porch; and the bronze filigree envelope. The entire building is wrapped in an ornamental bronze lattice that is a historical reference to African American craftsmanship. The building was named Design of the Year for 2017, after being described by judges as a "major turning point" in architecture.
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