Behind many of David Adjaye’s buildings—belying their seemingly impenetrable exteriors—is a host of collaborators. A new documentary directed by German filmmaker Oliver Hardt explores these relationships and how the resulting synergy informs the architect’s work.
David Adjaye—Collaborations, the director’s second film about the architect, was created for a mid-career retrospective, David Adjaye: Form, Heft, Material, opening at Munich’s Haus der Kunst January 30. The documentary was commissioned by the museum and the Art institute of Chicago in collaboration with Adjaye Associates.
“David’s buildings do have this kind of presence wherever they are,” says Brooklyn-based artist Lorna Simpson in the film, sitting in her Adjaye-designed studio. “They always are kind of cloaked in a way, they don’t give a narrative”
Thankfully, Collaborations provides a narrative. The documentary —which includes interviews with writers, artists, and curators—takes viewers into Adjaye-designed spaces including The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (under construction in Washington, D.C.), Dirty House in London, Pitch Black in Brooklyn, and his recent Sugar Hill Development in New York City.
Can’t make the exhibition in Munich? Check out the video clip above featuring an interview with artist Chris Ofili and David’s musician brother Peter Adjaye.
