Sekou Cooke Explained

Sekou Cooke
Birth Place:Jamaica
Occupation:Architect

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[1] and principal of Sekou Cooke Studio. Cooke is one of the founding members of the Black Reconstruction Collective.[2]

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. Prior to his tenure at UNC Charlotte he was an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Syracuse University.[3]

Awards

Cooke received a Faculty Design Award in 2020 by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) [4] and a Graham Foundation Award in 2018 for his project 'Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture'.[5] He is the recipient of the 2017 Architectural League Prize.[6] 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.[7]

Work

Cooke is the author of the book Hip-Hop Architecture' published by Bloomsbury in 2021.[8] 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.[9] His body of work was shown during a solo exhibition at the Center for Architecture in New York in 2018.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13] [14]

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.[15]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021-03-25. Sekou Cooke will lead the Master of Urban Design program at UNC Charlotte. 2021-04-27. The Architect’s Newspaper. en-US.
  2. News: Kimmelman. Michael. 2021-03-11. How Can Blackness Construct America?. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-04-26. 0362-4331.
  3. Web site: Syracuse. May 2021. Sekou Cooke — Assistant Professor. https://web.archive.org/web/20210522175118/https://soa.syr.edu/live/profiles/145-sekou-cooke. 22 May 2021. 2015. Syracuse University School of Architecture. dead.
  4. Web site: 2020 Architectural Education Award Winners. 2021-04-26. Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. en.
  5. Web site: Graham Foundation > Grantees > Center for Architecture. 2021-04-26. grahamfoundation.org.
  6. Web site: The Winners of the 2017 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers. 2021-04-26. www.architectmagazine.com.
  7. Web site: Architect and researcher Sekou Cooke joins the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute as a 2021-2022 fellow. 2021-06-16. Archinect. en.
  8. Web site: Magazine. Wallpaper*. 2021-04-12. Architecture books to inspire shelf love. 2021-04-27. Wallpaper*.
  9. Web site: Felicori. Bianca. 2021-04-19. Hip Hop Architecture: A Volume for the Voiceless. 2021-04-26. ELLE Decor. it-IT.
  10. Web site: 2021-02-22. 10 Black Architects Making History Today - Architizer Journal. 2021-04-26. Journal. en.
  11. Web site: Jay Cephas on "Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America". 2021-04-26. www.artforum.com. en-US.
  12. News: Bogost. Story by Ian. How Will the Future Remember COVID-19?. The Atlantic. 2021-04-26. 1072-7825.
  13. Web site: Los Angeles Unveils ADU Prototype Designs. 2021-04-26. www.architecturalrecord.com. en.
  14. Web site: 2021-03-09. Los Angeles launches bold new ADU program to combat housing shortage. 2021-04-26. The Architect’s Newspaper. en-US.
  15. Cooke. Sekou. 2014. The Fifth Pillar: A Case for Hip-Hop Architecture . dead . Harvard Journal of African American Planning Policy . John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University . https://web.archive.org/web/20140503144817/http://hjaap.org/The-Fifth-Pillar-A-Case-for-Hip-Hop-Architecture. 3 May 2014 . Sekou Cooke.

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