The Hip Hop Architecture Camp in Los Angeles. Photo by Josh Berry

The Hip Hop Architecture Camp comes to MOCAD

April 23, 2018

Highland Park native Michael Ford has made a career out of his two seemingly unconnected passions: hip-hop and architecture. But listen to him talk and the two are obviously intertwined — it was the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier's invention of the idea of modern housing projects that gave rise to 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx, and 1520 Sedgwick Ave. gave rise to hip-hop.

After giving a traveling lecture series and exhibition series on the interconnectedness of hip-hop and architecture, Ford will soon bring his latest project to Detroit. Hip Hop Architecture Camp is a weekly, month-long meetup open for free to middle school students designed "to introduce underrepresented youth to architecture, urban planning, creative place making, and economic development through the lens of hip-hop culture," and after the camp MOCAD will show an exhibition of work created by the students. We spoke with Ford to learn more.

Terrance Burney joined the Hip Hop Architecture Camp™ to tell the youth "I See Greatness In You"!

Detroit: Hip Hop Architecture Camp™ Music Video

September 11, 2017

Check out the official music video from The Detroit Hip Hop Architecture Camp™! The song, "Whats The Future of The Hood", was independently written by the camp participants during the one week camp hosted by University of Detroit Mercy's School of Architecture.

Architect Devanne Pena Focuses on Increasing Number of Black Women in Architecture

September 20, 2016

I first met Devanna Pena in Detroit, during the National Organization of Minority Architect's conference hosted by The Detroit chapter of NOMA. We shared a brief conversation about our top five MC's during a shuttle ride to the Bros Art Ball. That short conversation has blossomed into a friendship which has led to us supporting each other in various initiatives aimed at increasing diversity in the field of architecture. When Devanne was announced as the editor of The NOMA Magazine, I was eager to join the team of volunteers to support her in having her visions for the publication come to life. Devanne's design thinking is out of the box. She is a Hip Hop Architect. If you see her, ask her about her presentation with Perkins & Will, where she represents the stages of her career with Tupac tracks. Earlier this year, I called on Devanne to help me facilitate The Universal Hip Hop Museum Design Cypher in The Bronx, where we joined hip hop pioneers, community members, high school students and others to create the programming and conceptual vision of The Universal Hip Hop Museum.

Photo By: Adidas Big Sean at Detroit Cass Tech

Big Sean Builds Music Studio at Cass Tech High School in Detroit

June 11, 2015

Rapper Big Sean unveiled a new music studio at his alma mater, Cass Technical High School in Detroit Michigan. Cass Tech is the alma mater of many of Detroit's black architects and designers, including myself and Rainy Hamilton Jr. Cass Tech is recognized as one the best high schools in the nation and is one of the only Detroit Public Schools which requires students to take admissions test and requires a minimum grade point average for enrolled students. Big Sean graduated from CT with a 3.7 gpa and despite many scholarship offers, he choose to follow his true dream, entertainment.

The Sound Track To My Previous Hip Hop Architecture Presentations

March 17, 2015

Here is a list of the tracks, in order, from my most recent Hip Hop Architecture lectures and seminars. The lists range from old school classic hip hop to modern day rap. The use of the tracks not only provides a transition between topics as I make an argument for hip hop architecture, the tracks contextualizes the discussion points through lyrical references. It is my hope that the memory evoking power inherent in music will allow attendees recall discussion points from the presentation once its concluded.

Flashback: AIA Detroit - Pecha Kucha Night 2009 + Hip Hop Architecture

March 9, 2015

On March 25, 2009, I was selected to present my research on Hip Hop Architecture during AIA Detroit's Pecha Kucha Night at the Hard Rock Cafe in Downtown Detroit. The presentation focused on the re purposing of materials to create architectural spaces which encouraged the development and entrepreneurial spirit of hip hop culture.

Rebecca Willis - Bleeding Heart Design

November 29, 2014

Rebecca "Bucky" Willis of Bleeding Heart Design was named one of "8 Women who Will Change Everything You Know About Detroit" by The Huffington Post. I am honored to say Rebecca Willis is one of my former students at University of Detroit Mercy! Take a look at the video below where she mentions that reclaiming our visual real estate is vital in transforming improvised neighborhoods. This strategy is discussed at great length in Dr Craig Wilkins' book, "The Aesthetics of Equity - Notes on Race, Space, Architecture and Music"

Dr. Craig Wilkins - Photo by: Art X Detroit

(W)rapped Space - The Architecture of Hip Hop

November 12, 2014

If you want to know what hip hop architecture is all about, I suggest you start with one of the first individuals to do extensive publications on the concept, Dr. Craig Wilkins. His article, "Warped Space: The Architecture of Hip Hop" published in the Journal of Architectural Education was heavily quoted during my graduate design thesis titled "Cultural Innovation: Hip Hop Inspired Architecture" completed almost ten years ago. Click the "download" link below to read the article.

Lecture Video Editing

September 29, 2014

Its time for me to do my best impersonation of Spike Lee as I begin to edit a few videos captured by my photographer at BMB Graphic of my Hip Hop Inspired Architecture lecture this past week at University of Detroit Mercy.

Stay Tuned!

"Packed House"- Mike Ford's Hip Hop Inspired Architecture lecture at University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture.

Hip Hop Architecture Lecture - Who Was There

September 27, 2014

Soon I will give an official recap of the kick off of my lecture tour, at University of Detroit's School of Architecture. Until then, I will share a series titled "Who Was There", which will highlight the wide spectrum of lecture attendees.

First up, the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. The (CUDC) is the combined home of the urban design graduate program at Kent State University and the public service activities of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

Thanks for the conversation afterwards and thanks for sharing photos on your CUDC Twitter page!

Hip Hop at 2014 Detroit Design Festival

September 20, 2014

On September 24, 2014 as part of the 2014 Detroit Design Festival I will give a lecture at titled "Hip Hop Inspired Architecture" at the University of Detroit's School of Architecture.

Date: September 24, 2014

Reception: 5:00pm

Lecture: 6:00pm

See Detroit Design Festival's full lineup here.

The main goals of the lecture are to:

1. Increase the awareness of the social responsibilities of architects and urban planners.

2. Encourage individuals of the profession's underrepresented groups to pursue a career in architecture.

3. Provide tools to increase the recruitment and retention rates of minorities in schools of architecture across the country.

4. Blast some hip hop in the middle of an architecture school!

Eminem at 2012 Architecture Conference in Detroit?

September 12, 2014

Ok, the title is a bit misleading. But, I just found this video online from a conference I attended in 2012. A few good friends of mine, Tiffany Brown, Saundra Little and a host of others worked pretty hard with NOMA-Detroit members planning for the 2012 National Organization of Minority Architects Conference in Detroit.

Mrs. Brown and NOMA-Detroit had the Selected of GOD Choir sing their popular rendition of Eminems' "Lose Yourself" from the recent Chrysler Commercial Ads during the dinner prior to the key note address by University of Michigan's Monica Ponce de Leon.

This was one of the most exciting moments during any of the NOMA Conferences I attended. Great job Tiff!

Hip Hop Inspired Architecture Lecture at University of Detroit Mercy's School of Architecture. September 24, 2015.

Hip Hop Architecture at Detroit Design Festival

September 12, 2014

On September 24, 2014, Michael Ford will deliver a lecture titled, "Hip Hop Inspired Architecture and Design" at the University of Detroit Mercy's School of Architecture as a part of Detroit's Design Festival.

Detroit's Brewster Projects - Photo by SJ Carey

In 1925 - LeCorbusier's Critics Predicted The Birth of Hip Hop

July 11, 2014

Here is an essential criticism of LeCorbusier's visionary plan for the center of Paris which further links LeCorbuser to the origin of hip hop culture. In 1935 as The City of Detroit built the first federally funded housing development specifically for African Americans which was based on Le Corbusier's "Towers in The Park" scheme, a French architectural critic took to the magazine, L’Architecte to warn the world of the sociological impact the towers and its programming would have on it's inhabitants. In my opinion, this criticism of LeCorbusier's urban renewal schemes, serve as a prediction to the birth of hip hop culture.

As The Brewster Housing Projects Fall, A New Architecture Rises From Its Dust

July 11, 2014

Today, Tiffany Brown, a former resident of Detroit's public housing who received her master’s degree in architecture from Lawrence Technological University is the new leading lady at the Brewsters nearly 80 years after the ribbon cutting by former first lady Elanor Roosevelt.. She represents Hamilton Anderson Associates as the construction administrator during demolition. How ironic is it that one who transcended the limitations of being born and raised in the public housing systems of Detroit is now the architectural representative coordinating the demolition process,

Gb Cortez' McGhee in the Detroit's Brewster Projects

Detroit Hip Hop Artist Joins Mike Ford's Hip Hop Architecture Movement

July 9, 2014

During the preparations for my Hip Hop Inspired Architecture exhibit at the AIA Convention, I worked with professionals including hip hop artist, architects and photographers from all around the country to put on a successful show. The commonality amongst these professionals is the love of hip hop. I must say that their love for hip hop is deeper than the superficial infatuation with pop culture, these professionals, just as I, can easily profess "I AM HIP HOP"! Check out my post about GB Cortez.

Highland Park, Michigan Underground Pedestrian Tunnels - Then vs Now

April 4, 2014

As a youngster growing up in Highland Park, Michigan I was always baffled by the barren, dilapidated concrete structures which sat at the corner of my elementary school. The mystery was heightened when I was I child, because the structures remained covered by metal shutters for obvious security issues. The metal shutters used to cover the stairs were frequently used as an impromptu instrument as students stood atop and stomped repeatedly to make as much noise as possible during the walk to school or at the end of classes. The reverberating noise created by the metal panels over a voided structure was soul satisfying for some odd reason. I can also remember those loud thunderous noises being the soundtrack to various childhood fights I witnessed. Standing atop these structures were the best seat at the intersecting corners where skirmishes would frequently occur. It was not clear to us as children that these concrete structures were actually stairs which lead children to underground passages.

Detroit Collaborative Design Center 20th Anniversary

January 31, 2014

Dan Pitera, gave me my start in architecture. As a student at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI, I visited the University of Detroit Mercy's School of Architecture on a field trip. While there, Dan Pitera engaged us high school students in a discussion about The City of Detroit, architecture and what it means to design. It was my first introduction to the depths of architecture philosophy and the revitalizing power within the profession.

Detroit Parking Garage Transformed into Street Art Gallery for the Z Project

January 31, 2014

The Z is a parking garage in downtown Detroit, and it's not just the name that makes it stand out. The 10-story garage has a 3-D-style facade and the garage gallery includes the work of 27 international artists, including Maya Hayuk, Interesni Kazki, Cyrcle, Sam Friedman, Augustine Kofie, Dabs Myla, Smash 137, Gaia, Pose and Revok, just to name a few. Many of the artists come from a street art or contemporary art background that reflects the gallery’s aesthetic. “The project pretty much encapsulates the building that we’re in,” said Anthony Curis of the Library Street Collective. “It’s a very nontraditional space, but Detroit is a very nontraditional city.”

Toni Griffin: A new vision for rebuilding Detroit

December 31, 2013

Once the powerhouse of America's industrial might, Detroit is more recently known in the popular imagination as a fabulous ruin, crumbling and bankrupt. But city planner Toni Griffin asks us to look again -- and to imagine an entrepreneurial future for the city's 700,000 residents.

Griffin recently served as director of the Detroit Works Project, and in 2012 completed and released Detroit Future City, a comprehensive citywide framework plan for urban transformation