The Nexus
The Nexus explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers and educators. Brought to you by the African American Design Nexus, an initiative at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design that seeks to showcase the work of Black designers, explore different geographies of design practice, and inspire design institutions to adopt new approaches toward elevating Black designers.
Episodes
Lesley Lokko questions the efficacy of a problem-based architectural education and suggests a new pedagogy that liberates the students’ relationship to design. Looking to fiction, metaphor, analogy, Africa, and industries in the larger design sphere, we discuss the possibilities to expand the bounds of the field of Architecture.
About Lesley LokkoLesley Lokko graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University...
Dana McKinney describes her time at the GSD as a balancing act of being a student and an activist. She shares the journey that started the African American Design Nexus, the Black in Design conference, and other initiatives she was essential to founding at the GSD. We learn how she has continued her work as an activist in her architectural practice.
About Dana McKinneyThis conversation is a collaboration between The Nexus and the 2021 Black in Design Conference. On October 9th, we joined attendees of the Black in Design conference to reflect on two panels held earlier that day: “Everyday Portals to Black Cultural Pasts, Presents, and Futures” with Emanuel Admassu, Felecia Davis, and Dorothy Berry and “Designing for Black Queer Pleasure, Joy, and Intimacy” with Ashon Crawley, Adam R., L...
Sekou Cooke reveals the events that led to the first Black in Design Conference in 2015. In discussing his latest book, Hip-Hop Architecture, Sekou draws parallels between Hip-Hop and the built environment. Through conversation ranging from sampling and notions of property to grids and scaffolding, we discuss how vocabulary can be transferred across the two fields to share a common mode of production.
Abou...Through digital design and 3D printing technology, ICON’s work has increased the efficiency of the home construction process, while decreasing costs. With major involvement and input from the community, they built the world’s first 3D printed neighborhood in Tabasco, Mexico. In our conversation with Dmitri Julius, we explore how ICON’s projects with NASA and their projects in vulnerable communities intersect through their ...
Tiara Hughes founded the First 500 in 2018, after becoming aware of the fact that less than 500 of the 100,000+ licensed architects in the United States were Black women. The First 500 highlights Black women architects and their contributions to the built environment. This resource has developed into an initiative that mentors the next generation of Black women architects. Tiara’s work focuses on increasing exposure of...
Rob Problak Gibbs has been involved in graffiti writing since he was an early teenager. He expanded this interest into creating large-scale murals which take the form of visual love letters to his community. Beyond his personal art practi...
Image of Flanner House – Fall Creek Homes Project. Courtesy of Urban Patch via the Indiana Historical Society.
OverviewJustin Garrett Moore shares the history of Urban Patch and its origins in Flanner House, a locus for self-help services started by his grandfather, Albert Allen Moore, for Black people in 1940s Indianapolis. Through this project, we explore the importance of expanding the archive of Architectural history to incl...
Image from .break .dance by Marisa Parham, 2019.
OverviewToday’s episode is going to take the shape of a slightly different format. It will be a conversation between me (Tara Oluwafemi), Amir Hall, and Dr. Marisa Parham. We discuss identity as expressed through our engagement with various digital media. The conversation takes a look at how digital technology has allowed us to transcend time and space and reinvent ourselves in vir...
Strauss discusses her thesis project which takes the shape of a Request for Proposals to address paths to reparations for the Black communities of Chicago’s South Side. To submit a proposal or find out more information on Strauss’s project, visit https://architectureofreparations.cargo.site/.
About Isabel StraussIsabel Strauss is currently pursuing her Master’s in Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School...
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