The Africa Institute has announced the cancellation of a large campus designed by David Adjaye which was to occupy downtown Sharjah. The news comes after allegationsfirst published in the FinancialTimesthat the famous British Ghanaian architect had harassed or sexually assaulted three female employees.
“The Africa Institute is deeply troubled by the recently reported allegations regarding David Adjaye, and we have made the decision to cancel the construction project with Adjaye Associates,” Africa Institute President Hoor Al Qasimi said in a statement. a statement.
The Africa Institute, which is dedicated to the study and documentation of Africa and its diaspora, frequently holds exhibitions featuring African artists at venues such as the Serpentine Galleries in London and the Sharjah Art Foundation. . The approximately 343,000 square foot campus was to incorporate the institute’s current home, Africa Hall, into five structures of seven stories each, made of reddish concrete.
“Our decision will not impact our strong research and teaching programs at the Institute’s current facilities,” Al Qasimi noted. “The Africa Institute remains more committed than ever to our fellows, faculty and staff, and to our mission to nurture a new generation of critical thinkers in Africa and African Diaspora Studies, serving as a model of excellence in research, teaching and documentation.”
With the allegations becoming public, Adjaye stepped down from his role as architectural adviser to the Mayor of London and halted work on Britain’s Holocaust memorial. He also took a step back from the African Futures Institute, a postgraduate school of architecture founded by Lesley Lokko, with which he had long been affiliated. So far, institutions such as the Studio Museum in Harlem, whose new home he was to design, and the Multnomah County Library in Gresham, Oregon, whose future structure he was working on, have ended their relationship with his company, Adjaye Associates. Additionally, the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts has suspended the showing of one of his large-scale works indefinitely.
Adjaye has vigorously denied the allegations made against him.
