Although we have lived on opposite coasts since we graduated from Cal in the early 70s, Fred Schwartz and I have remained ever so close. My son Lucas could have no better godfather than Fred. He was the design architect for Kalahari, the 249-unit apartment building on 116th Street in Harlem, built in 2008 with half the units designated as affordable. I had an opportunity to shoot some photos earlier this month on my visit to see my good buddy. “Architect Frederic Schwartz, who was the founder of the THINK architectural team that was the runner-up finalist to the re-imagine Ground Zero competition sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, provides the following commentary on the project s design on his website: Outwardly facing the neighborhood, the street elevations are inspired by nomadic and tribal cultures of Africa. The Kalahari Desert is home to the Bushmen tribal group, individuals who have adapted and survived under the harsh conditions of migratory life for several centuries. This group and the characteristics of this desert region provided spiritual inspiration and directly reflect the cultural aspirations of our design. The bold use of color, texture and pattern inspired by the ways of survival through adaptations and sense of self provides a point of departure. The ’intensity’ with which one selects and uses color, texture and pattern has always been a clear and distinguishing means of definition amongst varied cultural groups. Our design takes direct influence from cultural specifics and details of the architectural aesthetic from a trilogy of tribal groups in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Ndebele of South Africa, the Ashanti of Ghana, and the nomadic Bushmen of Botswana and the Kalahari Desert. Inspired by designs of the Ndebele tribal peoples (neighbors in the south of Africa to the bushman of the Kalahari), the decorative motifs used on the 115th and 116th Street elevations embody the strong color and patterning on exterior façades of the dwellings. Adrinka symbols, found printed and woven in the cloth created by the Akan peoples of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa are used throughout the Kalahari, serving to fuse South African regional color and texture with West African patterning and symbolism. Black cultural specifics in the design and decorative aspects of The Kalahari (and indeed in the naming of the project) evolves from the understanding of how environmental design disciplines are closely tied to and affected by the social and behavioral patterns of the communities who inhabit them. The design concept seeks to embody ’the spirit of transformation and migration by the larger group to a better place of sustenance.’
Posted on: Tue, 29 Apr 2014 03:45:42 +0000
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