Introduction “June Jordan was an architect,” or so declares the black feminist writer and blogger Alexis Pauline Gumbs.[1] This declaration involves some political risk on Gumbs’ part, as Jordan is more popularly known as a writer, playwright, and poet. Several rhetorical questions immediately come to mind when one considers the veracity of her claim. Questions such as, […]
An exhibit that I collaborated on had a soft opening this past Monday (the 14th). The show, entitled “Primitive Parametric: Biology as Architectural Catalyst” investigates the formal and cultural meaning of biological metaphors in design from the nineteenth century to the present. The subject of this show grew from my own interests in the cultural […]
I recently had a lovely conversation with Caroline McMillan Portillo of the Charlotte Observer about the historical roots of the reuse of railways cars in contemporary architecture. Portillo was especially interested in the architectural firm that had completed work for the Democratic National Convention last year. We spoke about the historical integration of wartime materials and assembly processes […]
I have decided to begin writing this current blog entry as I am waiting for my flight home from Washington, DC. This trip to the nation’s capital gave me an opportunity to go and visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, which was completed in 2009. I have been teaching this particular monument for a […]
I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up I routinely watched shows like Seinfeld and Friends without feeling anxious about the relative absence of black characters on either show. I would like to say this was the result of very farsighted philosophical commitments to multiculturalism and diversity. However, it was more likely […]
This blog entry is a reproduction of a paper I delivered at the annual SeSAH conference in Athens, Georgia in 2012. INTRODUCTION Over the last two decades, revisionist historians have reassessed Sullivan’s architectural output through his claims as an author, poet, and essayist.[1] A noteworthy example of this is Lauren Weingarden’s Louis H. Sullivan and […]
Note: The following essay was published in the proceedings for the 2012 ACSA International conference. I want to thank ACSA for giving me permission to repost it here on my blog. INTRODUCTION It might seem that very little is controversial about multiculturalism anymore. The notion that institutions of higher education should promote diversity and condemn […]
Darell Fields, Architecture in Black (Athlone Press, 2000) It is somewhat curious that Architecture in Black has not received more recognition for its study of race in architecture. Not only does it have a critical Introduction by Cornell West, but it is an unconventional take on architectural history. This text is a Janus faced contemplation of racial […]
In this blog entry, I will argue that the design principles of vernacular architecture cannot be reduced to static typological interpretation of physical forms. One must also account for the role of syncretism in the historical development of vernacular forms. According to John Michael Vlach, the historian most responsible for discovering the African roots of […]
Cornel West, The Cornel West Reader (New York: Basic Books, 1999) Table of Contents Preface Introduction: To Be Human, Modern and American I: Autobiographical Interlude The Making of an American Radical Democrat of African Descent On My Intellectual Vocation Sing a Song II: Modernity and its Discontents The Ignoble Paradox of Modernity Race and Modernity […]
Race & Architecture 