Exhibition

  • Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture
    Sekou Cooke
    Curator
    Museum of Design Atlanta, Atlanta
    Oct 15, 2022 to Mar 12, 2023
  • GRANTEE
    Museum of Design Atlanta
    GRANT YEAR
    2022

Installation view of the exhibition “Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture,” the Center for Architecture, 2018, New York, NY." Courtesy sekou cooke STUDIO. Photo: Erik Barden

Collaborating with architect and exhibition curator Sekou Cooke to bring Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture to the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)—following the debut of the exhibition at the Center for Architecture in New York—this exhibition presents the work of 21 pioneers at the center of the Hip-Hop architecture revolution. These designers produce spaces, buildings, and environments that translate Hip-Hop’s energy into the built form. When these works are examined as a whole, they reveal a collective vision for alternative forms of expression and practice and serve to formalize the work of leaders of this movement created over the past 25 years. This project is important because the exhibit spotlights the work of Black architects and designers and demonstrates the importance of designing for all, and it invites young people to consider design and architecture as careers.

Sekou Cooke is an American-Jamaican architect, author, and educator, and is associated with the style of Hip-hop architecture. He is the director of the Master in Urban Design program at UNC Charlotte and principal of sekou cooke STUDIO. Cooke is one of the founding members of the Black Reconstruction Collective.

As the Southeast's only museum dedicated solely to design, Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) defines design as a creative process that inspires change, transforms lives, and makes the world a better place. MODA demonstrates the potential of design as an agent of change through engaging exhibitions, educational programs for children and adults, and special events designed to initiate conversation and community dialogue. MODA’s exhibitions and programs focus on a wide range of design disciplines.