The Hip Hop Architecture Camp

Since 2016, the camp has used hip hop culture to introduce young people to architecture, urban planning, and design. In four days, students design buildings, write and record a song about their city, and premiere a music video they made themselves. The camp has run in 42 cities across three countries.

Four days

Day 1. Architecture. Every student gets a client, designs a building in 3D, builds a Frozen Music model, and puts together a material palette.

Day 2. Music. Teams write verses about their city and record them with a professional engineer.

Day 3. Music video. Teams plan their shots and film their own footage.

Day 4. Presentations. Students present their work to family and community. The video premieres. Awards are handed out.

What every student leaves with

A 3D building model designed for a client. A Frozen Music physical model. A material palette. A verse on a professionally recorded song. A music video. A certificate.

Camp is the first step

Paid internships. Since 2021, former campers have worked as paid interns in architecture, engineering, and construction firms. The camp pays the intern, so firms of any size can take part. Every cycle ends with a public showcase.

Scholarships. More than $100,000 has gone to former campers studying architecture, including the $10,000 Michael Ford Hip Hop Architecture Scholarship.

A.R.E. scholarships. Help with the cost of the licensing exam for former camp facilitators working toward their license.

The Michael Ford Hip Hop Architecture Fellowship. A paid year teaching, leading camps, and working on cultural projects. It started in 2024.

Since 2016

3,700+ students. 42 cities. 23 states plus D.C. 3 countries. 480+ volunteers. $100,000+ in scholarships. 30+ paid internships. 170+ media features.

Student, volunteer, scholarship, and internship totals are through 2025.

Hip Hop For Humanity

At the Samburu Girls Foundation in Maralal, Kenya, girls spent three days drawing a master plan for their campus. Clean water came first. The camp raised the money and installed hydropanels that pull drinking water out of the air, serving more than 400 girls and staff.

Founder

Michael Ford, FAIA, is an architect who started the Hip Hop Architecture Camp in 2016 to use hip hop culture as a bridge into architecture, design, and planning. He received the 2026 AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Award.

Get involved

Host a camp in your city, send a student, volunteer locally, or give to support camps and internships.