ICYMI: How a white architect is the granddaddy of hip-hop

Back in September, we ran a story about architect and Highland Park native Michael Ford. 

Ford asserts that the grandfather of hip-hop "came long before the 1970s when DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaattaa were dropping beats on Sedgwick Avenue in the South Bronx." The whole thing, he says, was inspired by architect LeCorbusier.

LeCorbusier, you see, is the architect of the housing projects—the very ones Robert Moses built in the South Bronx that became "the officially recognized birthplace of hip-hop ... 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, which is a low-income, high-density adaptation of Le Corbusier's plan ... Many of hip-hop's most prominent artists were born, raised, and perfected their crafts in those very same housing projects. Hip-hop was a result of the economical, political, and sociological deprivations instituted by the housing projects across America."

It's an interesting take on an old story, and worth another look—both for the history and hip-hop head, and for the future of design. Read about 'Hip-Hop Inspired Architecture' here.