-
Elleza Kelley [Lecture] Elleza Kelley examines the dialogues between Harlem, jazz, and space (this being the street). She explores ideas about the complexities of black American identity and it's relationship to the built environment.
Elleza Kelley is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies and English with expertise in black geographies, and radical spatial practices that explore the intersections of literature, art, and place.
-
k. kennedy Whiters: (un) Redact the Facts [Lecture] In this lecture, kennedy Whiters examined how preservation and house museums are entangled with race and white supremacy, emphasizing who has agency in telling historical narratives. Using examples like Northern slavery sites and the Dyckman Farmhouse, they discussed how history is constructed through selective facts, language, and perspective—and how preservation can either reinforce or challenge historical erasure.
kennedy is a preservation architect, published writer, and guest speaker. She is the founder of wrkSHäp I kiloWatt, a historic preservation, and owner's representation. It is home to Black in Historic Preservation, Beyond Integrity in (X), and (un) Redact the Facts. kennedy has been featured by the Advisory Council of Historic Preservation. kennedy is also the founder of New York architecture firm studio KW Architecture, PLLC.
-
Kazembe Balagun [Lecture] The Place Memory and Culture Incubator was fortunate to meet with Kazembe Balagun at the Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem. This lecture focuses on his life in Harlem and how the local establishments played a big role in his everyday life.
Kazembe Balagun is a writer, cultural critic, and outreach coordinator at the Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem. His work focuses on the intersection of Black radical thought, cinema, and community organizing.
-
Najha Zigbi-Johnson [Lecture] Najha Zigbi-Johnson is a writer, educator, and cultural organizer. Her Harlem-based practice sits at intersections of the built environment, contemporary Black art, and social movement history. She is the editor of "Mapping Malcolm," a publication that brings together artists, transnational community leaders, and scholars who explore the politics of Black space-making.
In this two part lecture, Najha Zigbi-Johnson walks through the important history of Lenox Avenue from 135th street down to 116th street. She emphasizes the influence of people like Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X and the effect they had on not only the community but the spatial identity of Lenox avenue.
-
Oral History Interview with Kazembe Balagun by Samantha Fox Samantha Fox, M. Arch student at Spitzer School of Architecture, interviews Kazembe Balagun, Executive Director of Maysles Documentary Center, on November 8, 2024.
The image paired with this interview is a 2022 illustration (color pencil on paper) titled "Kazembe Balagun, Black Militant Study" by Shellyne Rodriguez. Shellyne Rodriguez is a Bronx-based artist, educator, historian, writer, and community organizer who works in a variety of media, including drawing, painting, collage, and sculpture. Rodriguez stewards the histories and stories of people that have shaped her lived experience, describing her practice as “the depiction and archiving of spaces and subjects engaged in strategies of survival against erasure and subjugation.” Through her multidisciplinary practice, Rodriguez documents the ways in which the diverse social fabric of the South Bronx is rewoven as the people and cultures coexist. Rodriguez utilizes language as well as cultural and sociopolitical references to create unified portraits of individuals from various communities formed in what she describes as the “periphery of empire.” Engaging with the legacy of the Ashcan School, who bore witness to the rise of the modern metropolis and depicted how the poor and working class in New York enclaves were transformed by this, Rodriguez views figures such as Alice Neel, Jane Dickson, and Martin Wong as an extension of this tradition and situates her practice alongside them.
-
Beyond the Mosque: Radical Preservation and the Social Fabric of Masjid Malcolm Shabazz Final Assignment for ARCH 73100 (Fall 2024)
-
The Maysles / Cafe Melo Expansion Project Final Assignment for ARCH 73100 (Fall 2024)
-
(dis)assemble the market Final Assignment for ARCH 73100 (Fall 2024)
-
Lenox Terrace Final Assignment for ARCH 73100 (Fall 2024)
-
The Switch Final Assignment for ARCH 73100 (Fall 2024)
-
Olivet's Odyssey Final Assignment for ARCH 73100 (Fall 2024)
-
Black Nation Building in Religious Space Final Assignment for ARCH 73100 (Fall 2024)
-
Syllabus: Living Lennox Fall 2024 Graduate Studio