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Ukhamba
Completed 2023
Named after a type of African woven-wood basket, Ukhamba is a ten-foot-tall circular structure with four arched entrances, built of curved wooden elements stacked in horizontal layers. Its construction invites visitors to walk inside and congregate but allows the surrounding plaza and urban landscape to remain visible through the structure. Inspired by Barnes’ time working abroad in South Africa, as well as in Miami, Ukhamba not only responds to Miami’s sub-tropical climate but also unites architectural elements typical of diasporic communities of African and Caribbean origin. It comprises a pavilion that appears part basket, part traditional breeze wall.

Client: MOAD
Fabrication: ALTBLD LLC
Photography: Zack Balber
Filed under:
Installation
Griot
Completed 2023
Can architecture be the keeper of stories? What happens when architecture speaks its truth? For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale of Venice we submit Griot, which speculates missing legacies prevalent in foundational architectural cannon. A Griot, historically, is a West African storyteller. In this proposal, physical objects and drawings will supply histories of architecture, identity, colonization, and the cultural influences of the African Diaspora.

Griot demands a reorientation of foundational principles, providing the opportunity to imagine a new future. One that positions Africa and its descendants as a force to be acknowledged and revered.

Client: Venice Architecture Biennale 2023
Collaborators: Quarra Stone LLC
Photography: Claudia Rossini
Filed under:
Installation, Furniture

ROCK | ROLL
Completed 2022
Rock & Roll is a celebration of Miami, intended to honor and inspire the amazing people who shape our city’s culture and spirit.

This proposal operates at three unique scales: the smallest engages the neighborhood trees as miniature steel drums create music dispersed throughout the area—they’re both functional and elegant.

Increasing in scale, the Rockers are whimsical objects scattered along Paseo Ponti. Each Rocker is approximately 7 feet tall and interactive. The Furry Rocker is composed of resilient, brightly colored foam that allows visitors to push, pull and hug. This Rocker is inspired by the large and beautiful feathered hair-dresses common in Carnival processions. This Rocker is inspired by the many floats that participants ride in the Carnival parade. 

The largest, most prominent—and unabashedly joyful piece is an unfolded Disco Ball. Inspired by the ever present Music Truck, this installation—titled The Roll in Rock & Roll—is a large sculpture that illuminates at night and plays music.

Client: Miami Design District
Collaborators: ANAVA, Malloy James, Gabriel Soomar
Fabrication: ALTBLD LLC
Photography: Kris Tamburello
Filed under:
Installation, Furniture
Intersect
Completed 2021
-Intersect- is a playscape that invites visitors to engage with the city as a theatre. Its name is generated by three 9m diameter circles that converge to create a large landscape. At the center of those three points is a hulking, wooden, superstructure that is 4.6m tall and 9m wide and designed as a continuous loop. This play pavilion, with the assistance of each land circle, creates a zone of occupation for individuals which reference different components of a theatre.

The first zone is the Stage, where solar powered lights are fixed to the underside of the structure to be used both during the day and at night. There is additional modular seating that is generated by the arc of the ground circle. The second zone is the Seating, where 5 circular silhouettes are suspend from the superstructure for both youth and adults. These swings facilitate fun for all age groups. The third and final zone is the Curtain, composed of thin, brightly colored threads intended for people to run through.

-Intersect- is placed on Daniel Trevijano Gran Via, at the actual crossing of major sidewalks to reinforce the idea of the city as a theatre to be celebrated. This proposal welcomes users of all ages because the city is a show for everyone to view.

Client: Concentrico Festival
Collaborators: MAS Context
Fabricatos: Concentrico  Festrival
Photography: Josema Cutillas, Javier Anton
Filed under:
Installation, Furniture

ON/
Completed 2021
ON/ is an immersive installation that synergizes Lexus’ core values of craftsmanship and human centered design. Inspired by the clean geometries of LF-Z Electrified Concept car, a full sized wire frame silhouette of the vehicle is suspended from the ceiling. Embedded with LED lights, the car highlights critical design elements. Surrounding the perimeter of the wireframe installation is bespoke furniture and two electrified swings.

Client: Lexus
Collaborators: RAD Lab
Fabrication: Matchless Build, High Order
Photography: Steve Benisty

Filed under:
Installation, Furniture

Wear this robe, let it comfort you
Completed 2021 
Wear this robe, let it comfort you, is a display of intricate clothes that explore themes of domesticity, vulnerability and extravagance. Garments are suspended in the storefront as if hung from a laundry line. Color palettes are derived from common household items in the Black home and patterns are inspired by collective activities. Gather in front of the window as if watching linen sway from the porch.

Client: Oolite Arts
Photography: Pedro Wazzan
Filed under:
Installation
You Can Always Come Home
Completed 2021
You Can Always Come Home is a short film directed by Juan Matos and commissioned by the 2021 Architectural League Prize. The film explores the domestic realm through the eyes of young children in Miami.

Narrated with poetry by Arsimmer McCoy and Reginald O’Neal, the film highlights the joy, ritual, family, love, celebration,a nd culture that ismade in the home through Black spatial occupation of the kitchen and front porch.

Directed & Edited by: Juan Matos
Produced by: Monica Sorelle
Executive Producer: Germane Barnes

Click here to view film

Filed under:
Film

A Spectrum of Blackness
Completed 2021
A Spectrum of Blackness is an acknowledgment of the broad possibilities of origin, and therefore of cultural influence, present in this distinctively Black city. This project aims to mine oral histories of Miami’s most prominent Black ethnicities and, through the use of multi-dimensional digital and analog collage processes, (de-) and reconstruct their suppressed narratives. Blackness constructed Miami’s physical and cultural landscapes.

Client: Museum of Modern Art, NY
Photography: Naho Kubota
Filed under:
Installation

Block Party
Completed 2021
This installation is born from Chicago’s rich history of annual block parties that provide necessary resources to vulnerable and engaged residents, particularly on the South and West Sides. These gatherings are self-funded, self-organized, and self-policed. They are an example of the many acts of civic responsibility that occur routinely in disenfranchised neighborhoods when residents take matters into their own hands. A certifiable act of celebratory vigilantism, the block party does not obey traffic regulations, it does not obey permit jurisdiction, and it most certainly does not obey traditional urban principles. These characteristics of community and accountability inspired the Studio’s project in the North Lawndale community.

Client: Chicago Architecture Biennial
Collaborators: Shawhin Roudbari, Iker Gil, WACA, Open Architecture Chicago, Freedom House
Fabrication: BKE Designs
Photography: MAW Photos
Filed under:
Installation, Architecture
Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears a Crown
Completed 2020
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown is a referendum on Black hair and Black architecture.  One of the most important features of the porch, are the porch chairs. Often innocuous this project aims to highlight the chair as a critical element. Fabricated from metal, wood, and rope, the materials of the chair mimic the materials used to construct South Florida Shotgun vernacular of wood framed construction with sheet metal roofing. The slanted metal frame is similar to the slanted gable roof one would find atop the cottage. The milled wooden back post works as interior framing and is derived from combs used to style Black hair. Black hair that is often policed and frowned upon instead of celebrated as it should. The crowns of the back support are inspired by the crowns donned by Black people across the diaspora. From Sunday Service hats to Bahamian Junkanoo Band cosplay to the legendary afro-pick, each chair promotes black identity. The seating apparatus design references braiding techniques often found in the Black community. Multi-colored rope is braided and weaved in different patterns that amplify the creativity that is found in Black hairstyles.

Filed under:
Installation, Furniture






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All projects are owned by Studio Barnes LLC