Can architecture be the keeper of stories? What happens when architecture speaks its truth? In The Laboratory of the Future, Studio Barnes presents Griot, which speculates on the legacies that are hidden in our foundational architectural canon. A Griot, historically, is a West African storyteller. In this installation, built objects supply narratives of architecture, identity, colonisation, and the cultural influences of the African Diaspora.
Using Dangerous Liaisons as the point of departure, the Griot oscillates between text and word. Much of the research and writings that document this missing architectural history is found outside of the discipline. Rather than architecture, it is archaeology and anthropology that contain a plethora of knowledge on procedures, production, and people.