Hip Hop Architecture is more than just a hub for hip-hop music—it’s the chance for students to march to the beat of their own creative drums.

The idea began with a TED Talk by Detroit-based architect Mike Ford, who gave a speech last year titled “Hip Hop Architecture: The Post Occupancy Report of Modernism” that explored how hip-hop lyrics could evaluate modern urban architecture.

From there, an entire camp was born, founded as a way “to introduce under represented youth to architecture, urban planning, creative place making and economic development through the lens of hip hop culture,” according to its website.

Dallas will host a camp beginning Oct. 6 at Best Buy Tech Center at the Juanita Craft Recreation Center, 4500 Spring Ave. Another camp will be hosted in Austin.

The Hip Hop Architecture Camp aims to cultivate creativity in middle school students over a five-week period starting on Oct. 6 and is free. Hip-hop is a building block for learning as students create their own city blocks based on the number of syllables in hip-hop lyrics. 

Students will learn throughout the course of the camp founded on the “‘4C’s'” of “Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking” how “to create unique visions for their communities which include the creation of physical models, digital models and the creation of a Hip Hop Architecture track and music video summarizing their designs,” according to the camp’s website.

Texas is one of 13 states nationwide—along with locations in Africa and Canada—where the camp is available. The Dallas camp is possible thanks to its hosts, the DFW Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, LPA Inc., and Praxis. 

If DFW locals that have architecture, community, or music-related backgrounds are interested, there are opportunities to get involved as a volunteer or anyone can help by donating funding to the program. 

Students can register and find out more information by going here.