David Adjaye on Accelerate
Accelerate is making a meaningful contribution to diversifying architecture. It is opening a path to the profession that for young people from non-traditional and ethnic-minority backgrounds has been closed. If we want architecture to be more precise, then it must respond to the diversity of our communities and our cities. This couldn’t be any more relatable than in London, which I’ve seen, over four decades, transform from an almost introverted place to an extraordinarily cosmopolitan city
In this time, I’ve seen some signs of improved diverse representation in architectural education and practice. But this change has been incremental and slow, we now need radical change. The very name of this programme, Accelerate, affirms the real need for urgency in improving social mobility.
For me, architecture is a mediator between how we interact and tolerate each other. My interest in making public buildings is because they provide a platform for engagement and dialogue to occur between different races, generations and social groupings. In a way, I want my buildings to absorb and animate difference rather than homogenise it.
Difference is at the core of my practice. In my London, New York and Accra studios, it is extremely important to me to have diverse and talented teams that come from around the world. I believe firmly that the exchange of diverse cultural viewpoints is not only an asset to the creative processes of design, but also makes for richer and more dynamic studio environments.
I’ve always strived to make architecture that is deeply personal, almost autobiographical, so that is means something to me. To the aspiring young people reading this, as you take your first steps in your architectural careers, take on projects that have personal meaning and that speak to your passion.
