David Adjaye’s 21st century monuments and memorials explored at London’s Design Museum
![Gwangju River Reading Room adjaye](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vUJ5zSZBXQu2g6Nb6i49rM-415-80.jpg)
Designing architecture exhibitions can be notoriously tricky. Attempting to represent the experience and impact of being in any particular building or interior, while in the constraints of an entirely different space, often thousands of miles away, is an elusive goal. Add to this the challenge of embedding exhibitions within a strong theoretical base, and curators are often faced with a tough task. The newly opened ‘David Adjaye: Making Memory' exhibition at London's Design Museum, successfully manages to avoid the common pitfalls, launching a succinct and to-the-point display that opens to the wider public from 2 February.
The show focuses on work by Sir David Adjaye and his London, New York and Accra-based architecture practice, Adjaye Associates, while examining the idea of the monument – a theme that, as the exhibition proves, has long been aligned with the studio's thought processes. Elaborating on ‘how architecture and form are used as storytelling devices', this showcase is informative and captivating, using clean design and an uncluttered language, while touching upon issues such as memory, experience and representation, and of course architecture's role within them.
‘The monument is a device to talk about the many things facing people across the planet.’
‘The monument is no longer a representation, it is an experience of time and place that is available to everyone', says Adjaye. ‘Whether it’s for a nation, a race, a community, or a person, it is really used as a device to talk about the many things facing people across the planet. Democratisation does not mean that monuments cease to be relevant; it requires the monument to be transformed, so that it has an inbuilt openness and can be approached and understood from many points of view.'
Sir David Adjaye OBE was born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents and formed Adjaye Associates in London in 2000. He now works internationally
The visitor's journey takes place through the lens of seven of the practice's key works – some completed, some in progress and some still in development stage. Included are the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C, the new National Cathedral of Ghana in Accra; the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in London (with Ron Arad Architects as Memorial Architect, and Gustafson Porter + Bowman as Landscape Architect); the Sclera Pavilion for London Design Festival 2008 (in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council); the Mass Extinction Memorial Observatory; the Gwangju River Reading Room in South Korea (in collaboration with the writer Taiye Selasi); and the first opportunity to see an ‘in-depth display' of the Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Boston (with contributions by African-American artist Adam Pendleton and type designer David Reinfurt).
There are drawings, photography and architectural models – perhaps as expected – but there's also a lot of welcome video documentation of Adjaye talking about the projects, as well as input from his creative collaborators on some of these projects.
The show was designed by Adjaye Associates together with the Design Museum – perhaps a challenge in itself (one could argue that it requires some distance to engage with a subject with a fresh eye), but one that the studio responded to with flair, offering an exhibition that's truly in sync with its subject matter.
The exhibition was designed by Adjaye Associates with the Design Museum.
A segment of the Sclera Pavilion using American tulipwood was replicated for the show.
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture adjaye
Adjaye Associates' proposal for UK National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre (with Ron Arad Architects as Memorial Architect, and Gustafson Porter + Bowman as Landscape Architect).
The design for David Adjaye's National Cathedral of Ghana.
The Sclera temporary pavilion, created in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council, was installed in London in 2008.
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Installation view of ‘David Adjaye: Making Memory’.
UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.
National Cathedral of Ghana
Information
‘David Adjaye: Making Memory' is on at the Design Museum in London until 05 May 2019. For more information visit the Adjaye Associates website and the Design Museum website
Address
Design Museum
224-238 Kensington High Street
London
W8 6AG
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
130 William by Adjaye Associates’ holistic vision is unveiled in New York
We unveil the holistic design of Adjaye Associates’ 130 William, the residential scheme that has just completed in New York
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Sir David Adjaye scoops inaugural Charlotte Perriand Award
Architect Sir David Adjaye is announced the winner of the 2022 Charlotte Perriand Award, the Créateurs Design Awards’ inaugural prize for design trailblazers
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
David Adjaye unveils plans for Africa Institute in Sharjah
Adjaye Associates designs the Africa Institute, a new centre for the study, research and documentation of Africa and the African diaspora in the Arab world, in Sharjah, UAE
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
RIBA announces Google Arts and Culture partnership
The curated selection on Google Arts & Culture will encompass works from the Renaissance to the present day
By Hannah Silver Last updated
-
Adjaye Associates completes Cherry Groce Memorial Pavilion in Brixton
Adjaye Associates completes important and visually striking Cherry Groce Memorial Pavilion in Brixton's Windrush Square
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
David Adjaye's 130 William reveals luxury interiors
David Adjaye's 130 William is the latest New York luxury residential development to reach completion, defined by its oversized arched windows and holistic architectural concept, designed by the studio inside and out
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Adjaye Associates reveals Martyrs Memorial in Niamey
Adjaye Associates unveils a design for Niger's Niamey, Le Mémorial des Martyrs, a powerful monument for the West African country
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Sir David Adjaye is presented with 2021 RIBA Royal Gold Medal
Sir David Adjaye OBE has been presented with the prestigous RIBA 2021 Royal Gold Medal, one of the architecture world's highest accolades
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated