Tanzania-born architect to design National Museum of African American History

Alpha · Apr 18, 2009

Dream team

Mark Schultz, Staff Writer
It is a project so big that four firms have joined to make it happen.
On Tuesday, the Smithsonian announced its National Museum of African American History and Culture would be designed by The Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates, Davis Brody Bond and SmithGroup.

It's an honor for design guarantor Freelon and by extension the Bull City. Durham boasts examples of the hometown architect's work from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park to the stunning, new Durham Station transit center.

Among the other firms, lead designer David Adjaye is best known for the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.

The Tanzania-born Adjaye has incorporated African influences in his work, honoring the public life of tribal villages we have largely lost in the West.

"The markets, the way people use the spaces in front of their homes, the way life is lived as networks," he said in a 2007 interview with New York magazine.

"There has been a tendency to shy away from who you are, and I don't want to deny who I am," Adjaye said. "If a Japanese architect talks about Shintoism, everyone goes, "Wow." If an African architect talks about an African village, it is somehow weird in the Western context."

No shying away any longer

The Durham News | Dream team

Semilong · Apr 18, 2009

click Adjaye Associates

wajinga · Apr 18, 2009

All the great tanzanians have run away from this misery, stupidity, incompetence, corruption etecetera. God bless them where ever they are and let them shine and show that not all of us a as we look.

Fundi Mchundo · Apr 19, 2009

wajinga said:
All the great tanzanians have run away from this misery, stupidity, incompetence, corruption etecetera. God bless them where ever they are and let them shine and show that not all of us a as we look.

Si mtanzania. Baba yake ni mGhana aliyekuwa posted Dar es Salaam mara baada ya uhuru wetu. David Adjaye anatambua kuwa roots zake ni Ghana na si Tanzania.

Amandla.........

Kituko · Apr 19, 2009

bongo mwanasiasa ndio mwenye say, hata kama kuna kitu cha maana ambacho kinaitaji proffesional thought, ni mwanasiasa ndio atakaekiongelea hicho, kwa hiyo msomi wa kweli ambaye anataka kutumia elimu yake kwa faida ya watanzania wote katika nchi hii hana nafasi

Waberoya · Apr 19, 2009

Tanzanian are doing great things all over the world! even more than this!

Ndahani · Apr 19, 2009

Wahandisi, wasanifu wa majengo,madaktari, mipango miji na career nyinginezo nyingi ambazo Tanzania huwa inasomesha kwa kiwango kikubwa bila kuwa ma mikakati sahihi ya kuwatumia wanafanya vizuri sana nje ya Tanzania. Kwa mfano, walimu wawili Dr James Msekela, Dr. Kawambwa waliokuwa faculty ya engineering waliamua kujitosa kwenye siasa baada ya kuona hakuna la maana katika kufundisha.
Tuzinduke naona tumelala sana.Tunatengeneza wataalamu wanaosaidia sehemu nyingine kwetu kunaendelea kudoda kwasababu ya uongozi usio na vipaumbele.I cant see any development without good leaders.

Petu Hapa · Apr 19, 2009

Fundi Mchundo said:
Si mtanzania. Baba yake ni mGhana aliyekuwa posted Dar es Salaam mara baada ya uhuru wetu. David Adjaye anatambua kuwa roots zake ni Ghana na si Tanzania.

Amandla.........

Yes, he might not be Tanzanian but his style speaks of african culture, of which africa shares collectively. It is an interesting fusion, which not only publicize african art in architecture rather it reminds us main stream cultures are not static. Therefore, by doing something or not doing anything we participate in creating it. However, we become powerful actors if we influence and take the part of who we are into that culture.

Tanzania-born architect to design National Museum of African American History

Alpha

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