Commended for his impactful contributions to architecture, design, and the community, Sir David Adjaye has been awarded with the inaugural Charlotte Perriand Award, an honor created by The Créateurs Design Awards that recognizes excellence and integrity in the design industry, and inspires future generations in honor of the late female trailblazer. The Ghanian-British 2021 RIBA Gold Medalist and founder of Adjaye Associates was selected for his achievements that "go beyond becoming city landmarks", and his holistic and impactful approach in developing residential, commercial, and cultural typologies.
Two years ago, The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced that Sir David Adjaye is the recipient of the 2021 Royal Gold Medal. He was recognized for his work that exceeds 25 years, which has achieved international recognition with a series of groundbreaking and worldwide interventions, ranging from private houses, exhibitions, and furniture design, to major cultural buildings and city masterplans. His recent projects include the 21st Serpentine Pavilion, which will be realized in collaboration with American artist Theaster Gates. The 2022 installation will be named Black Chapel, and “will pay homage to British craft and manufacturing traditions”.
In late 2021, David Adjaye was announced as the lead designer of the Barbados Heritage District, a project dedicated to documenting and recounting the impact of slavery on Barbados, as well as cultures and nations in the Western hemisphere. For this project, the architect drew upon the technique and philosophy of traditional African tombs, prayer sites, and pyramids, and conceived a space that honors the dead and manifests "a new diasporic future for Black civilization" that is both of the African continent and different from it. The architect has also recently been commissioned to design district hospitals, part of the Agenda 111 initiative by the Ghanian Government, and was selected among London's 30 Most Influential Architects.
Charlotte Perriand is a French Modernist artist an designer, and considered amongst the overlooked female pioneers of the industry. Following her studies in furniture design, she was dismissed by Le Corbusier, claiming that his office "doesn't embroider cushions". However, her work was put on display at the Salon d’Automne, which led to her being hired by the architect as a furniture designer at his office. Perriand is known to have produced three of Le Corbusier’s most iconic chairs: the B301, B306, and the LC2 Grand Comfort. In the 1930’s, the designer expressed her involvement in many leftist organizations, founding the Union des Artists Moderns in 1937. With that, she began implementing "humaneness" to Le Corbusier’s work, allowing her designs to become more affordable, functional, and appealing furniture for the masses. In 1940 Perriand was invited to travel to Japan to become an advisor for the Ministry for Trade and Industry. Following the Second World War, she was detained by a naval blockade and forced into exile in Vietnam, where she studied eastern design, weaving, and woodwork, which heavily influenced her designs later on.
The Charlotte Perriand Award was founded this year by the Créateurs Design Awards, and honors the legacy of Charlotte Perriand. The prize will be presented annually on influential creatives who follow Perriand's footsteps and embrace her "vision and commitment to architecture, design and art". The CDA is a peer-to-peer award program that highlights extraordinary work in the interior design, product design, and architecture fields. The award's voting members are among a distinguished group of design leaders and international press members, which now has over 200 professionals from 32 different countries.
