At this year's World Architecture Festival, David Adjaye spoke towards the festival's theme:identity. Recognized as a prominent force in the architecture community, Adjaye's own design style and focus has played towards architecture's social responsibility. During the 45-minute lecture in Amsterdam, Adjaye discussed his own design process explaining how a narrative can be derived from form and materials. "I'm always interested in forgotten stories - to lift something between comfortable and uncomfortable." Projects like the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and the National Cathedral of Ghana were brought up as examples.

However, the high point of the talk was when Adjaye provided his views regarding where the industry is headed. Commenting on how costly architecture is becoming, especially in the West, Adjyae pointed out "projects now cost billions and its kind of crazy." Although some may argue to his point that the architect's own works cost millions of dollars to construct, Adjyae expresses that designers need to be positive catalysts for the ideas and structures they create. Today, projects are heavily focused on the "material excellence of construction." Due to the preoccupation of material excellence, the narratives architecture expresses are often lost and tainted.

Adjaye stated, "If you're talking about this notion of identity, I think it's interesting if architecture is able to become a form that is able to push a certain sort of justice into the equation. Because if that all we're making, I'm very worried about a world of similarities, of kind of converging expertise and the kind of elitism which is to do with hyper-commercial liberalism and who controls money." For Adjay, the power of the narrative and how a project's identity can impact a city and its constituents. 

As the final keynote speaker for the festival, Adjaye used his time as a platform to express where opportunities within architecture can occur. "If you’re talking about this notion of identity, I think it’s interesting if architecture is able to become a form that is able to push a certain sort of justice into the equation. It’s an opportunity where architecture can move past just being the sum of just building parts but also a critique about questioning of motives and agendas."