Architecture of the African Diaspora in/of the United States

FAIN: RZ-279864-22

University of Florida (Gainesville, FL 32611-0001)
David Rifkind (Project Director: December 2020 to present)
Itohan Iriagbonse Osayimwese (Co Project Director: February 2021 to present)

Preparation of a collection of essays on the architecture of the African diaspora in the United States. (36 months)

Architecture of the African Diaspora in/of the United States is a collaborative effort by six scholars to write the first book-length study of architecture by people of African descent in, and from, the United States. The project includes histories of buildings, cities, communities, landscapes, and interiors created by architects, planners, builders, artists, residents, public officials, and activists. This includes professional design work, vernacular architecture, urban design and preservation projects, cultural landscapes, and ephemeral buildings. The work draws connections between disparate topics and situates architectural production within its political, social, and cultural contexts. This collaboration challenges conventional historiographic distinctions between architects and builders, interpreting a range of actors who cross and complicate that dichotomy, and likewise shift the lens of architectural history to diasporic narratives that transcend familiar Eurocentric frameworks.