Opening this Weekend: OBSIDIAN
Author:Lindsey ShookThe Black Artists + Designers Guild presents OBSIDIAN, a virtual concept house curated by twenty-three creators and guild members based on a physical site in Oakland, California.
Opening officially to the public on January 29, the OBSIDIAN concept house is a virtual dwelling set in the year 2025 that offers a look into the expansive vision of living and dwelling for Black families. Each space will explore the possibilities of utilizing innovative technology integrated with advanced sustainable systems and practices.
“Obsidian’s objectives and goals resonate with us on both a design and self-exploratory level, says ELLE Decor A-Listers Anishka Clarke & Niya Bascom of Ishka Designs. “We felt the need to participate in order to challenge ourselves to explore deeper into who we are and how our ancestry, ethnicity, and history influences how we think, create, and live. Niya and I share a similar diaspora experience and we use this inherent and endemic knowledge in Ishka Designs’ practice. Obsidian has helped to heighten that approach further.”
A departure from the traditional showcase house model, the OBSIDIAN design concepts are anchored in culture, embracing a multiplicity of Black family identities through contemporary design and individual expression. “The house is imagined and placed in the Oakland Hills of California in the year 2025. The west-facing structures frame and curate the light and views of the San Francisco Bay. While mindful of the rich, Black cultural identity linked to Oakland, the design is also mindful of the traditional practices of the indigenous people of the Bay Area, the Ohlone,” says designer and architect Leyden Lewis who designed the dwelling’s architecture along with Nina Cooke John of Studio Cooke John.
Read more information about BADG mission, OBSIDIAN and the creators HERE and set your calendar for 7pm EST this Friday to attend the grand, virtual opening HERE.
