David Adjaye

Sir David Adjaye is a Ghanaian-British architect and the founder of Adjaye Associates, the firm behind the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. In 2021 he became the first African to receive the Royal Gold Medal, British architecture's highest honour. In 2023 his career was upended by sexual misconduct allegations, which he denied.

Early life

Adjaye was born on 22 September 1966 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the son of a Ghanaian diplomat. His childhood followed his father's postings to Tanzania, Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon before the family settled in Britain when he was nine.

Training

He studied architecture at London South Bank University, graduating in 1990 with the RIBA Bronze Medal, and took a master's degree at the Royal College of Art in 1993. He worked for David Chipperfield and Eduardo Souto de Moura before going into partnership with William Russell.

Adjaye Associates

He founded Adjaye Associates in 2000, and the firm grew to studios in London, New York and Accra. Early houses for artists, including Chris Ofili, made his name in London. Major works include:

• the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo (2005)
• the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (2010)
• the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington (2016), whose bronze-coloured corona draws on Yoruba carved columns
• the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi (2023)
• the Princeton University Art Museum, which opened in October 2025

In Ghana he designed the National Cathedral, unveiled in 2018. The project stalled with little built beyond the excavated site, and in January 2025 the new government opened an investigation into how about $58 million of public money had been spent on it.

Honours

Adjaye was appointed OBE in 2007 and knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours. He received the Royal Gold Medal in 2021 and the Order of Merit in 2022, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023.

Allegations and aftermath

In July 2023 the Financial Times reported allegations of sexual assault and harassment from three women who had worked for him. Adjaye denied them and no charges were brought, though he apologised for what he called mistakes in blurring professional and personal boundaries. He resigned as an adviser to the Mayor of London. Clients including the Africa Institute in Sharjah and the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool dropped his firm, and it cut its staff from 110 to 85. In March 2024 the practice appointed separate chief executives for London, New York and Accra, and Adjaye became executive chair.