Known for using stark, almost challenging forms and a unique palette of moody materials, the firm of Tanzanian-born architect Sir David Adjaye is one of the leading architecture practices today. Based in London, New York, and Accra, Adjaye Associates creates innovative projects that are imbued with notions of cultural identity.
The firm’s lauded Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (2016) in Washington, D.C., has a unique inverted-ziggurat design that comprises 3,000-plus bronze-cast aluminum panels. Featuring similar shapes, the firm’s first New York condo tower 130 William in the financial district has a rough, hand-cast concrete exterior that contrasts with its ubiquitous glass-box neighbors and pays homage to the elaborate façades of the area’s prewar architecture. The AD100 designer’s other projects include a slew of private residences, including a Brooklyn home for artist Glenn Ligon, a new home for the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, and the mixed-use Affirmation Tower also in New York City.
View the entire AD100 2023 list.
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