The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT was established in 1974 by the Council for the Arts at MIT and Margaret McDermott in honor of her husband, a co-founder of Texas Instruments. The first recipient was artist and MIT professor György Kepes. The award reflects MIT’s commitment to risk-taking, problem solving and to the idea of connecting creative minds across disciplines. The award may be given to an artist working in any field or cross-disciplinary activity and is considered an investment in the recipient’s future creative work, rather than a prize for a particular project or lifetime of achievement.

2016 McDermott Award recipient David Adjaye made three visits to MIT in the Spring 2016 semester, each focusing upon a different facet of his work: libraries, the university campus and museums.

 

For more information, contact mcdermott-award@mit.edu

Collaborations, A Portrait of the Architect Through the Eyes of Others. Courtesy of Signature Films and Oliver Hardt.
Collaborations, A Portrait of the Architect Through the Eyes of Others. Courtesy of Signature Films and Oliver Hardt.

Film Screening: Collaborations

A portrait of David Adjaye through the eyes of others including: Okwui Enwezor, Zoe Ryan, Chris Ofili, Lorna Simpson, Julie Mehretu, Thelma Golden, Deyan Sudic, Peter Adjaye, Taiye Selasi, Sue Webster and Peter Allison. A Signature Films Production. Director/Executive Producer Oliver Hardt.

 

Tuesday, February 16, 2016
5:00–6:30pm

Media Lab, E14-633
75 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA

Rendering of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington D.C. Courtesy of Adjaye and Associates.
Rendering of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington D.C. 2014. Photo: Courtesy of Adjaye and Associates.

Future of the Museum: David Adjaye and Zena Howard in discussion

MIT students are invited to join a discussion focusing on NMAAHC and explore themes related to place-making and notions of history, community and designing for context. Adjaye and Howard will also discuss their own challenges and successes as designers and will pose questions to the MIT student audience during this interactive exchange.

Facilitated by Billy Ndengeyingoma and Jessica Myers
Registration required

 

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Museum of Contemporary Arts, Denver, 2007. Image courtesy Adjaye Associates.
Museum of Contemporary Arts, Denver, 2007. Image courtesy Adjaye Associates.

Future of the Museum

For the last of Adjaye’s three visits to MIT in the Spring semester 2016, architects, artists and curators discuss current projects and look to the future of museums and their potential to engage more diverse and participatory audiences, including having contemporary artists lead the way in re-conceiving how museums might interact with the public.

Watch a video of the discussion

Thursday, April 28, 2016
6:00–7:30pm

MIT Lecture Hall 10-250
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA