Hip hop interior design: imagining interior environments rooted in hip hop culture
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Date
2024-06-24
Authors
Farnaghi, Farzan
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Abstract
The culture of Hip Hop is noticeably ingrained in twenty-first century contemporary culture, influencing everything from music, dance, fashion, and art, yet is formally non-existent in the discipline of interior design. Therefore, this practicum project aims to establish the theoretical foundations of Hip Hop interior design, a novel proposal which is informed by Hip Hop and the associated Hip Hop architecture movement. The identified theory will guide the design of The Toronto Centre for Hip Hop, a community centre for adolescents living in a disenfranchised inner-city neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario.
Towards this pursuit, context is fundamental to situate Hip Hop within its distinct historical, social, and cultural emergence. The history of American racial segregation is unravelled to clarify the role architects, designers, and city planners played in the spatial and architectural marginalization of Black people. This bigoted construction was decisive in forming the inner city or ghetto, which eventually situated post-industrial New York as the incubator for Hip Hop to emerge. Hip Hop is then analyzed from its history to its various expressions, conclusively positioning it as a culture, as opposed to merely a musical genre. This allows for its connection to space and place, exploring how space is not universal or equal to all, substantiating the pursuit of Hip Hop architecture. Subsequently, theories from the developing Hip Hop architecture movement are reviewed to connect Hip Hop with built form, conclusively supporting the proposed idea of Hip Hop interior design.
The ultimate goal of this practicum project is to contemplate a new approach to interior design that focuses primarily on revitalizing marginalized inner-city communities through the ideologies of Hip Hop. The undertaking reconsiders a Eurocentric imposition of space, towards a participatory design process that prioritizes the perspectives of Black, Brown, and minority people. This approach envisions an interior design movement that attracts more people of colour to the field, expanding the boundaries of the profession with the integration of a whole new generation of diverse students, teachers, and practitioners.
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Hip Hop, Hip Hop Architecture, Hip Hop Interior Design, Critical Race Theory, Music, Cultural Analysis, Rap, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), Discrimination in Housing, Segregation, Post-Industrial Society, Spatial Theory, Toronto, New York, Graffiti, Breakdance, Hip-hop--United States, Rap (Music)--Social aspects, Social Justice