PHILADELPHIA -- Internationally acclaimed architect David Adjaye will give a public lecture, "Making Public Buildings," on April 3 as a part of the University of Pennsylvania's fourth annual Arts Day celebration.  This is the first Arts Day that will include a public event, inviting the campus and community to come together to celebrate Penn's commitment to the arts.  

"I am so pleased Mr. Adjaye has agreed to speak at this year's Arts Day," Ronald J. Daniels, Penn provost, said.  "He is an artist who is interested in showcasing the arts, and many of his designs are buildings intended to house the visual or performing arts.  His combination of creativity, social consciousness and dedication to myriad art forms makes him the ideal speaker for this first public Arts Day."

Adjaye is a native of Tanzania who lives in London.  His work includes two public libraries, the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo and many private residences.  He is especially dedicated to making architecture for the arts, having designed several community-arts centers, as well as a new performance center for Boston and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.  His work is designed to provoke response, and it requires the participation of the viewer.  He uses light and space as building materials, as well as some materials that are traditionally considered "waste." Adjaye refers to his work as "emotive" architecture, buildings that invite response from the viewers.

Adjaye co-hosted the "Dreamspaces" six-part television series on modern architecture for the BBC and presented the BBC documentary, "Building Africa: The Architecture of a Continent."

Adjaye will speak at 6 p.m., April 3, in the Annenberg Center Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut St.  The lecture is free and open to the public.