The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello and the University of Virginia (UVA) have named British architect David Adjaye, Hon. FAIA, the 2018 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture. Every year since 1966, this medal has been awarded to someone who has significantly contributed to the architecture field. Adjaye will be presented with the prestigious award, together with this year’s Thomas Jefferson Medalists in Law and Citizen Leadership, on April 13, the anniversary of the third president’s birthday. “The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals recognize the exemplary contributions of recipients to the endeavors in which Jefferson excelled and held in high regard,” according to a press release.
On April 13, UVA and @TJMonticello will present their highest honors, the 2018 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals. https://t.co/KpqR4PmPpx
— UVA (@UVA) February 28, 2018
“All of this year’s medal recipients have excelled in their respective fields,” said UVA President Teresa Sullivan in the same press release. “Along with their commitment to achievement in their disciplines, they share a sense of intellectual innovation and service to the greater good.”
Adjaye, who established Adjaye Associates in 2000, was knighted last year by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to architecture. In 2016, he received the Panerai London Design Medal from the London Design Festival for his outstanding achievements. Before that, in 2015, he received the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is associated with design of many projects, including National Museum of African American History and Culture (a collaboration with Freelon Group, part of Perkins+Will since 2014; Davis Brody Bond; and SmithGroup) in Washington, D.C., the U.K. Holocaust Memorial (a collaboration with Ron Arad Associates and Gustafson Porter + Bowman) in London, new Studio Museum (a collaboration with Cooper Robertson) in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, Linda Pace Foundation’s new building in San Antonio, and the Spyscape museum that opened this month in New York.
Sir David Adjaye is the 2018 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture #TJFmedal2018 #uvaarchitecture @tjmonticello@uvasarc https://t.co/oMM4oo0cJl pic.twitter.com/Kcms42ugJ4
— Adjaye Associates (@AdjayeAssoc) February 27, 2018
David Adjaye joins the ranks of previous medalists, including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who was the first recipient of the medal in 1966.
