Archinect - News

Urban Arts Collective to kick off 2017 Hip Hop Architecture Camps for under-represented youth

2017-06-05T18:26:00-04:00

Non-profit organization Urban Arts Collective is about to kick off their 2017 youth Hip Hop Architecture Camp, a one-week experience that introduces under-represented youth to architecture, urban planning, and economic development — all through the lens of hip hop culture and its historic relationship with the built environment.

Designed for middle school and high school kids, camps take place in Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and Detroit through August. Youngsters will get to work with architecture and design professionals, community activists, and hip hop artists to form their own visions for their communities, including building physical and digital models, and having fun creating their own hip hop architecture track and music video summarizing their designs.

It's no surprise that the camp has received overwhelming interest, so potential participants must apply for the limited spaces available in each city. You can find the application forms for each location and further info at h...

Michael Ford on why teaching Hip Hop Architecture is crucial

2017-04-27T14:56:00-04:00

Ford thinks that hip-hop culture, from rapping to break-dancing, is the ultimate critique of midcentury modern vertical slums, and one that could be translated positively into new buildings and city plans [...] By promoting what he calls "Hip Hop Architecture," Ford is advocating an attitude and an approach more than a style.

After architect Michael Ford was inspired to enter the profession by Professor Dan Pitera, “a self-described ‘political and social activist masquerading as an architect’”, he is working on bringing Hip Hop Architecture nationwide to schoolkids everywhere.

“Through his writing, teaching and national speaking, Ford aims to dissolve barriers that have discouraged black children from becoming architects, city planners and urban designers.”

Without the projects would we have hip-hop?

2016-08-25T12:44:00-04:00

Mike Ford, a lead architect for the Universal Hip Hop Museum, has studied and written about the relationship between disastrous urban planning/architecture and the rise of hip hop. Essentially, Ford's argument is that the ghettoization of African Americans in the 20th century via ill-conceived public housing projects created the conditions for the musical art form. As an article in VIBE puts it:

Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message”, Wutang Clan’s “S.O.S”, and Nas’s “Project Window” demonstrate the importance of understanding the role that these conditions created in influencing hip-hop. “Hip-hop lyrics are [filled] with first-hand accounts of living conditions in the projects,” Ford states. “The hip-hop MC used lyrics to create a dialogue, to give commentary and counterpoints to the modernist vision [that birthed towers like 1520 Sedgwick Ave]. The MCs served as a voice for disenfranchised communities and often un-consulted end users of public housing.”

Is Le Corbusier the real grandfather of hip-hop?

2014-09-17T14:15:00-04:00

"In the late 1920s, Le Corbusier created a plan for Paris," Ford says. "Its most celebrated portion was called 'Towers in the Park.' [...] Think unremarkable, high-rise apartment buildings. Think low-income housing projects. [...] "Many of hip-hop's most prominent artists were born, raised, and perfected their crafts in those very same housing projects. Hip-hop was a result of the economical, political, and sociological deprivations instituted by the housing projects across America."

Harvard University announces Nas fellowship

2013-07-16T16:54:00-04:00

“My hopes are that greed for knowledge, art, self-determination and expression go a long way. It is a true honor to have my name attached to so much hard work, alongside great names like Henry Louis Gates Jr. and W.E.B. Du Bois and to such a prestigious and historical institution, and all in the name of the music I grew to be a part of.”

Dr Dre: The Chief Architect of Gangsta Rap

2012-10-09T17:58:00-04:00

A quiet, meditative biography of Dr Dre incorporating thoughts on utopian architecture, Le Corbusier and the evolution of rap. Kind of amazing.

Pharrell: Places and Spaces I've Been

2012-10-05T13:37:00-04:00

In his own unique graphic language, he details his extensive creative pursuits, including clothing lines, jewelry, and accessories designs for Louis Vuitton, furniture and other product design, limited-edition toys, graphic designs, skate graphics, and collaborations with Moncler, Marc Jacobs, the artist KAWS, and with architects Zaha Hadid and Masamichi Katayama/Wonderwall.

Hip-hop architecture goes global

2012-08-23T13:51:00-04:00

Architecture related to hip-hop is about built ideas inspired of music and dance, drawing in part from artistic ideas like sampling and rapping. Even more to the point, it’s mainly an urban form, one meant to be highly inventive while also addressing issues like poverty and blight — but also the material desires we associate with aspiring DJs and emcees.

Straight outta Hamptons: hip-hop's architectural roots

2012-08-01T13:47:00-04:00

Given the hip-hop elite's affiliation with prestige brands – from Cristal to Courvoisier, from Louis Vuitton to Lamborghini – you'd think they'd be similarly discerning when it comes to architecture. But that's not always the case, especially when it comes to the biggest stars of all.