Ajaye, David

David Adjaye was born in Dar es Salaam ( Tanzania ) in the family of a Ghanaian diplomat. Ajaye spent the first nine years of his life alternately in Tanzania, Egypt , Yemen and Lebanon , then his family moved to the UK. Ajaye received a bachelor's degree from the University of South Bank in London, and then a master's degree from the Royal College of Art (London) in 1993. ^[2]

Early work

In 1993, Ajaye won the bronze medal of the international RIBA President's Medals Students Award , awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects to architectural graduates. He was the leader of a group of students at the prestigious School of Architecture of the Architectural Association (London) and a lecturer at the Royal College of Art ^[3] . After a very short period of work in the architectural studios of David Chipperfield in London and Edouard Saut de Moura in Porto, Ajay opened his office in North London in 1994 with William Russell. Adjaye & Russell was disbanded in 2000, and then Ajaye opened his eponymous studio, Adjaye Associates.

The studio’s first solo exhibition, “David Adjaye: Making Public Buildings”, was presented at Whitechapel Gallery in London in 2006, and Thames & Hudson published its catalog under the same name. A year earlier, the first book by the architect, “David Adjaye Houses”, was published at Thames & Hudson.

National Museum of African American History

On April 15, 2009, Ajaye was selected, along with other architects (Freelon Group, Davis Brody Bond, SmithGroup) to design the architectural design of the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the Washington National Avenue. The project budget amounted to 500 million dollars. The rectangular block of the museum building, dressed in a three-tier “crown”, is a reference to the West African Yoruba culture.

Other work

Along with the implementation of major international projects, Ajaye presents works at exhibitions, works on the architectural design of private houses and creates joint projects with other architects and artists. He designed house designs for designer Alexander McQueen , artist Jake Chapman, photographer Jürgen Teller, actor Ewan McGregor , and artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster .

Ajaye owns a new studio and beach house in Port of Spain for artist Chris Ofili. Together with Ophili, they created the design for the installation of Ophile's The Upper Room, which was subsequently acquired by the Tate Gallery, causing a heated public discussion.

In 2005, Ajaye and artist Olafur Eliasson presented a joint project at the Venice Biennale - a light installation of Your Black Horizon. Together with director Shekhar Kapoor, Ajaye worked on the Sankalpa installation.

David Adjaye co-authored two episodes of “Dreamspace” on the BBC , and broadcasts on radio. In June 2005, he introduced the documentary “Building Africa: The Architecture of a Continent”.

In 2008, Ajaye participated in the European Biennale of Contemporary Art of the Manifesto and the Biennale in Gwangju (Republic of Korea). In 2015, he received an order to develop a project for the new Museum-Studio building in Harlem.

Recent Projects

Ajaye’s projects implemented in recent years include the Denver Museum of Modern Art, the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, and the Moscow School of Management in Skolkovo ^[4] (2010)

Ajaye is a visiting professor at the Princeton University School of Architecture, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard School of Design. Adjaye is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Literature. He is a member of the advisory board of the Institute of Architecture in Barcelona and the LSE Cities research program at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ajaye was a member of the Petronia city project team led by Nana Kwame Bediako. Petronia city is an urban development initiative in Western Ghana aimed at supporting the region’s rapidly growing oil, gas and mining industries.

From September 2015 to January 2016, the Chicago Institute of the Arts hosted the exhibition “Making Place: The Architecture of David Adjaye”.

• In 2014, Ajaye married business consultant Ashley Show-Scott ^[5] . Artist Chris Ofili was the best man at the wedding.
• In 2012, Ajaye starred in an ad campaign for the British luxury brand Dunhill .
• David Ajaye also worked on several projects with his brother, musician Peter Ajaye ^[6] .

In 2006, Ajaye was shortlisted for the Sterling Award nominees for a public library project in Whitechapel's London Whitechapel Idea Store ^[7] .

In 2007, for his services in the field of architecture, Ajaye was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

In 2011, the architect was named the Designer of the Year according to the international forum Design Miami ^[8] .

In 2010, the creators of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (the architectural bureau of David Ajay along with the Russian bureau AB Studio ^[9] became the winners of the Open Public Architectural and Construction Award House of the Year / Best Building Awards as a result of a popular vote

Member of the American Philosophical Society (2016).

In 2016, he received the McDermott Award, an award of $ 100,000 awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his services to the arts. ^[10]

In 2017, Ajaye was knighted for his services in the field of architecture ^[11] .

• Architect's site
• About the architect on archi.ru
• Article in "Interior Design"
• Article in AD
• Help on the Skolkovo website
• Office of the Skolkovo Week in Village
• Retrospective of the architect at the Garage Museum
• About a personal exhibition at the Garage Museum
• 2013 UK Powerlists
• List of the most influential people of 2017 according to Time magazine