Adjaye and his family moved to London when he was nine years old, and he later studied architecture at the Royal College of Art, but deep-rooted memories of Africa remain with him, as well as a continuing fascination. Currently Adjaye is working on a book documenting every major African capital and he has already visited a dozen or so.
These fascinations feed every piece of work, from Denver to Tottenham.
“My roots are on that continent, so my aesthetics are also shaped by Africa, as well as being shaped by my education in Britain and my global education. It’s all a matter of choices.
“An architect like Tadao Ando might say that he looks at Shinto temples or someone else might say they look at Italian hill towns. I am deeply interested in the continent of Africa, as a project that will occupy my life.”
more from The Telegraph here.