KOOZ Narratives and identity, whether shared or individual, seem to play a fundamental role in your work as both designer and educator. To what extent can these intimate forms of knowledge and belonging - which undoubtedly inform one another and, consequently, impact the use and design of architectural space - inform your study of the domestic sphere? How could they contribute to the framing of alternative research methods or architectural histories?

GERMANE BARNES I think narrative and identity have historically been crucial to the dissemination of architectural knowledge. Vernacular architecture is the most obvious example of this intersectionality. In my own work however, I aim to amplify ignored and undiscovered narratives from marginalised identities. Often those communities use alternative means of historical documentation. Oral histories, Tribal Griots, etc.For that, it continues to be a means of communicating spatial experiences. In turn those experiences began to influence the way that I design and could do the same for other non-majority design groups.

KOOZ In relation to the previous question, can you tell us if or how your research informs your practice and pedagogy?

GB My research undoubtedly informs my practice and personal pedagogy. The communities in which that I work are often presented as laypeople that do not understand architecture. I would argue that those individuals have a strong grasp of space but communicate it differently. Therefore, it forced me to learn design languages and learn from those same misrepresented experts.

KOOZ Your intellectual engagement with the subject of identity, specifically black identity, is undeniably multiscalar and multidisciplinary (given your recent movie awarded at the Miami Film Festival). Why is it important to expand this research beyond architecture? What have you learned from your study and engagement of small-scale object designs and, simultaneously, the planetary scale of the black diaspora?

GB I appreciate your reading of the work as multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary because space can be interpreted through many different lenses. Similarly, to my earlier comment about the language of space, my design training has equipped me with enough skills to translate spatial occupation for varying audiences. In essence it is not beyond architecture, but a different medium. The film You Can Always Come Home is undoubtedly architectural. The spoken word performed by Arsimmer McCoy and Reginald O’Neal undeniably speak about Black Domesticity, the porch, urbanism and landscapes. The visuals are the physical enclaves of neighborhoods that Black Miamians reside. In my opinion, it is no less architectural than a cultural institution.

In navigating varying forms of architectural representation from chairs to buildings to neighborhoods they each resonate with people differently. Those differences are to be celebrated.

KOOZ To continue on the relevance of a scaleless approach to architectural research and design: the kitchen and the porch are intimate spaces that helped you reframe blackness in architecture. To what extent the processes behind the formation of self-identity, the (multimedial) narration of microhistories and the study of ordinary culture inform non-Western architectural history and design to you?

GB I think a common misconception of my work is that I am reframing Blackness. When in fact I am simply celebrating the mundane. My goal is not to alter or remix the Black experience, it is to present it to the world in a very nuanced and delicate manner. Unfortunately, non-western canon willfully omitted these contributions for centuries. There are so many hidden rituals and legacies in the African Diaspora that everything feels fresh and new, when the reality is these conversations have been had in the Black community for decades.

KOOZ You have been studying blackness in Rome and Italy, more in general. As Italians we are well aware of the lacks in the Italian past and contemporary architectural discourse, especially pertaining to the contribution of black constructors and architects in the design of Italian architectures and cities, so what are the key findings - perhaps even key criticisms - that emerged from your fieldwork and what can architects do to fill this methodological and conceptual gap?

GB He who wins the war writes the history is something I was taught in elementary school as a child. Understanding this important note structures the way that I research and practice. It’s critical to know the difference between information and propaganda. During my stint at the American Academy in Rome I found most of the evidence of Africa’s influence in the archeology departmental archives, NOT architecture. This speaks to the lengths to which architecture silences the influence of the second largest continent. One example is the United States architectural training sequences that rarely start with Egypt’s columnar orders, they begin in Greece and subsequently Italy. The erasure of Africa is immense.

Two architectural processes I found through my archeological research were Opus Sectile and Opus Africanuum. Both distinctly African architectural contributions to Italian and classical architectural. Both rarely, if ever, taught in architectural education. I truly hope that the intellectual respect and rigor afforded to Eurocentric design sensibilities is extended to the African Diaspora.

KOOZ Our magazine focuses on “un-built imaginaries” in architecture, and we would like to know more about your new column order and the colleges that you intend to create as output of your research on ancient Roman architecture. Why a new architectural order and why collages? What is the power of speculative narratives through both video and collage?

GB The impetus for a new column order was based on the lack of visible Blackness embedded in architecture. If Vitruvius’ female figure analysis is to be held in high esteem, how does that translate to a Black genderless figure? I call them my Columns of Disorder because I am attempting to discard all traditional rules associated with classical design. I have already named my triumvirate Identity, Labor and Migration which rivals Corinthian, Ionic and Doric Orders. Instead of highlighting places of origin like our predecessors I am claiming the ways that Black bodies are observed and/or exploited throughout the world. My goal is to use the columns to tell stories and I will use collage to execute this vision. What kind of architectural conversations can be generated if I exchange the existing columns that adorn the US Capitol Building with my Columnar Disorder? I am extremely excited about the discourse I believe can be generated by these speculative images.

KOOZ You are one of the founding members of the Black Reconstruction Collective: what are the premises behind the creation of this group and what are the key goals that it intends to achieve?

GB The Black Reconstruction Collective is a direct result of the monumental Reconstructions Blackness in America exhibition featured at the Museum of Modern Art New York. There were 11 participants in the show however there are hundreds of Black architects that equally deserved the promotion and platform. This non-profit community allows the expansion of recognition beyond the original exhibitors. Additionally, it provides micro-grants to individuals working at the intersection of space and Black liberation. I am most excited by the possibilities presented through this organisation.

Bio

Germane Barnes is the founder of STUDIO Barnes, a research and design practice that investigates the connection between architecture and identity. Mining architecture’s social and political agency, he examines how the built environment influences Black domesticity. Barnes is also a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture at the University of Miami.
His design and research contributions have been published and exhibited in several international institutions. Most notably, The Museum of Modern Art, The Graham Foundation, Pin-Up Magazine, The New York Times, Architect Magazine, DesignMIAMI Art Basel, The Swiss Institute, Metropolis Magazine, Curbed, and The National Museum of African American History. He is also the 2022 Wheelwright Prize winner.

Francesca Romana Forlini is an architect, Ph.D, editor, writer and educator whose research is located at the intersection of feminism, cultural sociology and architectural history and theory. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the New York Institute of Technology and Parsons The New School in New York. She worked as chief editor at KoozArch, where she is currently a contributor. She is a Fulbrighter ed alumna of Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and the RCA.