David Adjaye: The Latest Architecture and News

The UK's new Holocaust Memorial by Adjaye Associates and Ron Arad Architects is facing criticism for the location of the project from local residents and the Royal Parks. An application for the memorial and learning center is being considered by Westminster City Council, and a petition calling for the protection of the green space is already signed by more than 11,000 members of the public. Planned for Victoria Tower Gardens alongside the River Thames close to the Houses of Parliament, the project is made to be dedicated to the 6 million Jewish men, women and children and other victims murdered by the Nazis.

+ 4

Adjaye Associates‘ 130 William Street residential tower in Lower Manhattan has begun installation of the building facade. As New York YIMBY reports, last week the hand-cast concrete arches started getting installed. Made to recall New York City’s historic fabric from the 19th and early 20th centuries, the facade was designed around an eclectic material and color palette. Once finished, the tower will include 244 new luxury condominiums in the Financial District.

As a “global capital,” London is home to some of the world’s most influential people, architects included. This fact has recently been laid bare by the London Evening Standard newspaper, whose list of the 1000 most influential Londoners features 30 architects, big and small, who use the city as a base for producing some of the world’s most celebrated architectural works.

Below, we have rounded up the 30 most influential architects in London, complete with examples of the architectural works which have put them on the city and world map.

+ 26

Sir David Adjaye has been selected as design architect for the new Princeton University Art Museum. Working in collaboration with executive architect Cooper Robertson, Adjaye will engage with the design of a “cultural gateway” located on the museum’s current site at the center of Princeton’s campus.

The new museum will present “dramatically enlarged space” to exhibit and showcase the institution’s extensive collections, as well as classrooms and office space for 100 staff.

British architect David Adjaye has been selected to receive the 2018 International Humanities Prize from Washington University in St. Louis. Granted biennially, the prize honors the lifetime work of a noted scholar, writer or artist who has made a significant and sustained contribution to the world of letters or the arts. His work is noted for its ability to reveal stories and identities while embodying the human experience.

After two years in Berlin, the World Architecture Festival will move their 2018 edition to Amsterdam for three days of talks, design presentations, and award ceremonies featuring cutting-edge contemporary works and some of the most prominent figures in architecture today.

Adjaye Associates has unveiled images of its proposed reconceptualization of the protective façade of an electrical switching station into an engaging “Art Wall” in Newark, New Jersey. The 30-foot-high walls of the Fairmount Heights switching station will be transformed into a canvas for original works of 14 local and international artists, exploring themes of youth, education, and community, while a canopied passageway will house a market, art installations, and gathering space.

+ 1

British architect Sir David Adjaye, Founding Principal of Adjaye Associates, will be honored as this year’s recipient of the Louis I. Kahn Memorial Award by the Center for Architecture and Design in Philadelphia. The annual award celebrates the achievements of an individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of architecture, while also celebrating the achievements of influential Philadelphia-based architect Louis Kahn.

Past recipients of the award have included Bjarke Ingels, Norman Foster, Peter Bohlin, Daniel Libeskind, Robert A.M. Stern, Rafael Viñoly and César Pelli.

On the 61st anniversary of Ghana’s independence, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has unveiled plans for a New National Cathedral of Ghana to be built in the capital city of Accra. Led by British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye of Adjaye Associates, the design is envisioned as a “physical embodiment of unity, harmony and spirituality” where people of all faiths will be welcome to gather and practice their faith.

+ 7

It's time to get your applications ready! Now in its 11th year, the World Architecture Festival will take place in Amsterdam from November 28 to 30. Organizers expect nearly 500 architectural practices to compete for prizes in over 30 categories. The event moves to the historic Dutch city following two years in Berlin.

The Festival is the world's largest live architecture awards event--all shortlisted architecture projects are presented in person by the architects to an esteemed panel of judges. And this year, nearly half of the 120 judges are expected to be women. 

Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup’s Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. has been selected as the winner of the Beazley Design of the Year for 2017.

Presented by the Design Museum in London, the award is given to the project that best meets the criteria of design that “promotes or delivers change, enables access, extends design practice or captures the spirit of the year.”

See more from the overall winner and each of the category winners, below.

New renderings have revealed of Adjaye Associate’s first New York City residential tower, 130 William, as foundational work on the project is underway. Located in the Financial District not far from the World Trade Center complex, 130 William will rise 66 stories to contain 244 luxury condominiums.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has appointed fifty "Design Advocates" to support his efforts in ensuring that development across the British capital is "high-quality, inclusive, and sustainable." Well-known names—such as Sir David Adjaye, Peter Murray and Alison Brooks—have been nominated alongside a broad range of architects, activists and thinkers, including Russell Curtis, Daisy Froud, Dan Hill, Richard Lavington, Tom Holbrook, Rory Hyde, Adam Khan, and Maria Smith.

Detailed visions of the concept designs from the seven shortlisted teams in the running for the new Ross Pavilion (named for William Henry Ross, the former chairman of the Distillers Company) have been released. Following the announcement of the competition earlier this year—in which the likes of Adjaye Associates, Bjarke Ingels Group, Sou Fujimoto Architects and Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter were placed in the running alongside local practices, such as Page\Park—the sensitivity and level of restraint behind the majority of the proposals demonstrates the public and national significance of the site, which sits at the heart of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.

+ 25