Architect David Adjaye accused of sexual misconduct

Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye has stepped down from several roles and positions in the fallout from a FinancialTimes report outlining allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by three former employees. In the report published yesterday July 4, three anonymized women accuse Adjaye of abusing his power as a superior and as a well-known architect to coerce them into sexual activities. Adjaye, known for his winning design for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture building and other architectural projects spanning multiple continents, released a statement calling on the “false” claims.

According to FinancialTimes report, the three former employees are black single mothers who knew Adjaye personally before their employment with his transcontinental architecture firm Adjaye Associates. Under the pseudonyms Maya, Gene and Dunia, the three women shared their accounts of Adjaye’s allegations misconduct and exploitation, ranging from his company’s inability to obtain work visas and pay their wages in a timely manner to instances of sexual assault and sexual misconduct, wrongful dismissal from the workplace without warning, and Adjaye’s comments and physical behaviors that they describe as “misogynoir(portmanteau term referring to a form of misogyny towards black women).

Maya and Gene alleged that a dinner with Adjaye to address their concerns about late payments and visa insecurities in 2018 worsened when they accompanied the architect to his corporate apartment. According to their accounts, Adjaye proposed to them sexually in his room and Gene refused to commit, but Maya, who said she had been drinking that night, alleged that Adjaye told her: “You just have to doing that”, and described “feeling his penis against [her].” She called the incident an “assault.” In her second account, Maya alleges that Adjaye sexually assaulted her in a public toilet on a return trip from South Africa, claiming that she pushed him away and shouted “no” and that he “cummed in the sink, fixed himself and walked out the door,” according to the FinancialTimes.

Dunia told the FinancialTimes that she had dinner with Adjaye after meeting him at an event in the UK in 2019 and was thrilled to work with him. After their dinner, Dunia alleged that he forcibly kissed her at the Royal Academy of Arts, which they entered after hours. Dunia continued to work for his company after this incident, and she alleged that there were several ’emotionally abusive sexual encounters’ with him, that she felt compelled to work without pay and to meet his demands. sexual abuse because of his influence in the art world, and that he made inappropriate comments about her appearance and abilities as a black woman throughout her three-month contract with her company.

In a statement released by UK-based crisis management communications firm Kendal Advisory, quoted in the Financial times, Adjaye vehemently denied any allegations of “sexual misconduct, abuse or criminal acts”. A follow-up report New York Times noted that the architect said he would step back from the ceremonial and administrator roles in order to prevent the allegations from “becoming a distraction”. He has since was suspended from his work on the winning design of the competition for the British Holocaust Memorial in London and resigned as architectural adviser to the Mayor of London.

“These allegations are false, distressing to me and my family and go against everything I stand for,” Adjaye’s statement continued. “I’m ashamed to say that I’ve formed relationships that, while entirely consensual, have blurred the lines between my professional and personal life. I am deeply sorry. To restore trust and accountability, I will immediately seek professional help to learn from these mistakes to ensure they never happen again.

The Princeton University Art Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem have yet to confirm with Hyperallergic whether Whether or not Adjaye will continue designing and planning their new buildings in New Jersey And New York City respectively.

A spokesperson for Kendal Advisory clarified Hyperallergic that while Adjaye has retired from certain honorary positions, he has chosen not to retire from his roles and responsibilities at Adjaye Associates. Regarding Dunia’s alleged references to her identity as a black woman versus her appearance and her consulting abilities, Adjaye strongly rejected her characterization that he had “belittled and mocked” her. However, he admitted that his “sexual interactions” with Dunia that continued after his professional services for the company were “inappropriate”.