What's the future of hip-hop architecture in Charlotte?

Man standing in art gallery
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Podcast

Charlotte’s seen rapid growth over the past several decades, but many say that boom has come at the cost of inclusivity and, perhaps, even a bit of the city’s soul. With the loss of many historic buildings and without much of an identifiable design vernacular — aside, perhaps, from the profusion of five-story apartment buildings — Charlotte’s even been accused of looking and feeling bland.

And many of the city’s residents have been excluded from decision-making about Charlotte’s growth, exemplified most strikingly in the urban renewal program that demolished Black neighborhoods such as Brooklyn in uptown Charlotte.

A new design paradigm could start to change that, however. Sekou Cooke is the Director of the Master of Urban Design Program at UNC Charlotte, and the author of “Hip-Hop Architecture,” a book published in 2021. He joins Future Charlotte to talk about what hip-hop architecture is, what it isn't, and why we need to change the way we build things.

Listen below, or on Apple, Google Podcasts or Spotify

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