THANK YOU! THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.

An evening of conversation with internationally renowned architect and designer of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, David Adjaye and designer, urbanist and social innovator Liz Ogbu, along with an exclusive preview of Urban Africa: David Adjaye’s Photographic Survey.

‍David Adjaye’s design process is based on a fundamental notion of responsiveness: the idea that the built environment should be in meaningful conversation with the geography and culture of its surroundings. He strives for his work to inspire discussion around the question, “How can design edify, uplift, and empower communities?”

Liz Ogbu is a designer who also thinks about social practice and architecture. She is an expert on sustainable design and spatial innovation in challenged urban environments globally.

Please join us for a reception and conversation between these two visionaries, followed by a book signing of Adjaye | Africa | Architecture (W.W. Norton, 2016). This new abridged version of the five volume 2011 edition collects the insights of the exhibition, positing a thesis about the critical role of geography in shaping the urban architecture on the continent of Africa.

David Adjaye, OBE was born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents and his influences range from contemporary art, music and science to African art forms and the civic life of cities. He founded Adjaye Associates in 2000 and immediately won several prestigious commissions.

In Oslo he designed the Nobel Peace Centre in the shell of a disused railway station (completed in 2005). In London his design for the Whitechapel Idea Store pioneered a new approach to the provision of information services (2005).

Later projects in London included the Stephen Lawrence Centre, with teaching and community spaces (2007), Rivington Place, an exhibition venue and resource centre (2007), and the Bernie Grant Centre for the Performing Arts (2007).

‍Adjaye Associates now has offices in London, New York, and Accra is working on throughout the world. In the United States, Adjaye was the designer of a new home for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver (2007), two public libraries in Washington DC (2012), the Sugar Hill low income housing development in Harlem(2015) and the redesigned Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art at Harvard’s Hutchins Center (2014).

‍Adjaye Associates’ largest completed project to date is the £160 million Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (2010). His largest project to date, the $540 million Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington DC, will open September 24.

A designer and social change agent, Liz Ogbu is an expert on social and spatial innovation in challenged urban environments globally. From designing shelters for immigrant day laborers in the U.S. to a water and health social enterprise for low-income Kenyans, Liz has a long history of working to improve these environments. Through her multidisciplinary consulting practice, Studio O, she continues to collaborate with communities to use design to tackle wicked social problems.

Liz recently completed tenure as the Australian Institute of Architecture’s Droga Architect-in-Residence, where she focused on urban marginalized populations, issues of equity and inclusion, and community development practices. Her other honors include Aspen Ideas Scholar, Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, one of Public Interest Design’s Top 100, and one of the 2016 YBCA 100.

‍A first generation Nigerian American, Liz also has had a lifelong personal and professional connection with Africa, including a number of projects across the continent and a ten-country sojourn through Sub-Saharan Africa on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.