Never heard of hip-hop architecture? According to C.C. Sullivan, the global movement infusing architecture with artistic and cultural elements inspired by hip-hop has been spreading for at least a decade.
Sullivan takes us on a world tour of hip-hop architecture from "[t]he audacious" Earl S. Bell in New York to Mokena Makeka of South Africa and King Kong Architects of Bordeaux, France.
"Architecture related to hip-hop is about built ideas inspired of
music and dance, drawing in part from artistic ideas like sampling and
rapping," writes Sullivan. "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."
"Like the musical forms of the same name, it has some clear references
to African culture. But we also see vibrant palettes, material
innovation and clever juxtapositions. Some of it is gritty, but just as
much is utopistic, space-age and Zen."
FULL STORY: Hip-hop architecture goes global
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