David Adjaye Knihy

David Adjaye is one of the world's most exciting and accomplished architects, and has built many highly acclaimed houses and public buildings in the UK and USA. Over a ten-year period, the Tanzanian born, London-based architect has visited 53 major African cities and photographed thousands of buildings, sites and places that few of us will ever be able to visit. This 7-volume set documents Adjaye's tribute to African metropolitan architecture. The individual volumes present cities according to the terrain in which they are situated: the Maghreb, Desert, The Sahel, Savannah and Grassland, Mountain and Highveld, and Forest. Each city is shown in a concise urban history, fact file, maps and satellite imagery, along with Adjaye's personal travel notes and dozens of photographs of the city's civic, commercial and residential architecture. All six terrain volumes feature an introductory essay by Adjaye, and a separate volume is dedicated to essays by leading academics and commentators on Africa.

An artistic reflection on the impact of David Adjaye's architecture for the Idea Stores in London, featuring also a conversation with David Adjaye on London's new public neighbourhood libraries.

A graduate of London's Royal College of Art, David Adjaye formed Adjaye Associates in 2000, with a multicultural design team dedicated to an international perspective. Adjaye's early residential designs critiqued the Victorian streets around them, and also focused on the society-building aspects of city life public buildings, commemorative spaces and urban gathering places for children. More recently Adjaye has conducted important research into African architecture, and collaborated with Chris Ofili on installations that unite Ofili's paintings with Adjaye's explorations of light and space. Output showcases some 25 designs and includes revealing interviews with Adjaye and Aureliusz Kowalczyk.