Why Diversity in Architecture Matters for Communities and the Bottom Line

March 7, 2017

Diversity is good for business. According to a McKinsey & Company report, U.S. public companies with diverse executive boards have a 95 percent higher return on equity than those without. Bullock echoes this point: “A firm will be more financially successful if it has more women and people of color as part of its workforce.”

Firms can remain relevant, foster innovation, come up with better solutions for the communities they serve, and improve their bottom line by taking concrete steps to create a culture that fosters diversity in architecture. “Diversity and inclusion does not happen by itself,” Bullock says.

“Express Yourself” Shows Off Unique Visions for Madison’s Future

February 16, 2017

The energy for week one of the innovative Hip-Hop Architecture Camp at the Madison Central Library was going to be tough to beat, but week two was lively and spirited in its own right as area youth came together to explore architecture, urban planning, and economic development through the lens of hip-hop culture while simultaneously aligning with the City of Madison’s Planning Department’s mission to gather and use opinions of each and every Madisonian to update the City’s 20-Year Comprehensive Plan.

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The Hip Hop Architecture Camp

January 31, 2017

The Hip Hop Architecture Camp is a month long camp with a mission is to expose underrepresented middle and high school students to architecture, urban planning and economic development through the lens of hip hop culture. The camp sessions will take place every Saturday during the month of February at Madison's Central Library.

The Hip Hop Architect's Recent Publications

December 8, 2016

Below is a list of the recent publications which focus on my research involving the intersection of hip hop culture and architecture.

Youths fly a kite in a street bordered with firegutted buildings in the South Bronx section of New York City in June, 1977. The Carter Administration has agreed to revive urban renewal projects in an effort to revive the neighborhood. | AP Images

The hip-hop architect on how music and the environment can influence one another

October 27, 2016

Thanks to Curbed for the article.

"From its early roots in the Bronx to its current status as a worldwide cultural movement, hip-hop has never lost its street-level sensibility. When writing songs, rappers and lyricists trade in the currency of credibility, constantly dropping the names of street corners, city neighborhoods, even specific buildings and housing projects to connect listeners with the urban environment.

Hip-hop is often about place. And, according to Ford, it is place—often poorly designed, underfunded, and cut off from the rest of the city through bad urban planning and structural racism—that birthed the genre. Ford, who has been tapped to design the forthcoming Universal Hip-Hop Museum in the Bronx, has helped coin the term “hip-hop architecture,” popularizing the concept as a lens for looking at the intersections of culture and the built environment.

But it’s not just about looking back at the ways urban planning and housing policy created the environment for new forms of music; it’s how the ethics and ethos of hip-hop can help inspire new solutions for designing our cities."

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