David Adjaye (born 1966) is a Ghanaian-British architect who has designed buildings around the world, most famously the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, he lived in Tanzania, Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon before moving to Britain at nine. He was knighted in 2017 and in 2021 became the first African recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. In 2023 three women who had worked in his practice accused him of sexual assault and harassment; he denied the allegations and no charges were brought.
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His early work was mainly houses and studios for artists, among them the Dirty House in London (2002). The Nobel Peace Center in Oslo (2005), a showcase for the Nobel Peace Prize, followed. The Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (2010), rejects the traditional campus and gathers the school into one form to bring students together. The National Museum of African American History and Culture (2016), which he led with the Freelon Group, Davis Brody Bond and SmithGroup, rises in three inverted steps wrapped in a bronze-coloured screen inspired by a Yoruba crown.
