Germane Barnes facts for kids
Germane Barnes is an American architect and designer. He also teaches architecture at the University of Miami in Florida. In 2021, he won two important awards: the Rome Prize and the Wheelwright Prize.
Growing Up and Learning
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. When he came back to the United States, he studied more. He earned a Master's degree in architecture from Woodbury University. He even won a special prize for his final project.
His Work as an Architect
Germane Barnes has done a lot of work helping communities. He was a designer for the Opa Locka Community Development Corporation in Florida. He helped find design solutions for people who needed them. He also created events around old, unused buildings. He helped people turn an empty space into a community park. Later, he started his own design company, Studio Barnes, LLC, in Miami.
In 2018, Barnes received a special 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 five American cities. These cities were Atlanta, Washington D.C., Chicago, Detroit, and Houston. He looked at how buildings were designed in relation to African-American culture.
In February 2021, his work was shown at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York. The exhibition was called "Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America". It was the first time MoMA had an architecture show about how buildings connect with African-American cultures. Barnes was also a founder of the Black Reconstruction Collective. This group was started by people 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 a bigger way.
Germane Barnes was also asked to create work for the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial. This is a big event that shows new ideas in architecture. He was asked by Jack Guthman and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Awards and Recognition
Germane Barnes has won several important awards. In 2021, he received the Wheelwright Prize from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. This award helps new designers with their research. He also won the 2021 Rome Prize in Architecture. This prize is given by the American Academy in Rome. He also received the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers.
