“Invent the future”. That’s Tech’s saying. As Hokies, we are expected to graduate and go off into the world to make it a better and more innovative place.
And (Sonny) Richard Joy-Hogg is going to do just that.
He is a fifth year architecture student from Newport News, VA graduating from Tech this year. His passion for architecture started at a very young age when he would look at buildings and become fascinated with how they were built and wondered how he could build them. As a child, he would design and build cardboard box forts equipped with separate rooms and windows. His passion for architecture never wavered, and he decided to pursue this passion at one of the best architecture schools in the country.
By their nature, architects create. They think up new buildings, new designs and new techniques. But Sonny is taking it a step further; he is using a whole new style of architecture: Hip-Hop architecture. With a love for hip-hop and a passion for architecture, he decided to combine the two. It may very well be the next big thing.
First, what is hip-hop?
“Hip hop isn’t just a music genre, it’s a culture, it’s a way of life.”
What makes a building Hip-Hop inspired?
“It involves layers, like hip-hop music is layered. It involves repetition, like hip-hop repeats. It involves flow, like hip hop flows. It encompasses everything the hip-hop culture is.”
This is an idea Sonny had for many years but it has taken a while to evolve from a concept into a reality. He spent the last year, his thesis year, exploring how to make Hip-Hop architecture materialize into a real thing. He now has designs to create a new hip-hop neighborhood that involves colorful, layered buildings with large stoop areas.
Sonny has accepted a job with Commonwealth Architects in Richmond upon graduation. There, he has plans to further his study with Hip-Hop architecture and hopes to put those plans into motion to create a “hip-hop” neighborhood in Yorktown.
Now, I may be biased because (if you haven’t connected the last name yet) he’s my brother, but he is going to change the architecture world. Just wait…