What is Hip Hop Architecture? UT Austin Platform Publication

November 28, 2017

PLATFORM is the annual magazine of The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. It serves as a “platform” for the school to investigate the intersection of its research, practice, and pedagogic interests with a broader audience.

Each issue of Platform features thought-provoking articles of topical interest in the disciplines of Architecture, Architectural History, Community and Regional Planning, Historic Preservation, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Sustainable Design, and Urban Design. Guest editors selected from the School of Architecture’s faculty develop a new theme or prompt for the publication each year and drive its conceptual direction.

This issue, titled Convergent Voices, is edited by Nichole Wiedemann and Charlton Lewis and centers on a conversation between contributors with expertise ranging from Architectural History and Landscape Architecture to Community and Regional Planning. It represents a dynamic collection of distinct voices and viewpoints brought together by a shared concern for the inequities in our cities and built environments and the urgent need to address these inequities.

The Beats And Rhymes Of Hip-Hop Are Changing How We Design Our Cities

August 6, 2017

"From Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five rapping in their 1982 classic “New York New York” about “Staring at a skyscraper reaching into heaven / When over in the ghetto I’m livin’ in hell,” to Jay Z rhyming on 2017’s “Marcy Me” that “I’m from Marcy Houses, where the boys die by the thousand,” hip-hop has always had an intimate relationship with the architecture of cities. But what if the low-income youth of color who live in the ghettos and housing projects of Gotham — or Los Angeles or Detroit — had the technical know-how to redesign their hometowns and create buildings that serve their communities?

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.

Hip Hop Architecture at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

September 18, 2015

The annual NOMAS Symposium is hosted by the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students. This year's theme: "Breaking the Glass Ceiling" is geared towards raising awareness to minorities who have been able to break barriers and overcome obstacles to become successful within the field of Architecture. It will feature a special lecture from the Hip Hop Architect Michael Ford and many more activities, such as mini-lectures and round table discussions--which will be led by some professional architects and some of the School of Architecture's very own faculty.

Hip Hop As Modernism's Post Occupancy Report:Part 2

June 28, 2015

Hip Hop has established itself as a gravitas culture that crosses borders of race, ethnicity, class, religion and professions. Members of the hip hop generation carry the residue of the culture into all spaces they inhabit and their individual works are seasoned with its’ flavor. As professionals continue to argue the academic validity of hip hop and disseminate the social significance of rap, it is time architectural professionals learn the benefit the culture provides to its’ practitioners.

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.

Hip Hop As Modernisms' Post Occupancy Report:Part 1

May 18, 2015

The following audio and related transcript is an excerpt from my lecture, Hip Hop Inspired Architecture, at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design on April 8, 2015. During the lecture I presented my project, Urban Renewal vs Urban Reality, which juxtaposes a series of hip hop music videos and architecture documentaries exhibiting The Golden Era of Hip Hop as a post occupancy report for inner city dwellers inhabitation of modernist visions.

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.

Towards a Hip Hop Architecture: Syracuse University

March 17, 2015

This symposium explores a wide range of questions. Does hip-hop architecture, however it is defined, exist? If so, who are its practitioners? Is there an architectural image or a style that reflects hip-hop ideals? Is there a formal language or organizational structure that it should employ? Or is there a process and attitude towards design that will separate hip-hop from conventional architectural practice?

Hip Hop Architecure Lecture: University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

February 9, 2015

On Friday, February 13, 2015 I will team with Eryk "The Arch-E-Tect" Christian to deliver a lecture at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee's School of Architecture and Urban Planning titled, "LeCorbusier, The Forefather of Hip Hop?". The lecture focuses on the subconscious contributions of famed architects and urban planners to the environments which necessitated the birth of hip hop culture. This lecture will culminate with urban culture’s influence on the architectural profession through three interconnected realms: academic research, professional practice and media, ultimately introducing a new architectural style, one inspired by hip hop culture.

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!

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.

Hip Hop Inpsired Architecture Exhibit - Bar 2 of 16 - The Fifth Element of Hip Hop

July 10, 2014

“Hip hoppers state that critics lack a genre exposure, their deficit of language - their lack of knowledge of history and terminology - further marginalizes innovative new work [within hip hop]. They may like what they see without knowing breaking from b-boying; popping from locking...This type of technical knowledge is as important as historical, cultural and self-knowledge. At the end of the day, it is this fifth element, glaringly absent from the marketplace which may provide the space where art can flourish.”

— Jeff Chang

Hip Hop Architecture - Call For Submissions - DEADLINE EXTENSION

April 27, 2014

Did you complete a graduate thesis investigation related to the merger of architecture and hip hop culture? Did you complete an undergraduate studio project related to the topic or even a lecture or developed a published article related to the topic? If so, this call is for you. This call is for architectural professionals, students and artists to submit previously completed works for review and inclusion in my upcoming exhibit. The exhibit is titled, “A Cultural Innovation: Hip Hop Inspired Architecture and Arts” and is scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 2014 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. The exhibit will highlight my research on this topic and will include the works of iconic entertainers, hip hop artists, academic institutions, students and architects from around the globe.

Hip Hop Academy: Inside A Beatmaker's Harvard Class

April 22, 2014

The Hip-Hop Fellow is a 78 minute documentary following Grammy Award winning producer 9th Wonder's tenure at Harvard University as he teaches 'The Standards of Hip-Hop' course, conducts research for his thesis and explores hip-hop's history, culture and role in academia. The film centers on the emerging significance of incorporating hip-hop studies into the academy and spotlights the scholars and musicians at the forefront of preserving 40 years of hip-hop culture.
Interviewees include Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Kendrick Lamar, Young Guru, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Phonte, Dr. Marcyliena Morgan, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Ab-Soul, Rapper Big Pooh & DJ Premier.

Quote of The Day - Kanye West

April 15, 2014

“I probably sound ignorant when I talk about [architecture]… I’m fine with sounding ignorant… I’m not talking about something like music that I’m a complete expert at. I’m talking about something I want to learn about and I’m not afraid to talk in public about my desire to learn more.”

— Kanye West

Jay Z as Guest Lecturer? - Schooling Students in Fine Arts and Architecture

April 1, 2014

Jay Z's memoir "Decoded" unveiled the mysterious double entendres and artistic references within his lyrics in a very sophisticated manner which open the eyes to various academics around the nation to the power and artistic genius behind rap lyrics. One of those academics is Dr. Shawn Peters at University of Wisconsin Madison. For the past two decades the hip hop generation has been unofficially led by Sean Carter, not only the pursuit of lyrical mastery, but the manner in which the constituents conduct themselves as businessmen, fashion and the endeavors we care to venture down and ultimately the cultural relevancy of elements to hip hop. As Jay Z continues to disseminate hip hop's fifth element, "knowledge", his lyrical assault on our ears is heavily saturated with knowledge for those who dare decipher the stories of his life experiences delivered through his music.

As Part II of my presentation titled "Hip Hop Inspired Architecture and Design" at University of Wisconsin Madison, I wanted to awaken the students senses to the content behind Jay Z's "Picasso Baby". Similar to his other songs, its not hard for the students to recite the lyrics, but far too many have limited knowledge about the topics being described in those lyrics. I took the students on a journey that I hope they will never forget.

Hip Hop Inspired Architecture and Design Lecture - Michael Ford

Mike Ford Takes Hip Hop Architecture to University of Wisconsin

March 29, 2014

On February 24, 2014 I took the UW students on an architectural journey which allowed them to discover how the notion of remixing and re-appropriating architectural theories and visions resulted in the unintentional creation of the physical, sociological, political and economical environments which not only prompted, but also predicted the birth of hip hop culture. I must note that these were not architectural students, the attendees represented a broad swath of academic programs offered at University of Wisconsin. A number of them are a part of University of Wisconsin's First Wave program, the largest publicly funded hip hop arts program at any institution in the nation. A full-tuition First Wave scholarship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is named after the legendary pioneer for women in hip-hop, MC Lyte! She is an avid supporter of the program, she announced the first scholarship recipient at a BET Awards Show.

Photo by: Bradlee Bertram and Michael Ford - Jeff Chang's Can't Stop Won't Stop

Hip Hop Book of The Week

December 9, 2013

If you haven't read Jeff Chang's "Can't Stop Won't Stop" you are missing out on an amazing piece on the history of the hip hop generation. Chang delivers one of the most comprehensive pieces available depicting hip hop's growth from its infancy in the South Bronx to its global recognition. In his book, among other things, Chang describes the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway by Robert Moses as a pivotal moment leading to the creation of the environments which would eventually birth hip hop.

Grab you a copy here.

Dr Craig Wilkins - Hip Hop Meets Architecture

October 12, 2013

Dr. Craig Wilkins - Hip Hop Meets Architecture

"hip hop culture has taken things considered garbage, has rescued them and taken things that have been considered dispensable and made them indispensable"