David Adjaye: 2019 Brit Award designer looks to the future

Creatives from across the music industry will be celebrated at next week’s Brit Awards, but British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye is already being applauded after unveiling his design for this year’s statuette.

Adjaye joins Anish Kapoor and Zaha Hadid in a trio of renowned UK architects who have turned their talents to creating trophies for Brits winners.

Adjaye has also claimed multiple awards during his 25-year career, and in 2017 was knighted for his services to architecture and named one of the 100 most influential people of the year by Time Magazine.

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In the run-up to the awards ceremony next Wednesday, The Week Portfolio caught up with Adjaye to discuss music, design and creativity in the era of Brexit.

What, in your view, makes British music unique?

The artists. The belief, ambition and intelligence needed to push yourself forward and be heard are defining elements.

Music is an integral part of my life, I was immersed in music from an early age. If you can take note and inspiration from your surroundings, you’re able to tell a larger story.

My projects often involve working with my brother who is a DJ, he believes you can see rhythms and melodies in everything that surrounds us, and music is how we navigate the city with every space having its own soundtrack. The British landscape provides an incomparable source of ideas for our artists.

An award statuette is obviously a different scale of project to the other designs that are currently occupying your attention, such as your first skyscraper in New York City. How different is it to design something that can be held in one hand as opposed to something that will dominate a skyline?

Every design project I undertake is different, but I use each one as an opportunity to explore and stretch boundaries put upon us. Regardless of size or scope, this allows me to understand and unravel the complexities of each project. The responsibility handed to you when you’re commissioned is the same whether it’s a museum, a house or a statue.

Your statue comes hot on the heels of Brit awards designed by Anish Kapoor and Zaha Hadid. Have you referenced their work in your own design or have you created something wholly original?

This was an opportunity to say that this wasn’t somehow representing the awards but that the awards, in commissioning artists every time, allowed interpretation to happen and so it felt like the opportune time to talk about women.

My approach was not so much to radically rethink her design, but look at her proportions. Looking at changing her volume, making her more real, making her a person, almost like a sculptor. I wanted to have some shape that reflects the strength and softness in women. The female personification of Britain.

I became really fascinated by this idea of looking again at just cast glass, which is a wonderful material of turning dirt sand into this magical crystalline material and in firing it through fire you get this extraordinary piece of alchemy that happens. Every time I see it I’m just enthralled by the magic of that.

I wanted to see if we could just freeze it and say look at what’s been done with sand. It’s turned into this incredible creature, each statue is a fusion moment of that transformation, that transfiguration of sand to glass, this molten effect. When it freezes, when it becomes glass, whatever’s happening in the material at that moment is captured. So each statue is a unique moment in time. It’s a unique transfiguration and it’s a special thing to give to somebody who’s winning such an amazing award.

Speaking of glass, is this the first time you have worked with Czech glass brand Lasvit? How did their expertise impact your design?

This was our first project with Lasvit, their passion and expertise brought our ambition to life. They were tireless in their efforts, making numerous samples and fine-tuning the colour and texture until we’d matched our expectations. Working with them reminds us of the necessity for the design process to evolve from conception to completion.

Britain currently stands at a significant political and social crossroads. Do you see the ripples of Brexit reflected in the country’s creative output?

Creativity lives alongside change and experience – both in celebration and in tragedy. Yes, in this moment of time there is an overwhelming element of uncertainty for many, but history has shown us that creative thought and expression will not be silenced.

The Brit Awards 2019 with Mastercard is on Wednesday 20 February at The O2 Arena, London, and will be broadcast on ITV.