Abu Dhabi: Abraham family home is ‘once in a generation project’, says architect Sir David Adjaye – News

He highlights the importance of gardens and lighting, and how architects can create spaces that combine the past and look to the future

Internationally acclaimed architect Sir David Adjaye delivered an insightful presentation on the Abraham Family Homes project at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Summit, which concluded on Tuesday night.

The designer of the Abu Dhabi project, Adjaye, who brought together three places of worship representing different faiths under the Abrahamic patriarchy, detailed the project, which he describes as a “once-in-a-lifetime” type of project.

“Religions want to express their identities, so they create an architecture that relates to themselves and spreads through history…it becomes a style. It’s a moment when the negative is being asked. So how do you talk about it now What about all the things that are characteristic of each other? And how do you translate them into new forms?”

Adjaye highlights the importance of gardens and light in architecture, and how architects can create spaces that combine the past and look to the future.

“It’s about respecting three extraordinary religions and their history, culture and evolution,” he added.

In another session at the Culture Summit on the key theme of culture and climate change, Sumayya Vally, architect and co-founder of Johannesburg-based firm Counterspace, said: “We need artists and cultural thinkers at the highest level in all institutions. … We need to really engage people who think differently and creatively and how to shift the paradigm, rather than just relegating them to responsive territory. We need to be at the forefront of that change.”

Organised by DCT Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Cultural Summit works in partnership with global partner organisations to bring expertise in everything from culture and arts to media and technology. Partners include UNESCO, The Economist Impact, Google, the Design Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, and the Recording Academy. Other participating partners include Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Film Council, Sandstorm Comics, Cultural Foundation, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Berkeley Abu Dhabi, Culture Resource, Arab Arts and Culture Foundation and Institut Français.

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