Today we’d like to introduce you to Germane Barnes.
Germane, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am originally from the West Side of Chicago. An area called K-Town, due to the number of streets that begin with the letter K. A neighborhood that has its own legacy of disenfranchisement, crime and economic disparity. I, however, was fortunate enough to come from a stable, middle class, two-parent household. This nuance is important because I found myself straddling two worlds. One of access to plentiful resources and one of access to illegal activity. This duality of affluence and poverty has completely shaped my professional career.
Architecture and design have always been my passion since adolescence. I studied architecture in undergrad and attained an internship in Cape Town, South Africa upon graduation. I then attended graduate school at Woodbury University in Burbank, CA where I won the thesis prize for my project, Symbiotic Territories: Architectural Investigations of Race, Identity, and Community. This project was pivotal in my career as it pointed my trajectory towards a focus of the connection between architecture and identity, examining architecture’s social and political agency.
I have completed numerous community-oriented projects for the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation where I served as their Designer-In-Residence. Today, I am the Director of Studio Barnes, my professional practice of architecture and design. I am also an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Miami.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There have been numerous challenges to get to this point. During my first year of college, my older sister succumbed to her two year battle with cancer and passed away. The following year, a close childhood friend was lost to gang violence in our neighborhood. This made undergrad difficult as I battled my faith and mental health. My GPA was poor for consecutive semesters which resulted in my suspension from the university until I improved my grades during the summer and attended counseling.
This ultimately affected my ability to attend graduate school because of my mediocre GPA. I was rejected from every graduate school during my first attempt. My second attempt was more successful and the rest is history.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
My work is a testing ground for the physical and theoretical investigations of architecture’s social and political agency. Learning from historical data and perspectives from within architecture as well as cultural and ethnic studies, I examine how the built environment influences the social and cultural experience.
I believe strongly in design as a process and approaches each condition imposed on a project as an opportunity rather than a constraint. Architecture presents opportunities for transformation – materially, conceptually and sociologically.
I am most proud that my design and research contributions have been published and exhibited in several international publications and institutions. Most notably, The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, The New York Times, DesignMIAMI/ Art Basel, Architect Magazine and The National Museum of African American History, where I was identified as a member of black design professionals Reshifting the Landscape, challenging the status quo in architecture and urbanism.
The latter is a building that I chronicled during graduate school while working on my thesis project. To now, have my face on the screen of the Oprah Winfrey Auditorium was an amazing moment.
I believe what sets me apart from my contemporaries is the lack of black bodies in the architecture profession. We are scarce. Additionally, my ability to oscillate between the high socio-economic community that is architecture and the low socio-economic community that many black people live to allow me a certain privilege. I am able to blend two worlds unlike many others in this field.
What are you striving for, what criteria or markers have you set as indicators of success?
Success for me is simple, black neighborhoods deserve access to great architecture and art. Our profession is one that needs to value the black experience and that will only happen when more architecture students, professors, and critics exist. My role as an educator is to increase those numbers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.germanebarnes.com
- Email: germane.barnes@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmane16/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncleremuschkn
Image Credit:
Matt Roy, Joachim Perez, Jennifer Lamy, Raw Pop-Up, Germane Barnes
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