Third Culture Creativity
David
Adjaye was born in Tanzania to Ghanaian diplomats with whom he lived in several
Arab metropolises before settling in the UK to study architecture. "As
much as I was enjoying all the places I was moving to, I was incredibly
traumatized by” the “inability to have roots, but then I realized that it was a
strength rather than a problem." An exposure to multiple cultures has not
directly influenced the aesthetic of Adjaye’s design rather constant and
extreme adjustments to different societies tested his confidence and drove him
to make sense of complexities. Adjaye’s adeptness to solve problems and provide
inventive solutions to “post-city architecture” won him projects. Adjaye’s
public assignments in London are for educational and artistic spaces that breed
cross-cultural communication. Adjaye’s progressive reassessment of the London
library scored a commission to build two Idea Stores that host an array of
educational classes.
Six
years ago, David began studying and archiving images of the fifty-three
capitals on the African continent for an exhibition to promote positive imagery
instead of disease, famine and war. More recently, David lead his team to win
the competition to design the National Museum of African American History and
Culture at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.
http://www.adjaye.com/
http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/nmaahc_architect_named.htm
