The Nexus: Recent Episodes
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Nexus explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers and educators. Brought to you by the African American Design Nexus, an initiative at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design that seeks to showcase the work of Black designers, explore different geographies of design practice, and inspire design institutions to adopt new approaches toward elevating Black designers.
OverviewMusic remains one of the most intact genealogical records of Blackness. Across the diaspora, music has been a critical asset in maintaining culture, preserving experiences and communicating a sonic epistemology derived from the material condition of being Black. The celebratory, reflective, impassioned, and downtrodden moods throughout the canon of Black music articulate a unique spectrum of the ways that Black people have made sense of themselves. At the intersections of Black identity, and queerness, music has been an innovative methodology of affirming existence and being playful with perceptions of standardness, normativity, deviance, and mischief. The composition and production of Black music genres– from house, to electronic, to pop, to rock, etc– reflect a typology of sonic design. Including music into the canon of design, approaching producers as sonic architects, and singers as vocal designers, we can begin to consider sound in space, buildings, parks, and other built environment sites as a critical consideration for the excellence of its design.
Serpent composes music that is distinct and embodies visuality. Each song is an effective vision of place, mood, and feeling. He is also a spatialist. His music often references a range of sites from the bedroom, to the city of Baltimore in which his feeling within those spaces is transmuted into an original song. Building a space of communion and fellowship, ‘Serpents Parlor,’ an affinity group for Black men, is the artist’s newest manifestation of translating his need for safe spaces for Black men into a place of shared reflection and care.
serpentwithfeet is simply letting the pendulum swing nowadays. The Baltimore, Maryland-born singer-songwriter, is taking the natural steps as a versatile talent from chapter to chapter in his career. serpent’s third album GRIP is the result of these latest steps. GRIP finds its home on the dance floor of the club and the intimate moments that happen there and afterward, no matter the location.
Serpent’s third album explores the intimate forms of physical touch and how they occur. Whether it be a grip around the waist or the face, serpentwithfeet managed to explore all angles thanks to the second lens he looked through.
Serpent set his attention on the world that he called home in the important adult years of his life, and with this, we see a study of community on GRIP. This community had a huge impact on the LA-based singer, and through ten songs, he gives it its flowers with a body of work that highlights the moments that are most close to the heart. Throughout his eight-year career, serpent has exhibited this versatility through experimental R&B music. Three years removed from his second album DEACON, serpentwithfeet continues to push the limits of his artistry with his third album GRIP.
This episode is dedicated to taking an expansive approach to design, one that is focused on and based on the multimedia, and multidisciplinary techniques approached by Black artists, and music organizers to create safe sonic and physical spaces for Black communities, and specifically, Black Queer communities to flourish. How can we learn from the authenticity of your work and approaches?
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About serpentwithfeetserpentwithfeet is simply letting the pendulum swing nowadays. The Baltimore, Maryland-born singer-songwriter, is taking the natural steps as a versatile talent from chapter to chapter in his career. serpent’s third album GRIP is the result of these latest steps. GRIP finds its home on the dance floor of the club and the intimate moments that happen there and afterward, no matter the location.
Serpent’s third album explores the intimate forms of physical touch and how they occur. Whether it be a grip around the waist or the face, serpentwithfeet managed to explore all angles thanks to the second lens he looked through.
Serpent set his attention on the world that he called home in the important adult years of his life, and with this, we see a study of community on GRIP. This community had a huge impact on the LA-based singer, and through ten songs, he gives it its flowers with a body of work that highlights the moments that are most close to the heart. Throughout his eight-year career, serpent has exhibited this versatility through experimental R&B music. Three years removed from his second album DEACON, serpentwithfeet continues to push the limits of his artistry with his third album GRIP.
How to ListenYou can listen to all available episodes and find program notes here on our website, or subscribe to the series via one of these providers: iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio.
About the ShowDeveloped by the African American Design Nexus at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, The Nexus is a podcast that explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers, and educators. The Nexus is produced in conjunction with a commitment by the Frances Loeb Library to acquire and create an open-access bibliography of various media suggested by the GSD community on the intersection between race and design.
Show CreditsThe Nexus Season 4 is hosted by Tyler White, a dual candidate in the Masters of Urban Planning and Master of Design Studies, Narratives program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The show is recorded and edited by Maggie Janik, and the theme music is produced by DJ Eway.
ContactFor all inquiries, please email aadn@gsd.harvard.edu.
The post serpentwithfeet first appeared on African American Design Nexus.
OverviewEducators and curators Mpho Matsipa and Antawan Byrd delve into Pan-Africanism, counternarratives, and the transformative power of art and archives. Matsipa’s “African Mobilities” challenges conventional representation, while Byrd explores diaspora narratives. They discuss the impact of mobility and knowledge, innovative archiving, and the broader implications of Pan-Africanism in shaping diverse voices within the art and architectural archive.
Mpho Matsipa, an educator, researcher, and curator, and Antawan Byrd, an Assistant Professor of Art History and Associate Curator of Photography and Media, delve into the complexities of Pan-Africanism, identity, and the power of counternarratives within art and archives. Matsipa’s “African Mobilities” project challenges conventional socio-spatial norms and representation, while Byrd explores themes of diaspora, connection, and narrative in his curatorial work. They examine the impact of mobility, voices, and knowledge on counter-cartographies, highlighting innovative archiving and cataloging approaches, with a reflection on the broader implications of Pan-Africanism, particularly its role in embracing diverse voices and identities within the art and architectural archive.
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About Mpho Matsipa and Antawan ByrdAntawan I. Byrd is a College Fellow and Assistant Professor in Art History at Northwestern University and an Associate Curator of Photography and Media at the Art Institute of Chicago. He edited (with Felicia Mings) the catalogue, The People Shall Govern! Medu Art Ensemble and the Anti-Apartheid Poster 1979-1985, based on an exhibition he co-curated in 2019 at the Art Institute. At the Art Institute, Byrd also curated Mimi Cherono Ng’ok: Closer to the Earth, Closer to My Own Body (2021). He co-curated the 2nd Lagos Biennial of Contemporary Art (2019), Kader Attia: Reflecting Memory at Northwestern’s Block Museum of Art (2017) and was an associate curator for the 10th Bamako Encounters, Biennale of African Photography (2015). From 2009 to 2011, he was a Fulbright fellow and curatorial assistant at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos. In 2017, he received the Award for Curatorial Excellence from the Arts Council of the African Studies Association. Byrd completed his PhD in Art History at Northwestern University in 2022. He is currently co-curating a major exhibition that surveys the art and cultural dimensions of Pan-Africanism from the 1920s to the present. This exhibition is slated to open at the Art Institute of Chicago in the fall of 2024, before traveling to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, and later to the KANAL-Centre Pompidou in Brussels.
Mpho Matsipa is an educator, researcher, and curator. Matsipa holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, pursued as a Fulbright Scholar. She has taught at The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, the University of the Witwatersrand, The Cooper Union for Art and Science and Columbia University. She has written critical essays on art and architecture and curated several exhibitions, discursive platforms and experimental architectural research, including the Venice International Architecture Biennale (2008; 2021); chief curator of African Mobilities at the Architecture Museum, Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (2018); and Studio-X Johannesburg, in South Africa (2014-2016).
Mpho Matsipa was previously a researcher at Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER), a Loeb Fellow (2022) at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, and a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, in 2021-2022.
Matsipa has written critical essays on art and architecture and curated several exhibitions and discursive platforms, including African Mobilities at the Architecture Museum, Pinakotheque Moderne, Munich, the online version and African Mobilities podcast (2018-2020); Studio-X Johannesburg, and the 11th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.
Her curatorial and research interests intersect with decolonial urban studies, experimental architecture and visual art. Mpho is an associate curator for the LOO-bOOm-bashi Biennale in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2024).
How to ListenYou can listen to all available episodes and find program notes here on our website, or subscribe to the series via one of these providers: iTunes, Google, Spotify, iHeartRadio.
About the ShowDeveloped by the African American Design Nexus at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, The Nexus is a podcast that explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers, and educators. The Nexus is produced in conjunction with a commitment by the Frances Loeb Library to acquire and create an open-access bibliography of various media suggested by the GSD community on the intersection between race and design.
Show CreditsThe Nexus Season 3 is hosted by Esesua Ikpefan, Doctor of Design Studies student and Tomi Seyi Laja, 2023 alum of the Master of Architecture II program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The show is recorded and edited by Maggie Janik, and the theme music is produced by DJ Eway.
ContactFor all inquiries, please email aadn@gsd.harvard.edu.
The post Mpho Matsipa and Antawan Byrd first appeared on African American Design Nexus.
OverviewThe practices of Akil and Seth Scafe Smith from RESOLVE Collective and filmmaker Ama Gisèle explore the fascinating realm where design transcends boundaries, drawing inspiration from a myriad of artistic disciplines and visual cultures. As they redefine ‘local’ in architecture, they engage with profound questions of identity and representation. Through Gisèle’s experimental documentary, “Convergence,” and Akil and Seth’s distinctive approach to community engagement, their creative processes place a strong emphasis on inclusivity and representation, pushing designers to engage the intricacies of labor organization and adaptability within their work.
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About Ama Gisèle and RESOLVE CollectiveAma Gisèle is an artist, writer and filmmaker from Queens, NY. She graduated from Amherst College with a B.A. in English and Black Studies. There, she completed her first short story collection entitled “there are sharp things in the ground and her hands are soft.” From there, she expanded her practice to filmmaking—writing and directing her first short film entitled Be Like Me in 2020. Her second and most recent project is called Convergence, an experimental documentary and dance piece that explores intimacy, connection, and vulnerability.
Resolve is an interdisciplinary design collective that combines architecture, engineering, technology and art to address social challenges. They have delivered numerous projects, workshops, publications, and talks in the UK and across Europe, all of which look toward realizing just and equitable visions of change in our built environment.
Much of their work aims to provide platforms for the production of new knowledge and ideas, whilst collaborating and organizing to help build resilience in their communities. An integral part of this way of working means designing with and for young people and under-represented groups in society.
Resolve collective’s ‘design’ practices encompass both physical and systemic intervention, exploring ways of using a project’s site as a resource and working with different communities as stakeholders in the short and long-term management of projects. For resolve, design carries more than aesthetic value; it is also a mechanism for political and socio-economic change.
How to ListenYou can listen to all available episodes and find program notes here on our website, or subscribe to the series via one of these providers: iTunes, Google, Spotify, iHeartRadio.
About the ShowDeveloped by the African American Design Nexus at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, The Nexus is a podcast that explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers, and educators. The Nexus is produced in conjunction with a commitment by the Frances Loeb Library to acquire and create an open-access bibliography of various media suggested by the GSD community on the intersection between race and design.
Show CreditsThe Nexus Season 3 is hosted by Esesua Ikpefan, Doctor of Design Studies student and Tomi Seyi Laja, 2023 alum of the Master of Architecture II program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The show is recorded and edited by Maggie Janik, and the theme music is produced by DJ Eway.
ContactFor all inquiries, please email aadn@gsd.harvard.edu.
The post Ama Gisèle and RESOLVE Collective first appeared on African American Design Nexus.
OverviewKennedy Yanko, a sculptor, and installation artist and Camille Bacon, a Chicago-based writer, explore the intersections of art, spirituality, and abstraction. Kennedy’s innovative use of found metal and paint skin pushes the boundaries of visual perception, while Camille’s writing delves deep into the world of Black feminist practices and their connection to aesthetics. Join them They discuss the transformative power of abstraction in art and design pushing artists and designers to explore the complex relationship between creative process, cultural heritage and spirituality within the Black diaspora.
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About Kennedy Yanko and Camille BaconKennedy Yanko (b. 1988, St. Louis, MO) is a sculptor and installation artist working in found metal and paint skin. Yanko deploys her materials in ways that explore the limitations of optic vision, underlining the opportunities we miss when looking with eyes alone. Her methods reflect a dual abstract expressionist-surrealist approach that centers the seen and unseen factors that affect, contribute to, and moderate human experience.
Select installations from 2021-2022 include “White, Passing” at the Rubell Museum (2021, Miami, FL) where Yanko was an Artist in Residence, “By means other than the known senses” at the Unlimited Section of Art Basel (2022, Basel, Switzerland), and “No more Drama” at the Brooklyn Museum (2022, Brooklyn, NY). In March 2023, she debuted her solo exhibition, “Humming on Life,” with Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in New York.
Yanko’s institutional exhibitions include the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; University of South Florida; Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA). Her work is included in notable private museums, namely: The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach (Beth Rudin DeWoody), Espacio Tacuari, Buenos Aires (Juan Vergez and Patricia Pearson), the Rubell Museum, Miami (Don and Mera Rubell). Most recently, Yanko’s work was acquired by the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria.
Camille Bacon is a Chicago-based writer who is building a “sweet black writing life” as inspired by the words of poet Nikky Finney and the infinite wisdom of the Black feminist tradition more broadly. Through a methodology that straddles rigorous research and divinely derived oration, she aims to excavate how aesthetics can catalyze a collective reorientation towards relation, connection and intimacy and away from apathy and amnesia. Ultimately, her work serves as the external embodiment of her commitment to amplifying the wayward ingenuity of the Black creative spirit. Camille’s work has appeared in i-D Magazine, Frieze, Cultured Magazine, Studio Magazine, Momus, The Funambulist, Air Afrique Magazine, and Burnaway, among other outlets. She currently manages McArthur Binion’s studio in Chicago, IL and formerly held positions at GRAY Gallery, Chicago, IL, and The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY. She is also the co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of Jupiter Magazine along with fellow writer Daria Simone Harper.
How to ListenYou can listen to all available episodes and find program notes here on our website, or subscribe to the series via one of these providers: iTunes, Google, Spotify, iHeartRadio.
About the ShowDeveloped by the African American Design Nexus at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, The Nexus is a podcast that explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers, and educators. The Nexus is produced in conjunction with a commitment by the Frances Loeb Library to acquire and create an open-access bibliography of various media suggested by the GSD community on the intersection between race and design.
Show CreditsThe Nexus Season 3 is hosted by Esesua Ikpefan, Doctor of Design Studies student and Tomi Seyi Laja, 2023 alum of the Master of Architecture II program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The show is recorded and edited by Maggie Janik, and the theme music is produced by DJ Eway.
ContactFor all inquiries, please email aadn@gsd.harvard.edu.
The post Kennedy Yanko and Camille Bacon first appeared on African American Design Nexus.
OverviewNifemi Marcus-Bello, an industrial designer known for his community-led approach and Curry J. Hackett, a transdisciplinary designer, and public artist, explore the intricate relationships between culture, narrative, and place in design. They delve into the significance of mobility and its connection to Black identities, while also discussing their engagement with urbanism, landscape, and materiality. Through the lens of history and narrative, they share their methodologies and inspirations, shedding light on how their work contributes to reimagining Black experiences and fostering empathy, in this thought-provoking discussion on agency, audience, and the transformative power of design.
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About Nifemi Marcus-Bello and Curry J. HackettNifemi Marcus-Bello is an industrial designer based in Nigeria, known for his community-led, and ethnographic-conscious design approach. Marcus-Bello graduated from the University of Leeds with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Product Design and received the “Potential for Social Change” award from the University of Leeds School of Mechanical Engineering. In 2017, he founded nmbello studio, focusing on furniture, product, and installation design. In 2021 he received the “Life Enhancer of the Year” award by Wallpaper* Magazine and in 2022, the HUBLOT Design Prize.
Marcus-Bello is also the founder and lead designer at nmbello Studio, currently based in Lagos, Nigeria, with a design ethos rooted in empathy. At nmbello studio, design is about believe in understanding what is available, without trying to force an ego on to the process. Over the years, the studio aims to rid itself of pre-existing ideas and allow its process dictate design output. As a design studio, nmbello Studio embraces the newness and lack of a true design process as it frees us up for an opportunity to be reintroduced to the familiar with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective.
Curry J. Hackett is a transdisciplinary designer, public artist, and educator. His practice, Wayside, synthesizes cultural and ecological narratives to envision meaningful work in the public realm. Noteworthy projects include the Howard Theatre Walk of Fame and the DC High Water Mark project. Hackett began his academic career in 2019 at his alma mater Howard University, and has since taught at Yale University, Carleton University, City College of New York, the University of Tennessee–Knoxville, and is a core member of the anti-racist design justice school Dark Matter U.
Currently, Curry is completing his Master of Architecture in urban design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 2022, Hackett was named an inaugural Journal of Architectural Education fellow and a finalist for the Harvard GSD Wheelwright Prize. In 2023, Hackett won the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Creative Achievement Award for his “Subjective Waters” studio, which explored Black culture and water, and was named a grantee by the Graham Foundation for his ongoing research project, Drylongso, which explores relationships between Blackness, geography, and land.
How to ListenYou can listen to all available episodes and find program notes here on our website, or subscribe to the series via one of these providers: iTunes, Google, Spotify, iHeartRadio.
About the ShowDeveloped by the African American Design Nexus at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, The Nexus is a podcast that explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers, and educators. The Nexus is produced in conjunction with a commitment by the Frances Loeb Library to acquire and create an open-access bibliography of various media suggested by the GSD community on the intersection between race and design.
Show CreditsThe Nexus Season 3 is hosted by Esesua Ikpefan, Doctor of Design Studies student and Tomi Seyi Laja, 2023 alum of the Master of Architecture II program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The show is recorded and edited by Maggie Janik, and the theme music is produced by DJ Eway.
ContactFor all inquiries, please email aadn@gsd.harvard.edu.
The post Nifemi Marcus-Bello and Curry J. Hackett first appeared on African American Design Nexus.
Season 2, Episode 10: Sean Canty expresses the value of looking outside the profession, especially other visual cultures, to create new meanings for our work as architects.
Season 2, Episode 9: Lesley Lokko delves into the relationship between fiction writing and Architecture and breaks down the role of the school in preparing future architects.
Season 2, Episode 8: We learn from Dana McKinney how her commitment to activism has been integral to her architectural practice and education.
Season 2, Episode 7: The Nexus goes live with Black in Design 2021: Black Matter! We reflect on two panels held on October 9th with attendees of the Black in Design conference.
Season 2, Episode 6: Sekou Cooke interrogates the notion of Hip-Hop Architecture through a close reading of his latest book, and shares the origins of the Black in Design Conference.
Season 2, Episode 5: Dmitri Julius connects the dots between terrestrial, sustainable building practices and new technologies being developed for human habitation in outer space.
Season 2, Episode 4: Tiara Hughes calls for equity across the architecture community, with an emphasis on increasing initiatives that focus on education and mentorship.
Season 2, Episode 3: Rob Problak Gibbs details how his origins as a graffiti writer and practice as a muralist have shaped the ways in which he engages with his community through the built environment.
Season 2, Episode 2: Justin Garrett Moore shares the history of Urban Patch and the importance of expanding the archive of Architectural history to include marginalized voices.
Season 2, Episode 1: Amir Hall and Marisa Parham engage in a conversation on how technology forms and mediates identity.
Season 1, Episode 7: Isabel Strauss, a current GSD student, discusses her thesis, which takes the shape of a Request for Proposals to address paths to reparations for Black communities in Chicago's South Side.
Overview In this episode, we talk to urbanist, architect, and GSD professor Toni L. Griffin about different modes of authorship at the intersection of plan-making, place-making, and publication. Professor Griffin also shares some insights on her career trajectory, from architecture to urban design to working in the public sector, recent research and publications from the Just City Lab, and the necessity for designers to forge interdisciplinary partnerships in order to dismantle injustice.
Full Transcript
About Toni Griffin Toni Griffin is Professor in Practice of Urban Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the founder of Urban Planning and Design for the American City or Urban AC, based in New York City. Professor Griffin was recently a Professor of Architecture and the founding Director of the J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City at the Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York. She currently leads the Just City Lab at the GSD, which investigates the definition of urban justice and the just city and examines how design and planning contribute to conditions of justice and injustice in cities, neighborhoods and the public realm. The lab has produced The Just City Index, Just City Indicators for the Public Realm, The Just City Essays, tools for civic engagement, design case studies and offer masterclasses and workshops on designing for justice.
How to Listen You can listen to all available episodes and find program notes here on our website, or subscribe to the series via one of these providers: iTunes, Google, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher.
About the Show Developed by the African American Design Nexus at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, The Nexus is a podcast that explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers and educators. The Nexus is produced in conjunction with a commitment by the Frances Loeb Library to acquire and create an open-access bibliography of various media suggested by the GSD community on the intersection between race and design.
Show Credits The Nexus Season 1 is hosted by Caleb Negash and Tara Oluwafemi, students in the Master of Architecture program at Harvard Graduate School of Design. Our show is recorded and edited by Maggie Janik, and our theme music is produced by DJ Eway.
Contact For all inquiries, please email aadn@gsd.harvard.edu