Event Description
David Adjaye, the renowned Ghanaian-British Architect, will explore the relationship between architecture and nation-building, sharing examples of his studio's work in the Global North and the African Continent. In this talk he will suggest that instead of following a linear progression—such as first building houses, then high-rises, and later hospitals—nation-building, particularly in the West African context, is about a cultural understanding as it meets circularity. Understanding who the people are, who their ancestry is, and what it means to create architecture that acknowledges this eternal cycle.
Speaker
Sir David Adjaye, Founder and Principal, Adjaye Associates
Moderator
Lanre Olusola, Intl Assoc. AIA, FNIA, FNIM, FIMC; At-Large Director, AIA International, President, AIA Sub-Saharan Africa; CEO of Creation Consult Group
CES: Estimated 1 LU for AIA Members
Speaker Bio
David Adjaye is a Ghanaian-British architect who has received international acclaim for his impact on the field. In 2000 he founded Adjaye Associates, which today operates globally with studios in Accra, London, and New York. Adjaye’s most well-known project to date is the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, which opened on the National Mall in Washington DC in 2016 and was named Cultural Event of the Year by The New York Times. In 2017, Adjaye was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and was included in TIME’S 100 Most Influential People List. Adjaye is also a recipient of the 2021 RIBA Royal Gold Medal, considered one of the highest honours in British architecture for significant contributions to the field internationally. In 2022, Adjaye was appointed to the Order of Merit, selected by Her Majesty the Queen, in recognition of distinguished service in his field. He is also the recipient of the World Economic Forum’s 27th Annual Crystal Award, which recognizes his “leadership in serving communities, cities and the environment.
Moderator Bio
Born in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, Lanre Olusola founded Creation Consult in 1997 to deliver architecture and project management solutions to the growing built environment with Total Quality Management System as paradigm. Worked as Project Architect with Habitat Associates, consulting firm of Architects, from 1988 for upward of 14 years, executing various housing and Real Estate projects North of the Niger.
Traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria in major housing, institutional, hospitality, downstream products retail and real estate projects. Also worked as QC and Project Manager with Dynamic Corporation Llc (Hyattsville, MD) on the US Embassy NOX in Abuja, under the #OBO of US Department of State, with proven expertise in urban design, planning, implementation, project management and development.
A professional member of the Green Building Council Nigeria (GBCN) which is a member of the World Green Building Council (WGBC), contributes immensely to the growth and development of professional associations and administration through voluntary roles, by serving in various committees and responsibilities locally, nationally and internationally for upward of 15 years. I was elected NIA Council member in 2017 and chaired, NIA International Affairs 2019-23, representing the Institute in all international fora such as the #AUA, #CAA and #UIA.
Currently a member of the AIA Global Practice Committee (2024-25), I served as Council & Board member of Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) from 2016-2022 and was the Secretary General 2020-22; Appointed first Country Representative of the American Institute of Architects (#AIAINTERNATIONAL) in Nigeria in 2020; NCARB AXP Supervisor in 2020; also appointed as member of the UIA PPC and Architecture for All workgroup in 2021. First At-Large Director of AIA International and a Board member from Nigeria, with oversight of Africa and Indo-Asia 2022-24; elected as Treasurer (first from Nigeria) of the Africa Union of Architects (AUA), ratified at the 13th AUA Congress in Rabat, Morocco in 2022.
