Misplaced Pages

Sekou Cooke

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
American-Jamaican Hip-hop architect
Sekou Cooke
BornJamaica
Education
OccupationArchitect

Sekou Cooke is an American-Jamaican architect, author and educator, and is associated with the style of Hip-hop architecture. He is the principal of Sekou Cooke Studio. Cooke is one of the founding members of the Black Reconstruction Collective.

Experience

Cooke was born and raised in Jamaica and received a B.Arch from Cornell University and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is a licensed architect in the State of New York. He was an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Syracuse University.

Awards

Cooke received a Faculty Design Award in 2020 by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and a Graham Foundation Award in 2018 for his project 'Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture'. He is the recipient of the 2017 Architectural League Prize. In 2021 he was named the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute fellow. The fellowship is awarded by the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

Work

Cooke is the author of the book 'Hip-Hop Architecture' published by Bloomsbury in 2021. His book references the impact of hip-hop culture on the discipline of architecture and the built environment. The content formalizes a close reading of existing and historic design paradigms within creative fields and its impact on underrepresented and black communities. His body of work was shown during a solo exhibition at the Center for Architecture in New York in 2018.

Cooke's selected work is part of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and was included in the 2021 'Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America' exhibition alongside Walter Hood, Germane Barnes, V.Mitch McEwen, Emanuel Admassu and others. It was the first exhibition in the history of MoMA featuring only African-American designers, artists and architects. His project 'We Outchea: Hip Hop Fabrications and Public Space', examined and highlighted the historic demolition of African-American communities by former city planners of Syracuse, NY.

In 2020, Cooke was invited alongside Refik Anadol and Rael San Fratello to envision a memorial for the COVID-19 pandemic. Cooke's proposal named 'Unmonument' was a theoretical approach shifting the notion of a static monument toward the application of in-flux processes instead.

In 2021, he was part of a new pilot program created by the City of Los Angeles to design Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). Initiated by L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti, the program asked a group of selected architects to envision and design housing units to tackle the cities rising needs for affordable housing while enhancing the city's architectural design ambitions.

Opinions

Cooke had noted Mike Ford claims the origins of Hip-hop architecture lay with both Le Corbusier and Robert Moses, Cooke himself attributes the public works in New York City by Moses were by far the most important foundation.

Bibliography

References

  1. Kimmelman, Michael (2021-03-11). "How Can Blackness Construct America?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  2. ^ Syracuse (May 2021) . "Sekou Cooke — Assistant Professor". Syracuse University School of Architecture. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021.
  3. "2020 Architectural Education Award Winners". Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  4. "Graham Foundation > Grantees > Center for Architecture". grahamfoundation.org. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  5. "The Winners of the 2017 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers". www.architectmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  6. "Architect and researcher Sekou Cooke joins the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute as a 2021-2022 fellow". Archinect. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  7. Magazine, Wallpaper* (2021-04-12). "Architecture books to inspire shelf love". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  8. Felicori, Bianca (2021-04-19). "Hip Hop Architecture: A Volume for the Voiceless". ELLE Decor (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  9. "10 Black Architects Making History Today - Architizer Journal". Journal. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  10. "Jay Cephas on "Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America"". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  11. Bogost, Story by Ian. "How Will the Future Remember COVID-19?". The Atlantic. ISSN 1072-7825. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  12. "Los Angeles Unveils ADU Prototype Designs". www.architecturalrecord.com. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  13. "Los Angeles launches bold new ADU program to combat housing shortage". The Architect’s Newspaper. 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  14. Cooke, Sekou (2014). "The Fifth Pillar: A Case for Hip-Hop Architecture". Harvard Journal of African American Planning Policy. John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014.

External links

Categories: