Will David Adjaye be re-accepted by the architectural establishment?

With a growing number of lectures, talks and interviews, David Adjaye is slowly returning to public life following sexual assault and harassment accusations two years ago. We ask how the architecture profession will react.

It is now clear that Adjaye does not intend to quietly leave architecture's main stage.

In 2023 the architecture world was shocked. Two years on from receiving the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in a star-studded ceremony that featured video messages from singer Bono and former US president Barack Obama, Adjaye was accused of sexual misconduct by three former female employees, including allegations of sexual assault.

The allegations were published in a lengthy and detailed investigation by the Financial Times (FT). Adjaye strenuously denied the allegations, though the paper stood by its reporting.

In any case, it appeared his career – or at least the public aspect of it – was over. Now it seems that is not the case.

"I have a lot to say in architecture and I hope that I'm given that opportunity," he said in an interview with Architectural Record editor-in-chief Josephine Minutillo earlier this month.

Adjaye now conducting interviews

The interview was conducted to mark the completion in quick succession of three major museums designed by Adjaye Associates in the USA – the first major projects completed by the studio since the accusations against Adjaye were made public.

Although the Architectural Record stated that the interview was neither "an endorsement" nor "an effort to brush aside or minimize the severity of the accusations", Adjaye took the opportunity to cast doubt on the accounts of his accusers.

"In light of the cold facts of what this thing was, it feels as though people are making it out to be that something more has happened than allegations," he told the magazine. "And we live in a world where this is now a thing."

Adjaye did not attend the openings of two recent museums in the USA, and is not expected at the third later this month. As a New York Times piece said: "A star architect's buildings soar. He's nowhere to be seen."

However, although not physically at the openings, the interviews mean his presence is felt.

Earlier this month he also chose to speak to Tim Abrahams on the critic's Superurbanism podcast. In the interview, Adjaye went further, calling the initial reporting of the allegations "deeply unfair".

"There wasn't an interest in hearing my side of the story," he told Abrahams. "There was just an interest in just destroying me, and I got caught in a sort of version of the #MeToo slam."

However, although Adjaye called the reporting unfair, he didn't highlight what he believes was inaccurately reported, or present any substantive additional information.

At the time of the allegations, numerous publications reached out to Adjaye for comment, including Dezeen, but did not receive a reply beyond the statement he issued to the FT in response to its investigation.

Adjaye confirms relationships with three accusers

Although Adjaye denies the accounts of his accusers, he admits that he had relationships with each of the three women while he was married.

"I am ashamed to say that I entered into relationships which though entirely consensual, blurred the boundaries between my professional and personal lives," he said at the time.

Adjaye's account of "deeply unfair" reporting echoes criticism of the FT made by Adjaye Associates London CEO Lucy Tilley last year, when she described the investigation piece as "really unfair" and said that "there are two sides to a story".

In response to Tilley's remarks, the FT made it clear that it stood by its investigation, which details sexual assault allegations from two women who worked in the architect's Accra office, as well as allegations of sexual harassment from a third.

No legal cases against Adjaye or FT

Speaking to the Architectural Record, Adjaye also emphasised that no criminal charges had been brought against him following the allegations.

At the time, the FT reported that one of the three women reported an assault that allegedly occurred in South Africa in mid-2019 to Ghanaian police, but was told that the force lacked the jurisdiction to pursue a criminal investigation in another country.

Later, in 2021, she made a criminal complaint to police in South Africa about the same incident. The police confirmed to the FT that they had received the complaint but did not give any more information.

Equally, Adjaye does not seem to have brought legal action against the Financial Times over its reporting.

All this means that the relative clarity of a court judgement does not seem to be on the horizon. In other words, it seems unlikely that it will ever be possible to know confidently what happened.

Reporting on Adjaye returning to business as usual

Rather than setting out his own version of events, Adjaye appears to be using his platform to change the narrative and move the conversation on.

And for some in the architectural media, reporting on Adjaye and the studio seems to have returned to business as usual.

In March, design magazine Abitare published an interview with Adjaye focused on his upcoming projects, but did not mention the misconduct allegations.

While in September, UK publication Building Design published a piece on a pavilion by the studio in Barbados – complete with quotes from Adjaye, which also made no mention of the allegations.

In his podcast appearance, Adjaye chose to outline his strategy for dealing with the allegations, describing how after the FT piece he removed himself from the public limelight and waited to "let the wave go over".

"What can I do?" he said. "You can't fight those kinds of social waves, all you can do is go underwater. Wait, let the wave go over and hope there's something when you come up."

Adjaye giving regular talks, keynotes and lectures

It appears we are now entering the re-emergence phase of this strategy. In many ways, this has already begun.

Adjaye has returned to giving talks and lectures all around the world.

In March he spoke at the AIA International Spring Conference 2025. In April he gave a guest lecture at A&M University's school of architecture in Texas. In May he delivered the keynote lecture at Construmat in Barcelona. In June he taught a course on spiritual architecture at Yacademy in Italy, and in September he spoke at Climate Week NYC.

Later this month he will be the keynote speaker for Indian architecture festival FOAID in New Delhi.

Earlier this year Adjaye also received the Mario Pani award from the Faculty of Architecture of the Universidad Anáhuac México, previously awarded to Richard Rogers and Zaha Hadid.

Adjaye's public return will test conscience of the profession

It appears that Adjaye is far from cancelled. If these moves are the first steps in a plan to ease Adjaye back in from the cold, the obvious question is: how will the architectural establishment react?

Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, which provided legal assistance to the women who accused Adjaye of misconduct, has urged the profession not to forget.

"The architecture world must never forget the immense courage of the women who spoke out against David Adjaye," said Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa project officer Gemma-Maé Hartley in a statement to the New York Times.

"Their whistle-blowing in the face of serious risks must be met with recognition, meaningful accountability and stronger oversights to ensure this never happens again," she continued.

With no definitive legal outcome apparently forthcoming, it is clear that Adjaye's public return will test the conscience of the architecture profession.

Will Adjaye be re-accepted by the architectural establishment? Will we start seeing him winning prestigious commissions once again? Or is his reputation permanently tarnished?

"I hope that this is not the last of David Adjaye working in the US," he told the Record.

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