David Adjaye says museums, monuments and memorials should be sites of resistance against those "propagating fictions" about climate change, civil rights or the holocaust.
Speaking to Dezeen at the launch of his exhibition Making Memory at London's Design Museum last week, the British-Ghanian architect said architects need to work to counter false narratives that could be spread by politicians.
"I think it's important for architecture to be one of the devices that's not about propagating fictions about history and how history is written," he said.
"When your monuments contradict the narratives that have been projected, it breaks the illusion."
Holocaust memorial can stop people denying history
Adjaye's design for the UK Holocaust Museum in London, which is currently at the planning stage, has caused controversy. In particular, opponents have objected to its location next to the Palace of Westminster. Designed in collaboration with Ron Arad Associates, the museum proposal features 23 bronze fins marking the entrance to a space sunken into Victoria Tower Gardens.
There have been objections to the UK Holocaust Memorial
A poll released days before the interview for Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January revealed the shocking statistic that five per cent of British adults do not believe the Holocaust took place. Adjaye said he was shocked by this news.
"I think it's such an appropriate site next to parliament. I'm not interested in anybody emerg...