Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem is home to a new installation "Sankofa" designed by Jerome Haferd, architect and CCNY Spitzer School of Architecture professor.
Professor Jerome Haferd, of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, has designed a new installation for Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, New York. The interactive work entitled “Sankofa” will be up until October 2023 and reopen in spring 2024.
“Sankofa” is the first of several installations and multi-year, multi-structure vision plan design by Haferd and funded by the Mellon Foundation as a part of the Culture, Creativity, & Care Initiative at Marcus Garvey Park led by Harlem Grown, a nonprofit dedicated to educating youth on living healthy and sustainably. Haferd is the lead designer for the Initiative with plans to open more installations throughout the spring and summer of 2023 and 2024.
According to Haferd, “After 2024, ‘Sankofa’ will be repurposed for future potential uses, ideally in the Harlem community, for example in street dining, another park, or a Harlem grown-site. The design and materials were developed for it to be repurposed.”
Jerome Haferd / BRANDT : HAFERD, Haferd’s Black-led public art and architecture studio located in Harlem, designed the work with input from the local community. The name “Sankofa,” derived from Akan African folklore, and translates to “in order to know our future we must look to our past.” Haferd conducted research with NYParks, NYPL, and local residents for archival material that is featured in the design. For more about the installation, The Architect’s Newspaper wrote about it.
The design and installation team were from CCNY, Spitzer School of Architecture, including adjunct faculty member Pedro Cruz Cruz, MArch ’22, Project Manager Gabriel Moyer Perez, current BArch student, current MArch students Suraya Babb and Shadeen Dixon, and BArch ’22 alumni Violet Greenberg and Tiffany Gonzalez.
The grand opening was held on Sunday, June 18 in Marcus Garvey Park. The park is located on Madison Avenue from E. 120 Street to E. 124 Street. Over 200 people attended the opening, including New York State Senator Cordell Cleare.
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Thea Klapwald
e:
tklapwald@ccny.cuny.edu