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
The RIBA has presented Sir David Adjaye OBE with the Royal Gold Medal for architecture. The Ghanaian-British architect was announced to be the coveted accolade's recipient for 2021 this past September. Adjaye set up his studio in 2000 and has since produced an exceptional body of work. He has been influenced, he says, by ‘contemporary art, music and science to African art forms and the civic life of cities'.
The honour's ceremony was broadcasted in a digital event across the globe, reaching from London to Accra (where the architect is currently located), the US and India. The beautifully presented event took place yesterday evening and included messages and congratulations from leading figures in the industry and beyond, from Theaster Gates (who was recently announced to design the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion) to Balkrishna Doshi and President Barack Obama. Meanwhile a discussion between Adjaye and Adjaye Associates associate principal Lucy Tilley tracked the architect's journey so far and touched upon several of his current, prestigious works, such as the National Cathedral of Ghana.
Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s highest honours for architecture, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen. Its recipient is a person or group of people ‘who have had a significant influence either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture,' explains the RIBA. Adjaye has certainly done so, through critically acclaimed work that bridges history, community, debates about cities and urbanity and the arts, with a contemporary aesthetic – from the 2004/2005 Idea Stores in London, two community libraries, to the more recent Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC (2016).
‘It’s incredibly humbling and a great honour to have my peers recognise the work I have developed with my team and its contribution to the field over the past 25 years,' said the architect at the award's announcement. ‘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.'
The multi-award winner, who counts among his gongs the Best New Public Building at the 2020 Wallpaper* Design Awards for Ruby City in San Antonio, was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to architecture (following an OBE in 2007), and is continually going from strength to strength. Current work at his Accra, London and New York studios includes 130 William, a high-rise residential tower in New York’s financial district; the Princeton University Art Museum in Princeton, New Jersey in collaboration with Cooper Robertson; The Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi; the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, London led by Adjaye Associates, with Ron Arad Architects as Memorial Architect, and Gustafson Porter + Bowman as Landscape Architect; and the National Cathedral of Ghana in Accra.
‘Through his work as an architect Sir David Adjaye speaks confidently across cultures, disciplines, politics and continents. His body of work is global and local, finely attuned as it reflects and responds to context and community, climate and culture,' said the 2021 RIBA Honours Committee.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
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).
-
The 2024 Ivor Novello nominations for songwriting have been revealed
77 British and Irish songwriters and composers make up this year's nominees, announced tonight at London's Groucho Club
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Why Bollinger’s La Grande Année 2015 champagne is worth celebrating
Champagne Bollinger unveils La Grande Année 2015 and La Grande Année Rosé 2015, two outstanding cuvées from an exceptional year in wine-making
By Melina Keays Published
-
Lexus installation explores time at Milan Design Week 2024
Lexus brought designer Hideki Yoshimoto’s ‘Beyond the Horizon’ to Milan’s Art Point, part of its ongoing series of collaborations with Fuorisalone
By Nargess Shahmanesh Banks Published
-
The visual feast of the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 is revealed
The Sony World Photography Awards 2024 winners have been revealed – we celebrate the Architecture & Design category’s visual artists
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Activism Award 2024 celebrates architecture’s passionate global champions
The shortlist for architecture’s Activism Award 2024 has been announced, highlighting the work of six nominees
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Riken Yamamoto wins 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize
Riken Yamamoto has been announced as the winner of the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Prix Claude Parent launches as an award promoting architectural experimentation
The late architect’s imagination and innovation inspired Prix Claude Parent, the new design award launching this year to promote ‘transgressive’ architecture
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize 2024 goes to Argentina’s Casa sobre el Arroyo
The World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize 2024 is scooped by the Ministerios de Cultura y de Obras Públicas y Municipalidad de Mar del Plata, for its restoration of Argentina’s Casa sobre el Arroyo
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
2024 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture celebrates Lesley Lokko
The 2024 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture will be presented to Lesley Lokko for her contributions to the field, the RIBA announced
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Green House crowned RIBA House of the Year 2023
RIBA House of the Year 2023 has been awarded to Green House in London by Hayhurst & Co
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu honoured with 2023 Oberlander Prize
Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu has been awarded the 2023 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize
By Ellie Stathaki Published