The Hip Hop Architecture Camp has been held in over 25 cities, leveraging hip-hop culture as a catalyst to introducing underrepresented youth to architecture and urban design.SUPPLIED
True to its roots as an underground urban movement, hip hop typically contains references to the cultural, political, economic and social structures of our times and their shortfalls. Yet hip hop has the power to do more than just provoke and critique – it can also inspire solutions, believes Michael Ford.
Known as the Hip Hop Architect, Ford especially looks at the relationship between hip hop and the built environment as a source for stimulating a cross-disciplinary discourse between practitioners and residents about the sociological and cultural implications of architecture and urban planning on its inhabitants.
“Hip hop has always talked about architecture, for example, when artists describe their environment, which is often monolithic and non-descript,” says Ford, who specifically points to historical figures – such as architect LeCorbusier and builder Robert Moses – who created the concrete jungles and monotonous brick towers that necessitated the birth of the genre.
“We know that hip hop has already informed a number of areas of design and become a powerful marketing tool for some brands,” he says. “So the question is: what can hip hop do for architecture?”
That’s a line of inquiry participants of the Hip Hop Architecture Camp at IDS Vancouver will explore. Ford says the workshop, which has been held in over 25 cities, leverages hip-hop culture as a catalyst to introduce underrepresented youth to architecture, urban planning and design.
Participants will listen to popular hip-hop songs and identify references to architecture and popular design. “They’ll be challenged to convert lyrics, rhyme schemes and song patterns into architectural and design concepts, which could be applied to anything from textiles and floor plans to something as large as a city’s master plan,” he explains. “We explore how patterns in music can inform the built environment.”
Ford hopes to introduce workshop participants to a new way of experiencing and transforming music. “It’s going to be very lively,” he promises.
An important and powerful cultural movement such as hip hop should be reflected in various aspects of society, including in architecture and design, Ford believes.
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