ARCHITECTURE Building Narratives by Noam Dvir sLUMINOS/C/TY. ORDINARY JOY,” las fll inaugural exhibition atthe Ethelbert Cooper Gallery at Harvard Univer- sitys Hutchins Center for Avican & Afican American Research ‘was co-curated (with MarianeIbrahim-Lenhard, founder and director of Seattle's MIA. Gallery) by David Adjaye,a Ghansian-Brtsh architec, who also designed the strikingly dark gallery. Adjaye, 48, arguably the worlds most successful architect of African descent, has offices in London, New Yor, Accra and Beri, with a combined staff of some 70 employees working on projects on four continents. la recent years has designed a number of building in the United States, including the Smithso- rian new $500-nillion National Museum of Afican American History and Culture, curently under construction. Many of the 98 works displayed in “Luminés/C/iy. Ordinary Joy" are rooted in troubled periods in 20th-century Aficat history that came on the heels of clashes with, ‘modernity and colonial powers. All modernists that we know were quite violent,” says Adjaye. “They were raptures of techaology that descended upon these worlds." Thus, for example, the drawings of the Sierra Leonean astist Abu Bakarr Mansaray depict futuristic murder machines, ren~ dered in great detail with red ink and graphite pencils. Fly- ing saucers hover in the center of each drawing, surrounded by eccentric inscriptions like “Sophisticated Death Lizard” or "Dog of Hell." These apocalyptic scenarios bear the horvors of an L1-year-long civil war in the artist's homeland that left over 70,000 dead, Welking through the exhibition, Adjaye explains how the works document scenes of cultural collision, particularly in contemporary African urban surroundings. His buildings ART IN AMERICA Photo Ea Reeve COMING SOON NOAM DVIR hn designer nd joureabe Bveg,Yer dora Ed Rese do the same, in 2 more subdued manner. They implicitly frame conflicts in urban contexts, often using seemingly alien materials and forms in a provocative manner. The new gallery is located in a nondescript office building in Harvard Square, a found object of 1970s functionalism. ("Harvard realestate, what can you do?” jokes Adjaye). The original interior was essentially a Tong corridor, along which the architect was asked to create a series of exhibition spaces, or “episodic moments,”3s he calls them. He also transformed the gloomy lobby, making it an elaborate civic concourte with slick wood beams and glass. I note that the predomi typical of his work.*No, its dark gray!" he insists. “T always have to correct people about this. 1 do grays, deep purples, browns ‘Some may see his preference for black and near-bhick as & political choice, but Adjaye considers it a logical cor nant color is black, a choice 56 MARCH 2015, quence of modernism. His use of dark colors isa cultural counterpoint, a reaction to the 20th-century obsession with “white spaces,” which created barriers between the density of the city and works of art.“The romance of the white space is, so old-fashioned,” Adjaye remarks. "So, for me, the work is actually an investigation of certain parameters of atmosphere that have not been explored in architecture. I think we must explore what seems like the edge, the periphery, the scary” THE SON OF « Ghanaian diplomat, Adjaye spent is childhood on the “periphery,” in various countries in Africa and the Middle East, until his family settled in London in 1979. He studied architecture at London South Bank University and then at the Royal College of Art, graduat- ing in 1993. In between, he apprenticed at the offices of David Chipperfield in London and Pritzker Prize laureate ARCHITECTURE,Eduardo Souto de Moura in Porto, Portugal. Both of these ‘mentors engage in a continuous exploration of modernism’s architectural vocabulary—an endeavor that Adj undertaken as well Adjaye's fist projects were predominantly private villas for East London's young and hip creative clas. He established a circle of clients-furned-friends that inchuded the artists Jake Chapman, Jirgen Teller, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, and Giorgio Sadotti and Elizabeth Wright. Datk colors, boxy silhouettes, iregular openings that avert the exterior world and the innovative use of inexpensive materials forthe facades and interiors give these houses a mystifying look One of Adjaye’s first clients was artist Chris Of, who became a collaborator and lifelong friend. Adjaye designed for him a light-filled private residence and studio in Lon- don, and later two homes in Trinidad. Adjaye’s relator with Of and other artists crystallized his architectural persona, “Architects very quickly become professional, and 1 donit have an interest in that term,” he says, "Tm interested in the questioning eye and the questioning mind: w you doing whatever you're doing? This is what continuously looking for.” Adjaye worked with OB on ewo artistic projects: an exhibition of Ofils work at the Victoria, ‘Miro gallery in London in 2002 and the British pavilion at the Venice Biennale the following year. From private houses Adjaye moved to small civic buildings. His 2005 Idea Store in London's Whitecha- pel neighborhood challenged the idea of a public library Combining, glassy, colorful facades with open and a café, the building accommodates diverse activities for multicultural crowd. Adjaye's largest project so far, the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (2010), comprises aship four buildings precariously cantilevered over a large circular base. The monochromatic herringbone pattern wrapping the facade looks like a monumental painting, A black architect in an otherwise notoriously wi profession ("a very sad and tragic reality,” he says), Adjaye has received attention from African and African-American clients, including world leaders such as former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who commissioned a house in Ghana, and U.S, President Barack Obama, who invited Adjaye to a state dinner at the White House. He designed the Stephen Lawrence Centre in London (2008), commemorating a black student killed in a racist attack SINCE HIS FIRST commission in the United States—the fer (2007)—Adjaye hhas worked on a broad range of project in this country: a ‘monolithic public housing complex recently built in Harlem's Sugar Hill neighborhood) a splashy townhouse for New York. art collector Adam Lindemann and his wife, Amalia Dayan; n, D.C and the National ‘Museum of African American History and Cult ‘Museum of Contemporary Actin D ‘vo public libraries in Washingto The African-American museum, as Adjaye attest, is eta federally funded most important project of his ca building on the last available spot on the National Mall. For ARCHITECTURE ART IN AMERICA 57ior and interior sending of he Seat aon seam of ‘Abion Ameen istry nd Cale, Watingwn, DE ‘his commission, Adjaye and his teammates—Philip Feelon and the late Max Bond—had to compete with well-stab- lished firms such as Diller Scofidio + Renfeo, Moshe Sadie, Poster + Partners and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Adiye says tha his proposal was selected primarily for its cohosive mix of architecture and narrative, expanding the discussion ahout African-American history beyond slavery. ‘The new museum, slated to open in 2016, is located across the street feom the Washington Monument, on £ prominent lot in view ofthe White House. The Mall's inst- tutions are essentially a lexicon of neoclassical and mocernist architecere, situated on geand podiums and faced in marble. Adjaye wanted something different, “a new kind of instiew~ tional building that doesnt reinterpret a Classical model or 58 MARGH 2015, make a modern version of a Classical model, a project where the building and the narrative are indivisible.” ‘The building is enveloped by a crown-like form, which ‘emerged from a motif found in Yoruba temples in West Affica. Visitors will flow inside through a vast lobby, lead~ ing back out to large porch. The structure is replete with reminders of euleural and historical narratives. The weighty bronze panels that cover the exterior reference Aftican- American craftsmanship. An underground “memorial space” is topped with an oculus that diffuses light in a cascade of | water. When visitors ascend to the galleries they will be exposed to expanding views of the nation’s most emblematic structures, asa kind ofa journey from darkness to light. This risky, ambitious design ultimately will be judged fon the quality of the details and the materialization of its broader architectural concepts. But if the bronze-clad envelope works as Adjaye plans, the muscum could be a fine addition to the Mall. He is optimistic despite several cut- backs in the design due to budget constrains. asked him what sort of structure he hasnt been com- missioned to build yer, but would like to design."A church, or a religious building, or an airport ora train station,” he answers, Cleaely, religious and monumental projects intrigue him. "T just think that death and eeligion are the two archetypes of architecture,” he says. “Architecture is born from these two positions: belief and commemoration. As an architect, 'm fascinated by this.” O 1. All Ae guts ar fn a inte with the auth, 20,2014 Ca ‘wide Ma ARCHITECTURE,