Today, David Adjaye, Hon. FAIA, formally received the 2021 Royal Institute of British Architects Royal Gold Medal for architecture in a virtual ceremony. Individuals from around the world will be able to tune into the ceremony and watch Iain Walker, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, present the Ghanaian-British architect, based in Accra, Ghana, with his medal. The celebration will also feature RIBA president Alan Jones, based in London, and tributes from dignitaries worldwide.
Last September, RIBA named Adjaye as the recipient of its 2021 honor, citing the powerful impact of his "global and inclusive" oeuvre on the profession. On May 27, viewers will also be able to watch a series of video artworks inspired by Adjaye's work that RIBA commissioned from the dancer, choreographer, and academic Adesola Akinleye.
“It’s incredibly humbling and a great honor to have my peers recognize the work I have developed with my team and its contribution to the field over the past 25 years," Adjaye said in a RIBA press release. "Architecture, for me, has always been about the creation of beauty to edify all peoples around the world equally and to contribute to the evolution of the craft. The social impact of this discipline has been and will continue to be the guiding force in the experimentation that informs my practice. A heartfelt and sincere moment of gratitude and thanks to all the people who supported the journey to get to this moment.”
Born in 1966, Adjaye founded Adjaye Associates in 2000, growing the firm into a global practice with studios in Accra, London, and New York. Along with leading his practice, Adjaye has taught at institutions around the world, including Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The 2021 Royal Gold Medal is one of many honors Adjaye and his firm have received over the years—including the 2018 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture— for work that includes the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. (2016), on which Adjaye was lead designer; Ruby City in San Antonio (2019); Sugar Hill Housing in New York (2015); and the Eugene Gasana Jr. Foundation Paediatric Cancer Centre in Kigali, Rwanda (2015).
