We all know Pharrell Williams is much more than a musical genius he has deep interest in design as well. Mr. Williams has launched clothing lines, furniture lines and has a respectable architectural portfolio under his belt as well. The images below are from the PWRC(Pharrell Williams Resource Center) designed by Oppenheim and Pharrell.
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Michael Ford - Photo by Bradlee Bertram of BMB Graphics
Hip Hop Inspired Architecture Exhibit - 16 Bars in 16 Days
On June 24 at the 2014 AIA National Convention, I had the privileged of exhibiting my research endeavors which are centered about the creation of an architecture inspired by hip hop culture. The research, which can be discovered by exploring the previous post on my blog, positions prominent architectural practitioners and historical figures such as Le Corbusier and former first Lady Eleanor Roosevelt at the helm of creating the architectural environments which prompted the birth of hip hop culture. The research then transitions to tell the story of the individuals born into hip hop culture and raised in those environments who are now architectural practitioners and creating a new style of socially conscious, technologically innovative architecture.
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Photo: George Stroud/Getty Images
Quote of the Day - Picasso
"Good artist copy, great artist steal."
Pablo Picasso's famous quote is the epitome of his "innovative" career. During my "Hip Hop Inspired Architecture" Exhibit at the 2014 American Institute of Architects National Convention in Chicago, I revealed some of Picasso's greatest acts of thievery. The most notorious of them all is his personally unacknowledged "Black Period", a time in which Picasso was deeply entrenched in African Art, resulting in his supposed creation of Cubism as we know it today.
UW Madison First Wave Scholar, Gretchen Carvajal, shows off her artistic representation of "Picasso Baby" by Jay Z. Photo by: Bradlee Berrtam and Michael Ford
Jay - Z + Mike Ford + UW-Madison = Picasso Babies
Check out the images I captured with University of Wisconsin Madison - First Wave scholar Gretchen Carvajal, after I was invited as a guest lecturer to UW-Madison's campus by professor Shawn Peters. While at UW-Madison I introduced the students to fine arts using Jay -Z's "Picasso Baby" lyrics as a catalysis to engage students. Groups of students were challenged to create their own Baby Picasso's based on the lyrical content of Picasso Baby. Can you identify the images from the lyrics?
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Making of The Throne - Part II
Leather samples...check! Paint samples...check! Chair...check! Let the remix begin!
Finally, I have the chair needed to bring this vision to a reality. The throne is on its way! Check out Making of The Throne Part I to get caught up on my documentation of the journey to rescue an old piece of furniture and turn it into an one of a kind piece art work! Stay tuned for Part III. In the meantime, check out the photos above for the chair which is now sitting in my garage, and see below for the range of possibilities to come.
Hip Hop Architecture - Call For Submissions - DEADLINE EXTENSION
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.
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2014 AIA Convention Exhibit - Hip Hop Inspired Architecture and Design
Great news! On June 26, 2014 at the 2014 American Institute of Architects National Convention in Chicago Illinois, a Hip Hop Inspired Architecture exhibit will be on display and its being designed by yours truly! After years and years of research, presentations and lectures at various universities and multiple publications, I am now going to show my aspirations on a grand scale. The 2014 AIA Convention in Chicago may very well attract over 15,000 attendees, including architectural professionals, practitioners, educators, students and allied professionals from around the nation. Please help me make this exhibit possible by clicking on the donate button below. I will be grateful for any amount and will display your name or company name as a sponsor.
Read MorePharrell Williams Talks To Alex Gorlin & Daniel Arsham
Pharrell Williams has long been an explorer of many creative fields outside of his initial foray into the spotlight via music. Williams is a strong art and design enthusiast among other things. In a new video series titled ARTST TLK, Williams sits down with a range of creative individuals to explore their inspirations and discuss their respective bodies of work, their motivations and philosophies. The latest episode sees Williams conversing with well-known architect Alex Gorlin as well as the unconventional artist, Daniel Arsham. Touching upon their various influences such as Marcel Duchamp and Frank Lloyd Wright, the trio are able to shed light on the blurring of lines within the “design” fields and their personal approaches to creativity.
Hip Hop Academy: Inside A Beatmaker's Harvard Class
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.
Koolhaas Interview with Kanye West - Hip Hop + Architecture
Listen to Mr. West speak the truth about life in general and about his aspirations to practice architecture. I have to met him one day...who is gonna help make that happen?! I need to start a social campaign "Kanye, met Mike 2014". I have blogged and written so much about Kanye that sometimes I think I know him. Its crazy, he is a very critical thinking and an inspiring person.
Read MoreQuote of The Day - Kanye West
“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.”
"Holy Hip Hop" Paintings
Icons from the world of hip-hop music were the subject of an exhibition at MOCAD in Detroit, MI. Holy Hip-Hop! New Paintings by Alex Melamid were on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit from February 8 through April 20, 2008. I was able to visit this exhibit back when I was living in Detroit and I must say, I loved the work. The portraits had a Mone Lisa feel to them because of the medium used and the lighting quality displayed in the pieces, especially the 50 Cent piece.
Read MoreVideo - KRS-One - The Essence of Hip Hop Revealed at Temple University
KRS-ONE, (Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody) who many deem as the original hip hop intellectual, breaks down the essence of hip hop in his speech at Temple University in April of 2004. I hope it inspires you just as much as it inspired me!
Image from Wayne State University
Highland Park, Michigan Underground Pedestrian Tunnels - Then vs Now
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.
Read MoreWhere Are The Minority Architecture Students?
Staggering statistics I found about minorities in architecture while browsing The J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City's Facebook page.
"Did you know in 2012 only 924 Black and Latinos graduated from architecture schools? That is only 14.5% of all students graduating from architecture programs!! Is there something in the Academy that account for this low figure?? If they have decided to switch career paths, where have they gone and why? JMBC staff continues to explore and are in the process of creating surveys that will help us compile first-hand insights."
The J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City
Still Image by Monika Michalik
Architecture + Robots + Music = My Days as an Adjunct Professor at University of Detroit
My passion for merging music and architecture has followed me throughout my professional career and I have shared that passion with everyone that I have come across. The project below is the work of one of my former students, who was visiting America as a Polish Exchange Student, Monika Michalik. During my time as an adjunct professor at The University of Detroit's School of Architecture I taught two undergraduate architectural graphics courses each semester which focused on Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit and Autodesk 3ds Max. For a well rounded experience in architectural graphics, I also incorporated various components from the Adobe Creative Suite, with an emphasis on Adobe Premier to assist students in the editing and production of architectural videos and animations created during the course.
Read MoreGetty Works with Ice Cube To Celebrate Eames
I've blogged on several occasions about Ice Cube receiving a degree in architectural drafting prior to NWA's success. He has continued to show his love and affection for the profession in a variety of ways, including his involvement Getty, as they released a celebration of Charles and Ray Eames. Below is the recreation of the Classic Eames shot in the extremely rare DAT-1 chair created by Eames in 1953. See my previous post "Ice Cube Celebrates the Eames" for a video tour of South Central LA and Ice Cube's reflection on Eames in a style that only Cube can pull off!
Read MoreJay Z as Guest Lecturer? - Schooling Students in Fine Arts and Architecture
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.
Read MoreWu-Tang Rapper GZA Delivers TED Talk About Science Education
It's widely accepted that the fifth element of hip hop is knowledge, added to its original four core elements, DJin', MCin', Breakin' And Graffiti. Following the path of the core elements, knowledge is also a tree with various branches allowing for multiple levels of involvement. From architecture and engineering to medical research, the knowledge element has a boundless reach which will propel our next generation to new academic and profession heights. Take a look as GZA also know as The Genius, of Wu-Tang delivers a inspiring TED Talk about science education.
Phil Freelon - www.freelon.com
Freelon Group Purchased by Perkins + Wil?
As I scrolled through my work emails today in an effort to find some contact information, I came across an email from a few weeks ago titled, "Did Perkins + Wil Just Freelon Group?" I remember reading this email from a friend and the flurry of emails which came immediately after from individuals included on the message. Some individuals collectively responding with a resounding NOOOOOOOOO! Just a few days later this official press release was posted to Phil Freelon's website by Sarah Sheehey, Perkins + Wil's public relations manager.
I have no idea what the ramifications of such an acquisition will be on other minority practitioners in the long term only time will tell. We should not view this as a bad thing, I am extremely happy that Phil Freelon was able to amass a practice so remarkable that a firm such as Perkins + Wil sought after a merger. That is an impressive feat. Hats off!
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