A camp that uses music to expose underrepresented youth to architecture, urban planning and design made its Memphis debut this week.
Madison, Wisconsin-based architect Michael Ford’s Hip Hop Architecture Camp was held Monday, July 11, through Friday, July 15, at Connect Music Group in Downtown Memphis. Since 2016, Ford’s camp has been hosted in cities including Detroit, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
During the free camp, about 40 Memphis-area middle and high school students were paired with local and national Black architects, community activists and hip-hop artists to “re-imagine” design concepts for their communities.
In 2020, just 2% of licensed U.S. architects were Black, according to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).
Ford’s camp is working to expand that figure, by closing the gap between minority youth and the tools needed to build safer, resourceful communities.
With assistance from architects including Renee Whiteley and Phillip Robie, Memphis students worked together to build their ideas into physical and virtual 3D models using Tinkercad, an online software tool.
Organizers said one goal of the camp was to show students how the concept of developing communities and neighborhoods could be similar to writing and recording a song.
The concept is rooted in what the camp identifies as “4C’s,” creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking.
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