Adjaye Rethinks the Monument
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David Adjaye is — and probably always will be — best known as the architect of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Inaugurated in September 2016 in Washington, D.C., by then President Barack Obama, the museum is a threAdjaye Rethinks the Monument
David Adjaye is — and probably always will be — best known as the architect of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Inaugurated in September 2016 in Washington, D.C., by then President Barack Obama, the museum is a three-tiered, eight-floor edifice that tracks the history of the African-American community from slavery, segregation and the civil rights movement to the present day.Not surprisingly, the Washington institution is the centerpiece of a new exhibition at London’s Design Museum, focusing on Adjaye and his vision of the role that monuments and memorials should play in the 21st century. “Making Memory” is on view until May 5. As he explains in an exhibition text, the world is going through “a period of rethinking ingrained histories,” and throwing into question past forms of monument-making and memorializing.“Rather than the imperialist idea of enshrining a singular view, I am interested in exploring the democratization of the monument,” Adjaye explains. “I find narratives that unfold and splinter are more representative of our collective consciousness. By including such narratives, the monument can be transformed to reflect a broader experience of time and place.”The exhibition is handsomely designed and well mediated, with flawless light-wood maquettes representing each of the seven projects on display. Context is helpfully provided via black-and-white photographs of the world’s most famous monuments and memorials: ancient buildings (the Acropolis or the Pyramids), arches (the Arc de Triomphe in Paris), obelisks (Trafalgar Square), and statues (such as the one of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein that was toppled after his overthrow in 2003). These images provide a quick reminder of the kinds of historical edifices that Adjaye is trying to break away from.The best-looking room in the exhibition is dedicated to the Washington museum, with a beautiful maquette in the center, large video projections of the site on the back wall, samples of the building’s beautiful textile-inspired cladding, the text of a poem by Langston Hughes, and the spectacular Yoruba statue — a figure with a towering three-tiered crown — that inspired the exterior of the building.Another good-looking room focuses on a project that’s still under construction: the sprawling National Cathedral of Ghana (Adjaye is of Ghanaian descent), with a swooping canopy-like roof, inspired by the wide and colorful Asante tribal umbrellas that were held over the heads of dignitaries in Ghanaian ceremonies. Examples of those patterned umbrellas hang from the ceilings of the gallery, and a book of century-old prints is opened to a page illustrating one such tribal ceremony. The cathedral’s $100 million cost — in a country with very low average incomes — has caused controversy. If completed, the cathedral will go down as another Adjaye career milestone.Other rooms are dedicated to memorials: realized, unrealized or in the making. One finished memorial completed in 2013 Gwangju, South Korea commemorates the brutally repressed 10-day uprising there in May 1980. It’s a concrete-and-timber pavilion on four pillars with towering bookshelves inserted in the pillars. The pavilion is inspired by traditional Korean architecture, and visitors can consult books on freedom and human rights.An as-yet-unrealized project (the winner of the competition will be announced in February or March) is Adjaye’s design for the Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Boston — where King studied, lived and met his future wife. Adjaye’s memorial, if realized, would be built at the highest point on Boston Common, next to the State House, and be a bridge or “ramp of accessibility,” as Adjaye describes it. The purpose is not to make a sculpture of the Kings, but an experiential memorial that will involve action and ritual on the part of the public.Yet visually, the memorial is no more than an unadorned timber ramp. Walking up it will give pedestrians a very good view of Boston, but how will it commemorate the Kings and their struggle for civil rights in the US? It’s fine to redefine the notion of the monument, but will the ramp survive the test of time as successfully as the Acropolis or the Pyramids of Giza? The exhibition gives a good overview of Adjaye’s recent designs for public buildings, but the results can be uneven.“David Adjaye: Making Memory” is on view until May 5 at the Design Museum. More information: https://designmuseum.orgThis column appears in the March 2019 edition of BlouinShop. Subscribe at www.blouinsubscriptions.comhttps://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more