President Obama spoke in Salem, Oregon on March 21,2008 and mentioned his dream to become an architect at an early age. An audience member shouts that President Obama would have been, "An architect of change!".
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A Neighborhood Watch sign stands outside The Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community where Trayvon Martin was shot by George Michael Zimmerman.
(Photo by Roberto Gonzalez/Getty Images)
Guilty As Charged: Urban Planning and the Death of Trayvon Martin
Time and again, the mainstream media has analyzed and debated the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012, inside the perimeter of the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community in Sanford, Florida. In the search for answers that make any sense of Martin’s untimely death, many have sounded proposals to rescind Florida’s stand-your-ground law. Far fewer, however, have called for reconsideration of the urban planning practices that continue to perpetuate the gated community typology, which — by nature of its spatial organization — was not only the site of Martin’s death but also, in part, the cause. Developers, urban planners, and lawmakers must be held accountable for their roles in building communities of exclusionary gates and poorly planned public spaces, where the physical environment validates discriminatory sentiment that renders the unusual as suspicious.
Read MorePharrell Williams discusses starchitecture with his guests Alex Gorlin, architect, and Daniel Arsham, artist. Gorlin then discusses his work with Common Ground, a non-profit that helps produce housing for homeless people that positively impacts the neighborhood. Arsham discusses the multi-dimensional nature of the different mediums in which he works.
Pharrell Williams Talks Starchitecture
Artst Talk, is a new take on the talk show format hosted by award winning producer, artist, designer, and businessman Pharrell Williams. Each episode features two special guests at different career stages to discuss their work, motivations, inspirations, and philosophies. In this episode, "Pharrell Williams discusses starchitecture with his guests Alex Gorlin, architect, and Daniel Arsham, artist. Gorlin then discusses his work with Common Ground, a non-profit that helps produce housing for homeless people that positively impacts the neighborhood.
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Towers in A Park vs Parks in a Tower
Le Corbusier’s Plan Voison, or City for Three Million, introduced a new order to embody what he thought were the spirit and needs of the Machine Age. His towers in a park sought to provide open space to the modern city, though in the end it destroyed the dense urban fabric necessary for vibrant urbanism. This Evolo Skyscraper competition submission by Chris Lee and Marcus Carter inverts the building-park relationship by pulling the park into the building thus creating a new typology of the skyscraper: Parks in a Tower.
Read MoreHip Hop Inspired Architecture lecture by Michael Ford and Eryk "The Arch-E-Tech" Christian at Madison College, in Madison, Wisconsin on April 29, 2015 at 12:30pm.
Hip Hop Architecture at Madison College
On April 29, 2015 my DJ, Eryk "The Arch-E-Tech" Christian and I will deliver a lecture on Hip Hop Inspired Architecture at Madison College located in Madison Wisconsin. This lecture is a continuation of my current lecture tour, which has included an exhibit at the 2014 AIA Convention in Chicago Illinois, lectures at University of Detroit Mercy, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Syracuse University and Harvard Graduate School of Design.
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Winning logo created by Michael Ford for AIA Wisconsin's Pop Up Logo Contest.
AIA Wisconsin Pop Up Contest
I recently won the logo competition for the AIA SW Wisconsin's Pop Up Logo Contest. After creating the logo, I could not stop, I had to design the pop up experience as well and tie it to Hip Hop Architecture. The Pop Up Experience is called "The Beat Box". The box, made of 4' x 8' plywood sheets, unfolds to create a space which allows for programming which provides opportunities for underrepresented youth to BEAT the odds and become architectural professionals.
Trillusion Exhibit - Surface as Space, Space as Surface
Trillusion exhibit explores the synthesis between furniture and graphics blurs the boundaries between reality and illusion. Surface becomes space. Space becomes surface.
Read MoreNOMA Rise - 2015 National Organization of Minority Architects Conference
The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) is pleased to announce the 43rd Annual International Conference & Exposition, taking place October 15-17, 2015 at the Sheraton New Orleans in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. The Conference theme this year is RISE: Social Justice by Design.
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Low Income Housing + Shipping Containers
Here are a couple of renders I created to visualize new concepts for inner city, low income housing utilizing shipping containers. The design is a mixture of current architectural styles, projects and design theories on low income housing.
Read MoreQuote Of The Day - Kanye West
"...you know, this one [Le]Corbusier lamp was like, my greatest inspiration. I lived in Paris in this loft space and recorded in my living room, and it just had the worst acoustics possible, but also the songs had to be super simple, because if you turned up some complicated sound and a track with too much bass, it’s not going to work in that space. This is earlier this year. I would go to museums and just like, the Louvre would have a furniture exhibit, and I visited it like, five times, even privately. And I would go see actual Corbusier homes in real life and just talk about, you know, why did they design it? They did like, the biggest glass panes that had ever been done. Like I say, I’m a minimalist in a rapper’s body. It’s cool to bring all those vibes and then eventually come back to Rick [Rubin], because I would always think about Def Jam." - Kanye West
Read MoreThe Bronx Recognized As “Place of Invention” At Upcoming Smithsonian Exhibit
It’s not often that the Bronx is mentioned in the same breath as Hollywood and Silicon Valley. But an exhibit being planned at the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center in Washington, D.C. will pay homage to these areas and others as “hot spots” of innovation
Read MoreInternational African American Museum - Moody Nolan
The International African American Museum works with Moody Nolan as the organization intends to build a new international museum that is devoted to telling the story of the passage of African peoples from slavery to emancipation and freedom in South Carolina. The purpose of the museum is to be a valuable, lasting resource where residents and visitors alike can learn the history of how Africans and their descendants shaped – even through the experience of enslavement – successive eras.
Read MoreArmstrong Park in New Orleans, named after the famous New Orleans jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, is a beautiful outdoor communal space that features a jazz concert series in the spring and fall as well as weekly drum circles in Congo Square, the birthplace of jazz.
Congo Square and Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans Louisiana
While working as a designer at Hamilton Anderson Associates in Detroit, Michigan I had the privilege of working with a design team on renovating the historic, Louis Armstrong Park and Congo Square in New Orleans Louisiana. This project is extremely significant to American history, especially the history of African American culture
Read MoreThe Sound Track To My Previous Hip Hop Architecture Presentations
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.
Read MoreTowards a Hip Hop Architecture: Syracuse University
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?
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The Gospel of Hip Hop and Its Relationship to Hip Hop Architecture
After reading KRS One's, The Gospel of Hip Hop, First Instrument for the Temple of Hip Hop and The Hip Hop Deceleration of Peace within its' pages I had to introduce the powerful text to the hip hop architectural community to assure that we abide by the principles set fourth by the founders of hip hop culture.
Read MoreFlashback: AIA Detroit - Pecha Kucha Night 2009 + Hip Hop Architecture
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.
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Photo: Maya Robinson and Photo by Getty
How Hip Hop Failed Black America
Quest Love's thought proving series examining How Hip Hop Has Failed Black America written for Vulture, make us hip hoppas think critically about the gravitas nature of our culture. Although Quest questions the legitimacy of hip hop architecture, I am happy to know that he is aware of the architectural investigation. I would love to discuss with him, how the hip hop generation is incorporating our culture into the architectural profession.
Read MoreHip Hop Architecure Lecture: University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
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.
Read More2015 NOMA Magazine Staff Volunteers
The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) announced its talented and diverse group of 2015 NOMA Magazine Volunteer Staff, a group I am honored to be a part of. Our editor in chief is Devanne Pena I'm excited to work with her as she brings new energy and direction to the bi-annual publication.
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