J. Max Bond Jr. Lecture | Attaining Wakandan Utopia

Mario Gooden is a cultural practice architect and principal of Huff + Gooden Architects. His practice engages the cultural landscape and the intersectionality of architecture, race, gender, sexuality, and technology. His work crosses the thresholds between the design of architecture and the built environment, writing, research, speaking, performance, and education advocacy in the pursuit of spatial and social justice. Gooden’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including the International Exhibition of Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy, the Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München, the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI), the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, the Storefront for Art & Architecture, and the Municipal Arts Society of New York. His work has also been featured in journals and publications, including ARTFORUM International Magazine, Architect Magazine, Architectural Record Magazine, Metropolis, Wallpaper, Architecture & Urbanism (A+U), and the New York Times. He previously worked in the studios of Zaha Hadid in London and Steven Holl in New York. Gooden’s studio is currently designing the California African American Museum in Los Angeles.

Gooden is also a Professor of Practice at the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation of Columbia University, where he is a co-director of the Global Africa Lab (GAL). His advanced design and theory studios focus on performance and cultural theory relative to global topics. Gooden is a 2012 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow and a MacDowell Colony Fellow. Currently, he serves as Vice President of the Architectural League of New York. Most recently, Gooden is the author of Dark Space: Architecture Representation Black Identity (Columbia University Press) published in 2016.

Ade Obayemi is the founder and principal Architect of AO+Associates. He has been a ‘hands-on’ Developer/Architect for over 35 years, with leadership in design and practical disciplines of the construction, renovation, rehabilitation and restoration industry. He has assumed the role of Owner, Architect, and Contractor on several personal and institutional projects. As a registered architect, he brings an innate ability to understand and identify client needs and concerns early in the design process. His technical and design experience is apparent in his approach to problem solving in the context of new construction and renovation. Solutions to specialty occupancy requirements, interior design, material selection, and sustainability benefits, are easily injected into projects at preliminary phases.

Since 2002, his green architectural and planning firm AO+Associates, has assisted in the designed and renovated of 23 brownstone buildings, portions of several administrative offices, and school buildings in NYC and throughout the greater tri-state region. His professional practice has also been at the forefront of technological innovation in the administration and management of contract documents, and delivery of professional services on Revits & AutoCad platforms. He has led the company to its position as a preeminent Space Planning and Sustainable Design firm.

Renee Kemp-Rotan is the director of grants and special projects in the Office of the Mayor of Birmingham, Ala., and an urban designer who has traveled the world with an eye for architecture and social change. From studying mud-based architecture in Ghana to serving as Atlanta’s liaison on the construction of Philips Arena and Centennial Olympic Park, she’s been involved in nearly every type of building design imaginable.

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