David Adjaye Designs Textile Range For Knoll

WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo IMAGES via Knoll

Tanzanian born, UK raised architect David Adjaye’s work spans the planet. His more recent work includes the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo and the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management.

Now he has turned his creativity towards The Adjaye Collection, a new range of African-inspired textiles for American design firm, Knoll. The range was unveiled in Chicago in June 2015.

“I never knew that I was interested in textiles. The collection for Knoll is inspired by a fascination I’ve had with geometry, form and texture. I actually didn’t know that it was something that could translate into textiles until I met Knoll’s Creative Director Dorothy Cosonas and her team,” says David in a video posted on Knoll’s website.

The different fabrics are named after different places on the African continent, such as Djenne (Mali), Meroë (Sudan) and Harare (Zimbabwe). “Essentially, these are names some of my favourite places. I hope that the names speak to people in a way that makes them want to know more about those places,” adds David. The range consists of upholstery, wall coverings and drapery, across nine prints. It will be officially launched in September 2015.

 For more information, visit knoll.com.