Ghanaian-British Architect David Adjaye is the Designer Behind the 2019 BRIT Award Plaque

Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye has been announced as the designer behind the plaque for the BRIT Awards 2019.

Adjaye was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to a Ghanaian diplomat. He had an interesting childhood growing in Tanzania, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon before finally settling in Britain when he was nine.

Adjaye founded Adjaye Associates in 2000, best known for designing the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo and Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Museum of African and American History and Culture, which opened in 2016.

In 2017, he was Knighted courtesy of his immense contribution to architecture in Britain. The bestowal ceremony was performed by Prince William.

In December 2018, he was announced as the designer of the plaque for BRIT winners come February 2019. Following in the illustrious footsteps of Anish Kapoor, Peter Blake, Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst and Zaha Hadid.
His design was a switch from the traditional hourglass to a voluptuous-esque frame.

He said

The BRIT Awards are a quintessential part of a celebration of British talent and a powerful forum to really talk about the evolving nature of British culture and the contribution of people to that culture.

My take on the BRIT trophy is the manifestation of a great material forged in fire and shaped into the body of a woman. She is unique, and proportionally she is very different. For me, designing the award was an opportunity to question and explore – what is the nature of perfection and imperfection, what is the notion of beauty.

It was exciting to transfer those ideas to a smaller object. Now, we have something that I really, really love; I’m very happy with it.

The BRITs took place yesterday at the 02 Arena London.