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A LONDON architect has won the contract to design one of the world's most high-profile new building projects — the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.
David Adjaye, 42, was chosen ahead of some of the biggest names in architecture, including Lord Foster and Louvre pyramid designer IM Pei.
The project is sited a stone's throw from the White House, and has gained added significance since Barack Obama's election as President.
Although funding for the museum was approved by George Bush at the end of his presidency, it is almost certain that the museum will be seen as a monument of the Obama era.
Adjaye has called the project “a very beautiful symbol” on “one of the most socially and politically loaded sites in the world”.
The Hackney-based architect was the youngest entrant on the competition's shortlist. Born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents, he is also the world's best-known architect of African origin.
He started out designing homes for Ewan McGregor and artist Jake Chapman, before moving on to two “Idea Stores”, which are updated public libraries, in Poplar and Whitechapel.
Last year he completed an art museum in Denver, Colorado, and he is one of a group of architects commissioned by Brad Pitt to design houses in New Orleans for people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. The $500 million Washington museum, however, will be by far the largest project he has worked on.
He will work as “lead designer” in a group that includes two American practices: Davis Brody Bond, which designed the National September 11th Museum at the World Trade Center, and the Freelon Group, which designed the Museum of the African diaspora in San Francisco.
The museum's director, Lonnie G. Bunch III, said the group's “vision and spirit of collaboration moved all members of the design competition jury”. The building is due to be completed in 2015.
The museum was established in 2003. It has already started collecting artefacts as well as organising debates and touring exhibitions.
