Germane Barnes facts for kids
Germane Barnes is an American architect and designer. He is also a professor of architecture at the University of Miami in Florida. In 2021, he won two important awards: the Rome Prize in Architecture and the Wheelwright Prize.
Early Life and Education
Germane Barnes grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There, he earned a degree in Architecture in 2008.
After college, he worked in Cape Town, South Africa. He helped design buildings for communities that needed support. Later, he returned to the United States. He earned his Master of Architecture degree from Woodbury University in California. He also won a special award for his final project there.
Career Highlights
Barnes became a designer for the Opa Locka Community Development Corporation in Florida. He helped create design solutions for local communities. He worked on projects that turned empty spaces into useful community areas. For example, he helped residents change an unused lot into a community park.
Later, he started his own design company called Studio Barnes, LLC in Miami.
In 2018, Barnes received a grant from the Graham Foundation. This grant was for his project called 'Sacred Stoops: Typological Studies of Black Congregational Spaces'. For this project, he studied how architecture connects with African-American culture in five American cities. These cities included Atlanta, Washington D.C., Chicago, Detroit, and Houston.
In February 2021, his work was shown at the MoMA Exhibition. This exhibition was called "Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America". It was the first time MoMA focused on how architecture and African-American cultures are connected.
Barnes also helped start the Black Reconstruction Collective. This group was formed by artists from the MoMA show. A critic from New York Times said the group wants to "reclaim the larger civic promise of architecture." This means they want architecture to help communities in bigger ways.
In 2021, Germane Barnes was asked to create work for the Chicago Architecture Biennial. This is a big event that shows new ideas in architecture.
Awards and Recognition
Germane Barnes has received several important awards for his work.
In 2021, he won the Wheelwright Prize from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. This award helps young designers with their research.
He also received the 2021 Rome Prize in Architecture. This prize is given by the American Academy in Rome. Additionally, he won the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers.
