Sir David Adjaye, the Tanzanian-born British architect of Ghanaian descent, has been announced as recipient of the 2021 royal gold medal, one of the world’s highest accolades for architecture. It marks the first time in the 173-year history of the medal, awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), that it has been given to a black architect.

The announcement comes as the institute is examining its own role in Britain’s colonial past and struggling to address the continued lack of black representation in architecture. Only 5.2% of students accepted on to architecture courses in the UK are black, while the number of black registered architects has dropped to just 1% of the total.

“It’s incredibly humbling and a great honour to have my peers recognise the work I have developed with my team and its contribution to the field over the past 25 years,” said Adjaye, 54, on hearing the news. “Architecture for me has always been about the creation of beauty to edify all peoples around the world equally and to contribute to the evolution of the craft.”