Ruby City

Sir David Adjaye and Cai Guo-Qiang To Receive 2020 Isamu Noguchi Award

The Noguchi Museum has selected architect Sir David Adjaye OBE and artist Cai Guo-Qiang as recipients of the 2020 Isamu Noguchi Award, conferred on individuals who share Noguchi’s spirit of innovation, global consciousness, and commitment to Eastern and Western cultural exchange. WHO Widely recognized as one of the leading architects of his generation, Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye OBE has received international acclaim for his impact on the field. Adjaye, who was born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents in 1966, cites influences ranging from contemporary art, music, and science, to African art forms and the civic life of cities. Like Noguchi, he has collaborated with a variety of influential art world and cultural figures. In 2000, he founded Adjaye Associates, which today has projects spanning the globe. In 2017, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Adjaye is widely viewed as an architect with an artist’s sensibility and vision. Also like Noguchi, he is committed to a multidisciplinary practice, with projects ranging from private houses, bespoke furniture collections, product design, exhibitions, and temporary pavilions to major arts centers, civic buildings, and master plans. In 2016, Adjaye opened his largest project to date, The National Museum of African American History & Culture, in Washington, D.C., which was named Cultural Event of the Year by The New York Times. Other completed works include: Ruby City, a new art center in San Antonio, Texas; The Webster, a new flagship retail space in Los Angeles; the Sugar Hill Mixed-Use Development, in Harlem, New York; two neighborhood libraries in Washington, D.C.; the Alara Concept store in Lagos, Nigeria; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, Colorado; the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African and African American Art at the Hutchins Center at Harvard University; the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo; the Idea Stores—two community libraries in London. Ongoing projects include a new home for The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; 130 William, a high-rise residential tower in New York’s financial district; the new Sydney Plaza, a public plaza, community building, and artwork in Sydney’s Central Business District; The Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi; the…