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Go to: David Adjaye’s buildings no.1

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Adjaye Associates. Dirty House. Photograph: Ed Reeve.
Written by
David Ogunmuyiwa Published date
03 October 2018

Architecture surrounds us. From where we are born to where we live, where we work, study or relax to where we enjoy ourselves and form new relationships.

Sir David Adjaye is one of the UK’s leading architects who’s well known for his un-comprising visual style and collaborative approach to making buildings.

In this 2-part series, we’ve picked out some of his buildings that were designed and built in the early ‘90’s and noughties that you can ‘go see’ in London. This is a teaser to our full article and introduces a project from Adjaye’s early career, before he started making landmark buildings.

Living: Dirty House, Shoreditch (2002)

a photo of a large, dark grey house with sharp angles taken from the street
‘Dirty House’, David Adjaye Studios. Photograph: Ed Reeve.
Adjaye re-modelled this warehouse building into a studio and living space for artists Sue Webster and Tim Noble. Like many of his buildings it has an imposing front or façade that conceals what goes on inside- Sue Webster calls it a ‘fortress’. But it also includes reflective and luminous elements to shine a light back on this Shoreditch side street. Take a tour inside the building in Signature Film’s short; listen to Sue Webster talk about collaborating with Adjaye and how the building changed the face of Shoreditch.

Watch the video: ‘David Adjaye- Collaborations: Dirty House featuring Sue Webster’

Dirty House
Chance St
London E1

Nearest Station: Shoreditch – London Overground, DLR

Looking for more houses by Adjaye in London? We recommend checking out ‘Sunken House’ and ‘Elecktra House’

Remember these buildings are all private houses- only viewable from the outside.

David is founder of Architecture Doing Place

Interested in architecture?

BA (Hons) Architecture

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