Responding to the Present Culture: Architecture that Addresses a Sensitivity to Contemporary and Pop Culture

It’s been stated time and time again that art imitates life. Thus, art is a reflection of the culture that surrounds it, and serves as a representation of the era it belongs to. If there is a strong connection between architecture and art, then it can also be argued that architecture should always respond to the culture of the present time period. This book will investigate several subtopics that break down how the contemporary and pop culture, that defined the end of the twentieth century to the present, has impacted the built environment. This alone can be a broad topic of discussion, so I will begin by focusing first on Hip Hop culture, and how architectural practice has responded to the trends that derived from this art form.