Photo: Tête-à-Tête Productions, courtesy of Pace
It’s probably this approach that makes Adjaye both refreshingly and frustratingly hard to categorise. His many buildings around the world are without an obvious signature, as are his smaller-scale products and furniture. Some call him a radical, an abstractionist; some even compare his buildings and furniture design to conceptual art. “I’m not really interested in synthesising form through a language of architecture, so my buildings never look the same,” he says.
One common thread is his need to investigate history and ecology to inform our future he regularly discusses his desire to preserve culture, protect the environment and uplift communities. This has inspired buildings such as the monumental Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington DC, which opened in 2016 and arguably remains the highest-profile project of his career. He has also designed game-changing libraries, such as the
In the past decades, sustainability and biophilia have been gaining momentum across industries as awareness of man’s destruction of the Earth becomes more documented. The Covid-19 pandemic has tipped the scales for this agenda to evolve from trend to necessity. But even before sustainability garnered a greater sense of urgency, Wong Chiu Man and Maria Warner Wong of Wow Architects have been propagating this in their work.
There is Vivanta by Taj, the hotel in Bangalore, India that has an accessible green rooftop that slopes continuously from the ground to the top of the building; the 2012 Archifest Zero Waste Pavilion that was made from upcycled materials which were later repurposed; and the St Regis Maldives resort that is ecological from building to operations. They are currently working on the Mandai eco-resort in Singapore that will nestle guests among conserved trees and is envisioned to be the island nation’s first super low energy resort.